Tampa () is a city on the
Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...
of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. The city's borders include the north shore of
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...
and the east shore of
Old Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...
. Tampa is the largest city in the
Tampa Bay area
The Tampa Bay area is a major populated area surrounding Tampa Bay on the west coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 18th largest metropolitan area in the United St ...
and the
seat
A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense.
Types of seat
The following are examples of different kinds of seat:
* Armchair (furniture), ...
of
Hillsborough County. With a population of 384,959 according to the 2020 census, Tampa is the third-most populated city in Florida after
Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
and
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
and is the
52nd most populated city in the United States.
Tampa functioned as a military center during the 19th century with the establishment of
Fort Brooke
Fort Brooke was a historical military post established at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in present-day Tampa, Florida in 1824. Its original purpose was to serve as a check on and trading post for the native Seminoles who had been confined ...
. The cigar industry was also brought to the city by
Vincente Martinez Ybor, after whom
Ybor City
Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly ...
is named. Tampa was formally reincorporated as a city in 1887, following the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. Today, Tampa's economy is driven by tourism, health care, finance, insurance, technology, construction, and the maritime industry. The bay's
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
is the largest in the state, responsible for over $15 billion in economic impact.
The city is part of the
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area which is a four-county area composed of roughly 3.1 million residents,
making it the second-largest
metropolitan statistical area
In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...
(MSA) in the state and the fourth largest in the Southeastern United States, behind
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
,
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, and
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. The Greater Tampa Bay area has over 4 million residents and generally includes the Tampa and
Sarasota
Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...
metro areas. As of 2018, Tampa's annual growth rate is 1.63%.
Etymology
When the pioneer community living near the US Army outpost of
Fort Brooke
Fort Brooke was a historical military post established at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in present-day Tampa, Florida in 1824. Its original purpose was to serve as a check on and trading post for the native Seminoles who had been confined ...
was incorporated in 1849, it was called "Tampa Town" and the name was shortened to simply "Tampa" in 1855. The earliest instance of the name "Tampa", in the form "Tanpa", appears in the memoirs of
Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda
Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda ( – after 1575, dates uncertain) was a Spanish shipwreck survivor who lived among the Native Americans of Florida for 17 years. His c. 1575 memoir, ''Memoria de las cosas y costa y indios de la Florida'', is one ...
, who spent 17 years as a captive of the
Calusa
The Calusa ( ) were a Native American people of Florida's southwest coast. Calusa society developed from that of archaic peoples of the Everglades region. Previous indigenous cultures had lived in the area for thousands of years.
At the time of ...
and traveled through much of peninsular Florida. He described Tanpa as an important Calusa town to the north of the Calusa domain, possibly under another chief.
Archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
Jerald Milanich places the town of Tanpa at the mouth of
Charlotte Harbor. The entrances to Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor are obscured by
barrier island
Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of Dune, dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything fro ...
s, and their locations, and the names applied to them, were a source of confusion to explorers, surveyors and map-makers from the 16th century through the 18th century. ''Bahía Tampa'' and ''Bahía de Espíritu Santo'' were each used, at one time or another, for the modern Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor.
Tampa Bay was labeled ''Bahía de Espíritu Santo'' (Bay of the Holy Spirit) in the earliest Spanish maps of Florida, but became known as B. Tampa (''Bahía Tampa'' or Tampa Bay) as early as 1576. "B. Tampa", corresponding to Tampa Bay, appeared for the first time on a printed map in Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas's Description del Destricto del Audiencia de la Espanola, from his book Descripcion de las Indias Ocidentales, printed in Madrid in 1601.
A British map of 1705 also shows B. Tampa, with "Carlos Bay" for Charlotte Harbor to the south, while a 1748 British map had "B. del Spirito Santo" for Tampa Bay and, again, "Carlos Bay" to the south. A Spanish map of 1757 renamed Tampa Bay as "San Fernando". As late as 1774,
Bernard Romans called Tampa Bay "Bay of Espiritu Santo", with "Tampa Bay" restricted to the Northwest arm (what is now Old Tampa Bay) and the northeast arm named "Hillsborough Bay". The name may have come from the Calusa language or possibly, the
Timucua language
Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida and southern Georgia by the Timucua peoples. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish colonization in Florida. Differences among the ...
