You can hardly miss the Moorish spires at the top of the Henry B. Plant Museum located on the University of Tampa campus. They serve as a distinctive and unique compass point leading you right to the front door.
That said, good luck finding parking; it’s abysmal. I spent quite some time meandering around the campus with its multiple restricted lots before stopping to ask a guard where the advertised museum parking was located. I was directed to a few measly parallel parking spaces across from the front of the building, maybe 6 or 7 in total. Since there are classes on the upper floors of the building, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it was most probably students looking for convenient, free parking – especially since I was the only person in the museum once I got there. Keep that in mind when planning your excursion and consider a weekend rather than a weekday. Okay, so let’s move on.
In 1880, Tampa was home to all of about 800 people. Imagine the hole-in-the-wall place it must’ve been. By 1900, the population had burgeoned to 15,000. This was due in great part to Henry B. Plant’s enterprises, namely steamships, railroads and the amazing Tampa Bay Hotel. The Victorian resort began construction in 1888 and was completed in 1891.
Henry wanted his hotel to be a winter resort for the rich and famous. Designed as a Moorish palace, it cost $2.5 million to build. It was illuminated with the most modern electric lighting, private baths, telephones and elevators. Guests could amuse themselves with golf, tennis, horse racing, dancing, boating and swimming.
In its heyday, it attracted the likes of Gloria Swanson, Babe Ruth, Thomas Edison, Booker T. Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Clara Barton, John Jacob Aster, Winston Churchill and John Philip Sousa. Today, if you step into the lobby and close your eyes, you can almost hear Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour (from Somewhere in Time) whispering discreetly as they stroll in from the back veranda.
As you make your way through the museum, you’ll discover the Writing and Reading Room. It is the most historically accurate room in the building.
The era was one of opulence and was called the Gilded Age. The inspiration for the furnishings came from past civilizations. When Henry and Margaret Plant traveled through Europe, they returned with sculptures, Oriental vases, French clocks, paintings and tapestries. Their purchases filled 41 train cars.
The Henry B. Plant Museum is worth your time. It’s located at 401 W. Kennedy Blvd. The phone number is 813-254-1891. There is wheelchair access but not at the front entrance. It is around back at the veranda. They are open January through November, Tuesday-Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 12-5. Their brochure says they have extended hours in December for the Victorian Christmas Stroll. (I may go back for that).
The main entrance to the building is not the entrance to the museum. Turn left at the top of the stairs before entering the lobby and go down to the next doorway. The cost for seniors is $7. You might even consider having breakfast at the Oxford Exchange (see blog post under “Restaurants”) and then mosey over to the museum, which is 3 minutes away.
Lisa Browder 
Leave a comment