Tampa Bay History Center
Tampa Bay History Center is a history museum in Tampa, Florida. Exhibits include coverage of the Tampa Bay area's first native inhabitants, Spanish conquistadors, and historical figures who shaped the area's history, as well as a reproduction of a 1920s cigar store. The museum is on the waterfront at 801 Water Street in Tampa's Channelside District. It opened on January 17, 2009. The History Center building is with of exhibit space. The Tampa Bay History Center includes three floors of permanent and temporary exhibition space covering 12,000 years of Florida history, with a  special focus on Tampa Bay and the Gulf Coast. The History Center has a museum store, classrooms, the Witt Research Center (a branch of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System), a map gallery, an event hall and the Columbia Cafe (a branch of Ybor City's Columbia Restaurant). Tampa Bay History Center Timeline. Hillsborough County was 14 times its present size when it was established by the Florida Territorial Legislature in 1834. Its boundaries included all or part of 24 present-day counties, stretching from Ocala to Lake Okeechobee and St. Petersburg to Orlando. In the early 1880s, Tampa  residents expressed concern that there was no organized effort to preserve and display local artifacts. In the January 19, 1882, issue of The Sunland Tribune, County Judge J. G. Knapp wrote, "... no time should be lost in snatching the historical artifacts from the waste and death of oblivion. Who shall do it?" Fast forward 100 years: Mr. Touchton serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees until 2000. to build out the new museum, the Board of Trustees agrees to increase the private campaign goal from $28 million to $32 million. Exhibits. The museum's exhibition galleries explore  500 years of recorded history and 12,000 years of human habitation in the Tampa Bay region in its three floors of exhibitions. These include exhibitions of Florida's First People, teaching visitors about Indigenous groups including the Tocobaga and Timucua, and the "Cigar City" gallery, telling the stories of thousands of immigrant cigar workers from Cuba, Spain and Italy who came to Tampa and earned it the name of the "Cigar City". Touchton Map Library. The Touchton Map Library, which is the only cartographic center in the Southeast United States, is home to thousands of maps, charts, and other documents . The collection covers more than 500 years of cartography. The Library partners with University of South Florida Libraries to provide the general public with access to thousands of more maps. The collection is in the process of being digitized and can be viewed online. Cuban Pathways. This exhibit is a recent addition to the Tampa Bay History Center running until February 12, 2023 that details the shared history and experiences of Cuban migrants with Florida's history, and how Cuban culture has had on Floridian culture and the history of Cuba created by the people who lived and worked there  amid various stages in the country's past. The exhibition is presented in both English and Spanish, and covers topics as sunny as vacations to the political strife that has shaped Cuba into the place it is today. Treasure Seekers. The Treasure Seekers Exhibit spans a good amount of the fourth floor of the museum, and offers patrons the ability to look at and engage with seafaring technology and practice of the past, including a section focusing on using recreations of astrolabes, devices that tracked celestial bodies to allow sailors and pirates alike the ability to find their way out  on the sea. Pirates, conquistadors, and naval history are all explored in this exhibit, with interactive presentations like "The Pirate's Fate Theater" immersing guests on a voyage on the sea. Programs. Tampa Bay History Center offers docent-guided walking tours of Tampa’s historic sites and neighborhoods. The tours last 90 minutes and cover about one mile. Two notable tours include Ybor City and Central Avenue East. Tampa Bay History Center hosts a monthly book group focused on Florida literature. The event is free with registration. Florida Conversations is a free, monthly lecture series highlighting research into Florida history . The Tampa Bay History Center features several activities for youth engagement, including Summer History Adventure Camps. Teen volunteers are enlisted to work as Summer Camp Counselors, providing a fun learning environment for kids. Teens are also recruited to serve on the Teen Council and as Educational Volunteers, where they assist with creating educational programming and events. Teens can gain educational assistance through AP Trivia Nights, which covers a variety of topics relevant to high school Advanced Placement courses.