. Some scholars have compared "Tampa" to "itimpi", which means "close to" or "nearby" in the
Creek language
The Muscogee language (Muskogee, ''Mvskoke'' in Muscogee), also known as Creek, is a Muskogean language spoken by Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole people, primarily in the US states of Oklahoma and Florida. Along with Mikasuki, when it is spoken by ...
, but its meaning is not known.
[
People from Tampa are generally known as "Tampans", "Tampanians", or "Tampeños". Local authorities consulted by Michael Kruse of the '']Tampa Bay Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single y ...
'' suggest that "Tampan" was historically more common, while "Tampanian" became popular when the former term came to be seen as a potential insult. A mix of Cuban, Italian, and Spanish immigrants began arriving in the late 1800s to found and work in the new communities of Ybor City
Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly ...
and West Tampa
West Tampa is one of the oldest neighborhoods within the city limits of Tampa, Florida, United States. It was an independently incorporated city from 1895 until 1925, when it was annexed by Tampa.
West Tampa is located west of the Hillsborough ...
. By about 1900, these newcomers came to be known as "Tampeños" (or "Tampeñas" for females), a term that is still sometimes used to refer to their descendants living in the area, and potentially, to all residents of Tampa regardless of their ethnic background.
History
Indigenous peoples and European exploration
The shores of Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...
have been inhabited for thousands of years. A variant of the Weeden Island culture
The Weeden Island Cultures are a group of related archaeological cultures that existed during the Late Woodland period of the North American Southeast. The name for this group of cultures was derived from the Weedon Island site (despite the diss ...
developed in the area by about 2000 years ago, with archeological evidence suggesting that these residents relied on the sea for most of their resources, as a vast majority of inhabited sites have been found on or near the shoreline and there is little evidence of farming. At the time of European contact in the early 16th century, several chiefdoms of the Safety Harbor culture
The Safety Harbor culture was an archaeological culture practiced by Native Americans living on the central Gulf coast of the Florida peninsula, from about 900 CE until after 1700. The Safety Harbor culture is defined by the presence of Safety H ...
dominated the area.
Early Spanish explorers interacted most extensively with the Tocobaga
Tocobaga (occasionally Tocopaca) was the name of a chiefdom, its chief, and its principal town during the 16th century. The chiefdom was centered around the northern end of Old Tampa Bay, the arm of Tampa Bay that extends between the present-day ...
, whose principal town was at the northern end of Old Tampa Bay near today's Safety Harbor
Safety Harbor is a city on the west shore of Tampa Bay in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It was settled in 1823 and incorporated in 1917. The population was 16,884 at the 2010 census.
History
The area has been inhabited since the Stone ...
in Pinellas County
Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg– Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical ...
. While there is a substantial historical record of the Tocobaga (and the Calusa
The Calusa ( ) were a Native American people of Florida's southwest coast. Calusa society developed from that of archaic peoples of the Everglades region. Previous indigenous cultures had lived in the area for thousands of years.
At the time of ...
, who lived to the south), there is less surviving documentation describing the Pohoy
Pohoy (also Pojoy, Pojoi, Pooy, Posoy, Pujoy) was a chiefdom on the shores of Tampa Bay in present-day Florida in the late sixteenth century and all of the seventeenth century. Following slave-taking raids by people from the Lower Towns of the Musc ...
, who lived near the mouth of the Hillsborough River near today's downtown Tampa. However, evidence suggests that the language and culture of the Pohoy and other lesser-known groups around the bay were very similar to that of the Tocobaga.
Expeditions led by Pánfilo de Narváez
Pánfilo de Narváez (; 147?–1528) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and soldier in the Americas. Born in Spain, he first embarked to Jamaica in 1510 as a soldier. He came to participate in the conquest of Cuba and led an expedition to Camagüey ...
and Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...
landed near Tampa, but neither conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
stayed long. There is no natural gold or silver in Florida, and the native inhabitants repulsed Spanish attempts to establish a permanent settlement or convert them to Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. The fighting resulted in a few deaths, but the many more deaths were caused by infectious diseases brought from Europe, which devastated the population of Native Americans across Florida and the entire Western Hemisphere. The indigenous cultures of the Tampa Bay area had collapsed by around 1600, leaving the west coast of Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida ( es, La Florida) was the first major European land claim and attempted settlement in North America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, ...
largely depopulated and ignored for more than 200 years.[Mulder, Kenneth. ''Tampa Bay: Days of Long Ago''. P&M Pub. Co., 1990.]
