Henry B. Plant Museum facts for kids
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Tampa Bay Hotel
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| Location | 401 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, Florida |
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| Area | 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) |
| Built | 1888–1891 |
| Architect | John A. Wood |
| Architectural style | Moorish Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000322 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | December 5, 1972 |
| Designated NHL | May 11, 1976 |
The Henry B. Plant Museum is a cool place to visit in Tampa, Florida. It's located inside a really old and fancy building called Plant Hall on the University of Tampa campus. This building used to be a huge, luxurious hotel called the Tampa Bay Hotel. It opened way back on February 5, 1891!
The hotel was built by a rich railroad owner named Henry B. Plant. He wanted a grand hotel at the end of his train line. Today, the museum shows what life was like during the "Gilded Age" (a time of great wealth and fancy living). It also shares stories about the hotel's famous guests and its important role during the Spanish–American War.
The museum is open most days, except Mondays and big holidays. If you visit during Christmas, you can enjoy the special Victorian Christmas Stroll. The entire building is so important that it's a U.S. National Historic Landmark. This means it's a special place recognized for its history.
Contents
A Grand Hotel's Story
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The Tampa Bay Hotel was built by Henry B. Plant, a powerful railroad owner. Construction took place between 1888 and 1891. It cost over $3 million, which was a huge amount of money back then! This hotel was the best of the eight hotels Plant built along his train routes.
The hotel building itself is enormous, covering 6 acres (24,000 m2). It's about a quarter-mile long! It had some amazing features for its time. It was the first building in Florida to have an elevator. This elevator still works today, making it one of the oldest working elevators in the country! The hotel's 511 rooms and suites were also the first in Florida to have electric lights and telephones. Most rooms even had private bathrooms with full-size bathtubs.
A room at the Tampa Bay Hotel cost between $5.00 and $15.00 a night. This was very expensive, as most other hotels in Tampa charged only $1.25 to $2.00. The hotel was built with concrete and steel, which made it fireproof.
Hotel Grounds and Design
The hotel grounds were massive, covering 150 acres (0.61 km2). They included a golf course, a bowling alley, a racetrack, a casino, and an indoor heated swimming pool. There were 21 buildings on the hotel's property!
Henry Plant chose a unique Moorish Revival style for the hotel's architecture. He thought this exotic look would appeal to the wealthy travelers of the Victorian era. The hotel has six tall towers called minarets, four small domes called cupolas, and three large domes. In the early 1990s, these were all restored to look like their original shiny stainless steel.
From 1889 to 1891, Plant traveled all over Europe. He bought tons of amazing objects to decorate the hotel. So much art arrived that some had to be sold because there wasn't enough space! Today, the museum wing still has a "bewildering assortment" of fancy bronzes, furniture, clocks, tapestries, paintings, and vases. One special vase was even a gift from the Emperor of Japan!
Famous Guests and War Time
From 1891 to 1930, thousands of people stayed at the hotel. Many of them were celebrities! When the Spanish–American War started in 1898, Henry Plant convinced the United States military to use his hotel as a main base. Generals and high-ranking officers stayed in the hotel rooms to plan their strategies. Soldiers camped out on the hotel's large grounds.
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and his famous group, the Rough Riders, were also at the hotel during this time. Roosevelt had a suite and led his men in battle exercises right on the property. Other famous visitors included actress Sarah Bernhardt, Red Cross founder Clara Barton, writer Stephen Crane, the Prince of Wales, and future Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Even baseball legend Babe Ruth stayed at the hotel later on. He signed his first baseball contract in the Grand Dining Room. In 1919, Ruth hit one of his longest home runs ever during a spring training game at Plant Field, which was next to the hotel.
From Hotel to University and Museum
The Tampa Bay Hotel closed its doors in 1930. This happened because the Great Depression made it very hard for people to travel and go on vacations. The grand hotel sat empty for three years.
