Henry Plant Museum

Hi All,

We drove to Tampa today to see niece Elissa and Alan & Barbara who flew down from snowy Boston for a visit. Our first stop was the Plant Museum.

Henry Flagler was not the only Florida railroad baron named Henry. After the Civil War, Henry Plant began buying up small or failing railroads and linked them together to connect Tampa to the Georgia border. In Tampa he built a seaport and a shipping line. All of this made him very rich. He then created a massive, opulent hotel along the Tampa waterfront.

The Tampa Bay Hotel had four gleaming minarets and many other Moorish design elements.

Henry and his wife toured Europe on a buying spree to furnish the hotel. They sent back 40 railroad cars full of furniture and decorative pieces. The China was obviously custom made.

This is one part of a big bedroom, four stories below one of the minarets. The windows are eleven feet high.

The hotel had several pianos for guests. If requested, the bellmen would roll one into your room. If you could not play the piano, the staff would provide someone who could.

The wide veranda is full of guests in this 1900 photograph. Famous guests included Sarah Bernhardt, Babe Ruth and John Philip Sousa (no they are not in this photo).

The February 6, 1891 issue of the local newspaper declared that the Tampa Bay Hotel that opened yesterday was beyond description. The remainder of the paper attempted to describe the hotel.

Three tall buildings grace the riverbank across from the hotel.

The old hotel is now occupied by the University of Tampa. The museum uses about a third of the first floor. If you are in the Tampa Area, this place is definitely worth a visit.

If you have a thirst for railroad barons, there is (or was) a beer called Two Henry's.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502