In the mid-18th century, events in the American colonies and the early United States drove the Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...
people into northern Florida, but they did not move into central Florida until after the United States gained control of Florida in 1821.
Before the American period, the Tampa Bay area had a handful of residents: Cuban
Cuban may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean
* Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent
** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof
* Cuban citizen, a perso ...
and Native American fishermen who established small seasonal camps called "ranchos" on the shores of Tampa Bay. The largest was at the mouth of Spanishtown Creek in today's Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
neighborhood along Bayshore Boulevard
Bayshore Boulevard is a waterfront road on Hillsborough Bay in South Tampa, Florida. Located south of downtown Tampa
Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa, Florida, United States, and the chief financial district of the ...
.
U.S. control
After purchasing Florida from Spain in 1821, the United States built forts and trading posts in the new territory. Fort Brooke
Fort Brooke was a historical military post established at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in present-day Tampa, Florida in 1824. Its original purpose was to serve as a check on and trading post for the native Seminoles who had been confined ...
was established in January 1824 at the mouth of the Hillsborough River on Tampa Bay, in Downtown Tampa
Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa, Florida, United States, and the chief financial district of the Tampa Bay Area.
It is second only to Westshore regarding employment in the area. Companies with a major presence downtown ...
.
Tampa was initially an isolated frontier outpost. The sparse civilian population practically abandoned the area during the Second Seminole War
The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans and ...
from 1835 to 1842, after which the Seminoles were forced out and many settlers returned.
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
became the 27th state on March 3, 1845. On January 18, 1849, Tampa was officially incorporated as the "Village of Tampa." It was home to 185 civilians, or 974 total residents including military personnel, in 1850. Tampa was reincorporated as a town on December 15, 1855.
Civil War and Reconstruction
During the Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, Florida seceded along with most of the southern states to form the Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
, and Fort Brooke was defended by Confederate troops. Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
was declared in Tampa in January 1862, and Tampa's city government ceased to operate for the duration of the war.
In 1861, the Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
Navy set up a blockade
A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force.
A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...
around many southern ports to cut off the Confederacy. Several US Navy ships were stationed near the mouth of Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...
, but small blockade running ships were often able to slip by the blockade to deliver cattle to Spanish Cuba, earning gold for the Confederate cause. On June 30, 1862, the gunboat USS Sagamore
USS ''Sagamore'' is a name used more than once by the U.S. Navy:
* , a gunboat operating during the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the Unite ...
sailed into Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...
and opened fire on Fort Brooke, which returned fire. The ''Sagamore'' withdrew after a few hours, and the Battle of Tampa
The Battle of Tampa, also known as the "Yankee Outrage at Tampa", was a minor engagement of the American Civil War fought June 30 – July 1, 1862, between the United States Navy and a Confederate artillery company charged with "protecting" ...
caused little damage. During the Battle of Fort Brooke
The Battle of Fort Brooke was a minor engagement fought October 16–18, 1863 in and around Tampa, Florida during the American Civil War. The most important outcome of the action was the destruction of two Confederate blockade runners whic ...
on October 16 and the Battle of Ballast Point on October 18, 1863, Union forces inflicted serious damage to the city's economy when, under the cover of another bombardment of the fort, troops landed and destroyed two blockade running ships that had been hidden upstream along the Hillsborough River.
In May 1864, Union troops landed again and took Fort Brooke largely unopposed. They destroyed much of the fort's facilities and confiscated the remaining military supplies other than the canons, which they tossed into the Hillsborough River, then left the "desolate" town after two days.
The Civil War ended in April 1865 with a Confederate defeat. In May 1865, federal troops arrived in Tampa to occupy the fort and the town as part of Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
. They remained until August 1869.
During the immediate post-war period, Tampa was a poor, isolated fishing village with about 1000 residents and little industry. Yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
, borne by mosquitoes from nearby swamps, broke out several times during the 1860s and 1870s, causing more residents to leave. In 1869, residents voted to abolish the city of Tampa government.
