Henry B. Plant Museum
The Henry B. Plant Museum is housed in the 1891 Tampa Bay Hotel, a Victorian railroad resort that defined an elegant frontier that is now a National Historic Landmark. Unlike most museums dedicated to past lifestyles, this one contains the actual furniture pieces enjoyed by the first visitors who visited. The museum accurately reflects the opulence of turn-of-the-century America and the vision of American transportation pioneer Henry B. Plant. The Henry B. Plant Museum (Plant Museum) is located in the south wing of Plant Hall on the University of Tampa campus at 401 West Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa, Florida. Plant Hall was originally built by Henry B. Plant as a Tampa Bay hotel; The 511-room resort-style hotel opened on February 5, 1891, near the terminus of the Plant System railroad, also a fake and Plant-owned hotel. Exhibits at the Botanical Museum focus on historic Gilded Age tourism in Florida’s Tampa Bay area, the elite life of hoteliers, and the use of the Tampa Bay Hotel during the Spanish-American War. As such, the plant museum is designed in the style of a historic house museum. The exhibits present the objects in a way that reflects their original placement and use in this historic building.
Tampa Bay hotel was designed by architect J.A. Wood, who also designed the Old Hillsborough County Courthouse in Tampa, Florida in 1892, and the Oglethorpe Hotel and Mahoney-McGarvey House in Brunswick, Georgia. The Henry B. Plant Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Its mission is to interpret the experiences of the Tampa Bay Hotel and the various people who contributed to its success. The museum is thought-provoking and transports visitors to another era with exhibits and innovative programs to educate and inspire them about the lifestyle, times and experiences of Florida’s early tourism industry. Original furnishings and artifacts, along with a dynamic self-guided audio tour, immerse guests in the luxurious and rich history of the 1891 Tampa Bay Hotel. Don’t forget to check out this place in Tampa too.
The building was bought by the city in 1905 after the death of Henry Plant in 1899. It served as a hotel until 1932. In 1933, the Tampa Municipal Museum was established in the south wing of the first floor to preserve the heritage of the Tampa Bay Hotel. The rest of the building and property became the University of Tampa. The museum features original hotel furniture and artifacts collected by Mr. and Mrs. Plant from Europe and the Orient. The Tampa City Museum became the Henry B. Botanical Museum in 1974. Since then, its mission has been to interpret the experiences of the Tampa Bay Hotel and the various people who contributed to its success. The museum is thought-provoking and transports visitors to another era with exhibits and innovative programs to educate and inspire them about the lifestyle, times and experiences of Florida’s early tourism industry. If you are in need of a foundation repair, click here.
