the tampa BaY hoteL : the sYmBoL of tampa
Senior Counsel Section Chair : Thomas Newcomb Hyde – Attorney at Law
In 1891 , Henry B . Plant opened the Tampa Bay Hotel , a Moorish palace with 511 hotel rooms , as well as thirteen minarets , that have since become the symbol of Tampa . In an era when anything oriental was considered sophisticated , the Tampa Bay Hotel was all the rage . The hotel featured the latest technology , including Edison electric lights and even a telephone in every room .
So began the presentation of Cynthia Gandee Zinober , the executive director of the Henry B . Plant Museum , as she told the story of the Tampa Bay Hotel to dozens of judges and lawyers at the Senior Counsel luncheon in March .
All the guests at the Tampa Bay Hotel arrived by train on Henry Plant ’ s railroad , which Plant brought to Tampa in 1884 . There were spaces for fifteen private rail cars . With the arrival of the railroad , the cigar manufacturers , who had moved from Key West to Ybor City , were now able to ship cigars north . The Plant rail system covered Alabama , Georgia , South Carolina , and Florida with over 5,000 miles of track .
Only a few years later , in 1898 , the Tampa Bay Hotel was the gathering point for American
the henry B . plant museum , established in 1933 , is the portion of the tampa Bay hotel that retains its original form and character .
forces during the Spanish-American War . Plant had used his influence to have Tampa named as the port of embarkment for soldiers and supplies shipping out to fight the Spanish in Cuba .
Cynthia remarked that the hotel welcomed many famous guests during the war . Although he stayed in camp with his fellow Rough Riders , Colonel Theodore “ Teddy ” Roosevelt came to visit his wife at the hotel . Another guest , artist Frederic Remington , was employed by William Randolph Hearst to draw illustrations during the war . Clara Barton , pioneering nurse and founder of the American Red Cross , set up a hospital at the hotel .
In later years , other celebrities who stayed in the hotel included French actress Sara Bernhardt , who arrived in her own private railroad car . Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova danced in the hotel auditorium .
In 1905 , the City of Tampa acquired the Tampa Bay Hotel , which continued to operate as a resort hotel until 1929 . Then , in 1933 , the city leased the buildings to the University of Tampa .
The Henry B . Plant Museum , established in 1933 , is the portion of the Tampa Bay Hotel that retains its original form and character . Plaster detail , woodwork , and the floorplan remain as they were created in 1891 . Most of the furnishings in the museum were purchased for the hotel by Henry Plant and his wife Margaret . They reflect the opulence and the lavish lifestyle of America ’ s Gilded Age . The museum features a Spanish- American War exhibit and a special room displaying mementos and souvenirs from the Plant system of railways , steamship lines , and hotels .
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