The population of "Tampa Town" was about 800 by 1870 and dropped to about 700 by 1880. Fort Brooke was decommissioned in 1883, further impacting the local economy in the short run but opening up the waterfront for development. Except for two cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
s displayed on the University of Tampa
The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...
campus, all traces of the fort are gone.
1880s economic prosperity
In the mid-1880s, Tampa's fortunes took several sudden turns for the better. First, phosphate
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid .
The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...
was discovered in the Bone Valley
The Bone Valley is a region of central Florida, encompassing portions of present-day Hardee, Hillsborough, Manatee, and Polk counties, in which phosphate is mined for use in the production of agricultural fertilizer. Florida currently contains t ...
region southeast of Tampa in 1883. The mineral, vital for the production of fertilizer
A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
s and other products, was soon being shipped from the Port of Tampa in great volume. Tampa is still a major phosphate exporter.
The discovery of phosphate, the arrival of Plant's railroad, and the founding of Ybor City and West Tampa—all in the mid-1880s—were crucial to Tampa's development. The once-struggling village of Tampa became a bustling boomtown
A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...
almost overnight and had grown into one of the largest cities in Florida by 1900.
Plant's railroad
Henry B. Plant
Henry Bradley Plant (October 27, 1819 – June 23, 1899), was a businessman, entrepreneur, and investor involved with many transportation interests and projects, mostly railroads, in the southeastern United States. He was founder of the Plant Sy ...
's narrow-gauge South Florida Railroad
The South Florida Railroad was a railroad from Sanford, Florida, to Tampa, Florida, becoming part of the Plant System in 1893 and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. It served as the southernmost segment of the Atlantic Coast Line's ma ...
reached Tampa and its port in late 1883, finally connecting the small town to the nation's railroad system after years of efforts by local leaders. Previously, Tampa's overland transportation links had consisted of sandy roads stretching across the Florida countryside. Plant's railroad made it much easier to get goods in and out of the Tampa Bay area. Phosphate and commercial fishing
Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...
exports could be sent north by rail, and many new products were brought into the Tampa market, along with the first tourists.
Ybor's cigars
The new railroad link enabled another important industry to come to Tampa. In 1885, the Tampa Board of Trade enticed Vicente Martinez Ybor
Vicente Martinez Ybor (7 September 1818 – 14 December 1896), was a Spanish entrepreneur who first became a noted industrialist and cigar manufacturer in Cuba, then Key West, and finally Tampa, Florida.
Martinez Ybor is best known for his fou ...
to move his cigar
A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...
manufacturing operations to Tampa from Key West
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
. Proximity to Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
made importation of "clear Havana tobacco" easy by sea, and Plant's railroad made shipment of finished cigars to the rest of the US market easy by land.[Lastra, Frank. ''Ybor City: The Making of a Landmark Town''. 2006. University of Tampa Press.]
Since Tampa was still a small town at the time (population less than 5,000), Ybor built hundreds of small houses around his factory to accommodate the immediate influx of mainly Cuban
Cuban may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean
* Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent
** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof
* Cuban citizen, a perso ...
and Spanish cigar workers. Ybor City
Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly ...
's factories rolled their first cigars in 1886, and many different cigar manufacturers moved their operations to town in ensuing years. Many Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
and a few eastern European Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
immigrants arrived starting in the late 1880s, opening businesses and shops that catered to cigar workers. By 1900, over 10,000 immigrants had moved to the neighborhood. Several thousand more Cuban immigrants built West Tampa
West Tampa is one of the oldest neighborhoods within the city limits of Tampa, Florida, United States. It was an independently incorporated city from 1895 until 1925, when it was annexed by Tampa.
West Tampa is located west of the Hillsborough ...
, another cigar-centric suburb founded a few years later by Hugh MacFarlane. Between them, two "Latin" communities combined to exponentially expand Tampa's population, economic base, and tax revenues, as Tampa became the "Cigar Capital of the World".
Early 20th century
During the first few decades of the 20th century, the cigar-making industry was the backbone of Tampa's economy. The factories in Ybor City and West Tampa made an enormous number of cigars—in the peak year of 1929, over 500 million cigars were hand rolled in the city.
