Since January 17, 2009 the Tampa Bay History Center has held the waterfront at 801 Water Street in Tampa's Channelside District. The building you face opened on January 17, 2009 and houses 60,000 square feet of museum space, including 25,000 square feet dedicated to exhibits across three floors. Inside, the Center covers 12,000 years of Florida history with a special focus on Tampa Bay and the Gulf Coast, from the region’s first native inhabitants through visits by Spanish conquistadores and the historical figures who shaped this place.
You can picture the reproduced 1920s cigar store on display, and know that the Center is a Smithsonian Affiliate and has been accredited by the American Alliance of Museums since 2015. The facility also holds a museum store, classrooms, a map gallery and an event hall, plus the Witt Research Center — a branch of the Tampa‑Hillsborough County Public Library System — and the Columbia Cafe, a branch of Ybor City’s Columbia Restaurant. Here you're at the doorway to that layered story of people and place, with the waterfront and the Channelside District stretching outward.