Henry B. Plant Museum

When you're building a railroad to nowhere...how do you make the journey worthwhile?

Henry B. Plant portrait and signature

If you’re railroad magnate Henry Bradley Plant, in the midst of the sand swamps that would be Tampa, you construct the most astonishingly magnificent hotel of its day, then fill it with treasures from around the world.

With its splendid Moorish architecture, opulent furnishings, and spectacular tropical gardens, Plant’s Tampa Bay Hotel attracted a host of celebrated guests, from Teddy Roosevelt to Sarah Bernhardt to Babe Ruth.

A visit to the Henry B. Plant Museum and the authentically restored rooms of the Tampa Bay Hotel will transport you back to a time of indulgent ten-course meals, waltzing on the veranda and alligator hunting by moonlight... The journey is still worthwhile.

Museum

Henry Plant Hotel 1891

The Tampa Bay Hotel cost approximately $2,500,000 to build and $500,000 to furnish. Advertised as absolutely fireproof, due to the steel rails for reinforcement and concrete construction, it consisted of 511 rooms.

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Permanent Collection

Women and their Pastimes

This vignette room reflects the variety of leisure activities available to the Hotel’s female guests. Many ladies joined their husbands on hunting and fishing trips and were seasoned outdoors-women, adept at riding and shooting. 

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Volunteer

Volunteer Opportinities

We are looking for energetic, enthusiastic people of all ages to assist in Museum operations. Share your interest in arts and history and enjoy the opportunity to work in this unique environment.

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