In 1904, a civic association of local businessmen dubbed themselves Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla
The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is a large parade and a host of related community events held in Tampa, Florida almost every year since 1904. The theme of the festivities is a friendly invasion by the mythical pirate José Gaspar (also known as Gasp ...
(named after local mythical pirate José Gaspar), and staged an "invasion" of the city followed by a parade. With a few exceptions, the Gasparilla Pirate Festival
The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is a large parade and a host of related community events held in Tampa, Florida almost every year since 1904. The theme of the festivities is a friendly invasion by the mythical pirate José Gaspar (also known as Gasp ...
has been held every year since.
Bolita and organized crime
Beginning in the late 19th century, illegal bolita
Bolita (Spanish for ''Little Ball'') is a type of lottery which was popular in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries in Cuba and among Florida's working class Hispanic, Italian, and black population. In the basic bolita game, 100 small number ...
lotteries were very popular among the Tampa working classes, especially in Ybor City. In the early 1920s, this small-time operation was taken over by Charlie Wall
Charles McKay Wall (March 10, 1880 – April 18, 1955) was an American businessman, mobster, and political figure who was a rival of reputed mobsters Santo Trafficante Sr. and Santo Trafficante Jr. His parents were John Perry Wall and M ...
, the rebellious son of a prominent Tampa family, and went big-time. Bolita was able to openly thrive only because of kick-backs and bribes to key local politicians and law enforcement officials, and many were on the take.[Kerstein, Robert. ''Politics and Growth in 20th Century Tampa''. University Press of Florida. .]
Profits from the bolita lotteries and Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
-era bootlegging led to the development of several organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
factions in the city. Charlie Wall was the first major boss, but various power struggles culminated in consolidation of control by Sicilian mafioso Santo Trafficante Sr.
Santo Trafficante Sr. (May 28, 1886 – August 11, 1954) was a Sicily, Sicilian-born mobster, and father of the powerful mobster Santo Trafficante Jr.
Santo Trafficante Sr. gained power as a mobster in Tampa, Florida and ruled the Italian-A ...
and his faction in the 1950s. After his death in 1954 from cancer, control passed to his son, Santo Trafficante Jr.
Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 – March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. He headed the Trafficante crime family and controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had prev ...
, who established alliances with families in New York City and extended his power throughout Florida and into Batista
Batista is a Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include:
* Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player
* Dave Bautista, American actor and professional wrestler, also ...
-era Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
.
The era of rampant and open corruption ended in the 1950s, when Estes Kefauver
Carey Estes Kefauver (;
July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1939 to 1949 and in the Senate from 1949 until his d ...
's traveling organized crime hearings came to town and were followed by the sensational misconduct trials of several local officials. Although many of the worst offenders in government and the mob were not charged, the trials helped to end the sense of lawlessness which had prevailed in Tampa for decades.
Mid to late 20th century
Tampa grew considerably as a result of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Prior to the United States' involvement in the conflict, construction began on MacDill Field
MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida.
The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...
, which served as a main base for Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps:
* Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army
* Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941)
* United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...
and later Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
operations just before and during World War II, with multiple auxiliary airfields around the Tampa Bay area and surrounding counties. At the end of the war, MacDill remained as an active military installation, while the auxiliary fields reverted to civilian control. Two of these auxiliary fields would later become the present-day Tampa International Airport
Tampa International Airport is an international airport west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA)., effective December 30, 2021. T ...
and St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport. With the establishment of an independent U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
in 1947, MacDill Field became MacDill Air Force Base
MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida.
The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...
.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Tampa saw record-setting population growth that has not been seen since. This growth spurred expansion of the city's highways and bridges, bringing thousands into the city and creating opportunities for Tampa business owners, who welcomed the influx of tourists and new residents. It was during this time period in the city's history that two of the most popular tourist attractions in the area were developed – Busch Gardens
Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States, owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The original park is in Tampa, Florida, and the second park is in Williamsburg, Virginia. There were also previously B ...
and Lowry Park. Many of the well-known institutions that play an important role in the economic development of the city were established during this time period.