In late 1933, the Tampa Bay Junior College was allowed to move into the hotel. They used the old hotel suites as classrooms and offices. Because the hotel had so much space, the college grew and became the University of Tampa.
At the same time, the city of Tampa created the Tampa Municipal Museum. This museum was meant to keep the hotel looking like it did in its glory days. It shared the building with the new university. In 1941, the city signed a special 99-year lease with the University of Tampa for only $1.00 a year! The lease made sure that the southeast wing of the building would always be used for the museum. In 1974, the Tampa Municipal Museum was renamed the Henry B. Plant Museum.
The Museum Today
Today, the south wing of Plant Hall is dedicated to showing off the amazing history of the old Tampa Bay Hotel. You can see real items from the hotel, many of which were bought by Mr. and Mrs. Plant themselves during their trips to Europe.
You can take a guided tour or a self-guided tour that starts with a video. The video is called The Tampa Bay Hotel: Florida's First Magic Kingdom. It helps you imagine what life was like for the wealthy guests in old Florida.
Fun Programs and Events
The museum offers many fun programs:
- Picnic in the Park: This program lets families relax on the lawns. You can even try old-fashioned Victorian games like horseshoes, badminton, and croquet. People dressed in Victorian costumes are there to help, and there's live entertainment.
- Upstairs/Downstairs: This is a live theater show. Actors play characters based on real guests or staff from the hotel. They tell stories about their experiences, teaching you about the hotel's early years.
- Music in the Museum: This is a live music series. It's a nod to the past, when the hotel used to have daily concerts.
- First Fridays: On the first Friday of each month, admission to the museum is free! You can enjoy a tasting table and listen to live jazz music.
The museum also hosts special art shows. For example, in 2015, it showed "Passionate Design: The American Arts & Crafts Movement." This exhibit featured items from a new museum being built in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Plant Park and Hotel Grounds
The hotel grounds, now known as Plant Park, once had many attractions. Today, you can still see some of them as part of the University of Tampa's campus and the museum's area.
At the park's entrance is the "Henry Bradley Plant Memorial Fountain." Henry Plant's wife, Margaret, had it made in 1899 after he passed away. The fountain is called Transportation. It shows trains and ships carved into the stone, representing Mr. Plant's transportation businesses. This fountain is the oldest public art in Tampa.
Near the Hillsborough River, you can see two old cannons from Fort Brooke. This fort was an early military post from the 1800s around which Tampa grew. These cannons were used by the Confederate army during the American Civil War. In 1864, Union soldiers captured the fort and damaged the cannons. You can still see this damage today! Henry Plant later moved these cannons to his hotel grounds as a curiosity for his guests.
Another impressive old weapon faces Kennedy Boulevard in Plant Park. This large coast defense gun reminds everyone of Tampa's important role in the 1898 Spanish–American War. It points symbolically towards Cuba. The gun you see today was brought from Fort Morgan, Alabama, after the original one from Fort Dade was given away for scrap metal during World War II.
Plant Park also used to have a small zoo along Biology Creek. This creek is fed by an underground spring. In its early days, the zoo had a bear and an alligator, plus many smaller animals. The bear and alligator eventually moved and became the first animals at what is now the ZooTampa at Lowry Park.
Finally, outside the hotel, you'll find a statue called Au Coup de Fusil. This means The Shot. It shows two bronze hounds that look like they just heard a gunshot. These dogs were sculpted in France in 1890. They are thought to represent Mr. Plant's favorite hunting dogs. The hotel even had kennels where guests could get hunting dogs for their trips!
A group called the Friends of Plant Park (FoPP) helps take care of the park. They work to restore and preserve it as a beautiful botanical garden for everyone to enjoy. Since 1997, they've hosted an event called 'GreenFest' to raise money. They've helped restore the cannons, create a Victorian star-shaped garden, and even put up a replica of the original 112-foot flagpole with a huge 45-star American flag!
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