Built in 1891, the Tampa Bay Hotel was the gem of Henry Bradley Plant's Florida empire. Plant competed with Henry Flagler in the hotel business as well as in the railroad race throughout Florida during the Gilded Age. Located near Plant's Tampa ralroad terminus the Tampa Bay Hotel, designed by J.A. Wood, was one of the largest resors of the age, holding over 500 rooms within its walls.

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While Flagler dominated the east coast of Forida with Spanish influenced architecture, Plant's Tampa Bay Hotel paid homage to the Moorish, Arab style that dominated the Middle East and parts of Spain. The Tampa Bay Hotel featured towering minarets giving it the look of an Arabian palace near the sea.

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Tampa experienced exponential growth during the Gilded Age; Plant is often credited with attracting people to the bay city and laying the groundwork for the city's tourism industry.

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The Tampa Bay Hotel officially closed its doors to guests in 1930 after succumbing to the pressures brought on by the Great Depression. The hotel became a junior college in 1933, after sitting unused since its closing. The University of Tampa and Henry B. Plant Museum officially leased the building in 1941 with a contract that is set to last 99 years.

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Text by Clayton Junkins