Inside the south wing of Plant Hall, at 401 West Kennedy Boulevard, you'll find the Henry B. Plant Museum on the University of Tampa campus. This building began life as the Tampa Bay Hotel, a 511-room resort-style hotel Henry B. Plant opened on February 5, 1891 near the terminus of the Plant System rail line that he forged and owned. The hotel was designed by architect J. A. Wood and built between 1888 and 1891 at a construction cost of over $3 million.
Inside the museum the story is told in the Historic House Museum style: exhibits focus on Gilded Age tourism in the Tampa Bay area, the elite lifestyle of the hotel's guests, and the Tampa Bay Hotel's use during the Spanish–American War. Artifacts are displayed to reflect their original placement and usage within the hotel, so you feel the rooms as they once were. As you stand here, consider the vision of a railroad magnate, the architect who also designed the Old Hillsborough County Courthouse in 1892 and other grand hotels and houses in the region, and the era when this resort welcomed guests.
The building and the campus grounds now cradle this history, waiting quietly for your next glance.