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Tampa Bay Hotel, 401 West Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, Hillsborough County, FL

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Tampa Bay Hotel, 401 West Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, Hillsborough County, FL

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Summary

1983 Charles E. Peterson Prize, Second Place
Significance: Henry Bradley Plant, whose railroad and steamship lines opened up Florida's west coast for development, commissioned the luxurious Tampa Bay Hotel in 1888 as the premier hotel in his chain of resorts. Architect and builder, J.A. Wood, designed this unique hotel in the Moorish style incorporating the keyhole arch motif and crescent moons crowning thirteen onion-domed minarets. Cast concrete sill courses and skewbacks detail the massive brick walls which support an innovative floor system of steel, concrete and salvaged narrow gauge railroad rails. Details worthy of note are the wooden tracery of the piazzas and the interior trim and mantelpieces. After opening in 1891, this resort played host to many rich and famous personalities including Anna Povlova, Babe Ruth and Clara Barton. The City of Tampa bought the building after Mr. Plant's death in 1899 and leased it as a hotel until 1933 when the financially troubled hotel was leased to the newly founded University of Tampa. Today the hotel, renamed Plant Hall, houses the university's administration and classrooms. The only major alteration is the addition of rooms on the second floor, which was originally open to the lobby below. The domed music room, grand salon and main dining room are the building's most significant spaces and remain unaltered.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-67
Survey number: HABS FL-362
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 72000322

The “Florida’s First Magical Kingdom” or simply Tampa Bay Hotel is a hallmark of Florida’s Gilded Age and a stunning example of Turkish and Moorish styled architecture. Florida’s premier hotel during the land and tourism boom in the 1880s and 1890s, it served as the headquarter’s of the United States Army during the Spanish-American War. As Florida’s land boom and the U.S. stock market crashed in late 1920s, the Tampa Bay Hotel was closed in 1930. Currently, the University of Tampa uses the Hotel for classrooms and offices. The south wing of the Hotel remains dedicated to preserving the glory days of the hotel’s past.

date_range

Date

1933 - 1970
person

Contributors

Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
University of Tampa, sponsor
Black, Reed Alan, delineator
place

Location

Port Tampa Point27.94638, -82.46415
Google Map of 27.946377, -82.46414519999999
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Source

Library of Congress
copyright

Copyright info

No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html

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