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Tampa
KNOWLEDGE OF Tampa
In 1527, Spanish explorer Panfilo de Narvaez set off with a fleet of four galleons in search of that coveted New World treasure—gold. His plans failed. A hurricane blew his ships off course to a landing on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
In the village, so the story goes, de Narvaez spotted a glittering gold ornament and thought he had found every early explorer's dream. But, that treasure turned out to be Spain's very own doubloons, salvaged by native tribes who had plucked them from shipwrecks!
More explorers came seeking treasure. The pirates Black Caesar, José Gaspar and Jean Lafitte left a legacy, literally and figuratively. They are remembered fondly—even honored—today at the region's annual Gasparilla Festival, a party that features a pirate invasion in full costume.
When fishing fleets arrived to take advantage of the fish-rich waters of Tampa Bay, another industry developed. Fish remains a mainstay of the region's economy and the backbone of the area’s restaurants.
As commerce grew, the addition of miles-long causeways and bridges connected the string of islands with the mainland. The Skyway Bridge, a series of connectors that stretches 14 miles across glittering Tampa Bay, is now a tourist attraction in its own right.
Eventually, contemporary buccaneers began promoting the Tampa region as prime real estate. During the 1920s boom years, promoters followed in the tracks of entrepreneur and railroad magnate Henry Plant. Plant brought a railroad line from cold northern climes to the sunny South and engendered a legendary rivalry with his entrepreneurial counterpart, Henry Flagler, who also built a railroad on the Florida peninsula's Atlantic coastline.
Plunking down what was then the staggering sum of $3 million dollars, Plant opened the massive Tampa Bay Hotel in 1891 at the water's edge, topping it with glittering silver minarets and trimming its verandas with Moorish woodwork. Visible for miles around, the beloved Tampa Bay Hotel remains the city's landmark. A magnificent structure, it once boasted corridors so wide the hotel's indolent wealthy could hire a rickshaw to trot them off to their rooms. To get upstairs, they rode a hand-carved, wood elevator powered by hydraulic force, the only one of its kind in the world. Here, the famous and the infamous strode the wide verandas—Teddy Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Clara Barton, William Jennings Bryan.
Plant went on to build another hotel, the imposing Belleview Biltmore, which is still operating today. Soon these two hostelries were joined by the bubble-gum pink Don Cesar Hotel, flagship of the coastal island hotels and possessor of a notable guest list that includes F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda.
In the village, so the story goes, de Narvaez spotted a glittering gold ornament and thought he had found every early explorer's dream. But, that treasure turned out to be Spain's very own doubloons, salvaged by native tribes who had plucked them from shipwrecks!
More explorers came seeking treasure. The pirates Black Caesar, José Gaspar and Jean Lafitte left a legacy, literally and figuratively. They are remembered fondly—even honored—today at the region's annual Gasparilla Festival, a party that features a pirate invasion in full costume.
When fishing fleets arrived to take advantage of the fish-rich waters of Tampa Bay, another industry developed. Fish remains a mainstay of the region's economy and the backbone of the area’s restaurants.
As commerce grew, the addition of miles-long causeways and bridges connected the string of islands with the mainland. The Skyway Bridge, a series of connectors that stretches 14 miles across glittering Tampa Bay, is now a tourist attraction in its own right.
Eventually, contemporary buccaneers began promoting the Tampa region as prime real estate. During the 1920s boom years, promoters followed in the tracks of entrepreneur and railroad magnate Henry Plant. Plant brought a railroad line from cold northern climes to the sunny South and engendered a legendary rivalry with his entrepreneurial counterpart, Henry Flagler, who also built a railroad on the Florida peninsula's Atlantic coastline.
Plunking down what was then the staggering sum of $3 million dollars, Plant opened the massive Tampa Bay Hotel in 1891 at the water's edge, topping it with glittering silver minarets and trimming its verandas with Moorish woodwork. Visible for miles around, the beloved Tampa Bay Hotel remains the city's landmark. A magnificent structure, it once boasted corridors so wide the hotel's indolent wealthy could hire a rickshaw to trot them off to their rooms. To get upstairs, they rode a hand-carved, wood elevator powered by hydraulic force, the only one of its kind in the world. Here, the famous and the infamous strode the wide verandas—Teddy Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Clara Barton, William Jennings Bryan.
Plant went on to build another hotel, the imposing Belleview Biltmore, which is still operating today. Soon these two hostelries were joined by the bubble-gum pink Don Cesar Hotel, flagship of the coastal island hotels and possessor of a notable guest list that includes F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda.
Chapi