The University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
was established in North Tampa in 1956 and opened for students in September 1960. The school spurred the construction of several residential and commercial developments in the previously agriculture-dominated area around the new campus. Overall, Tampa continued to expand away from the city center during the 1960s as new hospitals, schools, churches and subdivisions all began appearing to accommodate the growth. Many business offices began moving away from the traditional downtown office building into more convenient neighborhood office plazas.
In 1970, the U.S. Census Bureau reported city's population as 80.0% white and 19.7% black.
Four attempts have been made to consolidate the municipal government of the city of Tampa with the county government of Hillsborough County (1967, 1970, 1971, and 1972), all of which failed at the ballot box; the greatest loss was the most recent attempt in 1972, with the final tally being 33,160 (31%) in favor and 73,568 (69%) against the proposed charter.
The biggest recent growth in the city was the development of New Tampa
New Tampa is a region in Florida that encompasses both a area within the corporate limits of the City of Tampa, as well as a larger land area that is in unincorporated Hillsborough, but retains a Tampa mailing address. The incorporated portion ...
, which started in 1988 when the city annexed a mostly rural area of between I-275 Interstate 275 (I-275) may refer to:
*Interstate 275 (Florida), a loop through Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Bradenton in Florida
*Interstate 275 (Michigan), a western bypass of Detroit, Michigan
*Interstate 275 (Ohio–Indiana–Kentucky), a full belt ...
and I-75
Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...
.
East Tampa
East Tampa is a district within the city limits of Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore o ...
, historically a mostly black community, was the scene of several race riot
This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on ethnic, sectarian, xenophobic, and racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms.
Africa
Americas
United States
Nativist period: 1700s ...
s during and for some time after the period of racial segregation, mainly due to problems between residents and the Tampa Police Department
The Tampa Police Department (TPD) is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of Tampa, Florida. The Tampa Police Department has over 1,000 authorized sworn law enforcement personnel positions and more than 350 civilian and support staff ...
.
Geography
Topography
According to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , including of land and (35.3%) of water. The highest point in the city is only above sea level. Tampa is bordered by two bodies of water, Old Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...
and Hillsborough Bay, which flow together to form Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...
, which in turn flows into the Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
. The Hillsborough River flows into Hillsborough Bay, passing directly in front of Downtown Tampa
Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa, Florida, United States, and the chief financial district of the Tampa Bay Area.
It is second only to Westshore regarding employment in the area. Companies with a major presence downtown ...
and supplying Tampa's main source of fresh water. The Palm River
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
**List of Arecaceae genera
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music
* Palm ( ...
is a smaller river flowing from just east of the city into McKay Bay
McKay Bay is the name given to the northeastern corner of Tampa Bay, a body of water in Tampa, Florida. The McKay Bay Greenway runs through the area on the east side of McKay Bay and connects to the Tampa Bypass Canal. McKay Bay Nature Park is l ...
, which is a smaller inlet, sited at the northeast end of Hillsborough Bay. Tampa's geography is marked by the Interbay Peninsula which divides Hillsborough Bay (the eastern) from Old Tampa Bay (the western).
Climate
The Tampa Bay area has a humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''Cfa''), although due to its location on the Florida peninsula on Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it shows some characteristics of a tropical climate. Tampa's climate generally features hot and humid summers with frequent thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
s and dry and mild winters. Average highs range from year round, and lows . The city of Tampa is split between two USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
climate zones. According to the 2012 USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
Plant Hardiness Zone Map, Tampa is listed as USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
zone 9b north of Kennedy Boulevard away from the bay and 10a near the shorelines and in the interbay peninsula south of Kennedy Boulevard. Zone 10a is about the northern limit of where coconut palm
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...
s and royal palm
''Roystonea regia'', commonly known as the Cuban royal palm or Florida royal palm, is a species of palm that is native to Mexico, parts of Central America and the Caribbean, and southern Florida. A large and attractive palm, it has been planted ...
s can be grown, although some specimens do grow in northern Tampa. Recently, certain palm tree species in the area, along with the rest of the state, have been and continue to be severely affected by a plant disease called Texas phoenix palm decline
Texas Phoenix palm decline, or lethal bronzing, is a plant disease caused by a phytoplasma, ''Candidatus'' Phytoplasma palmae. It takes its name from the state it was first identified in and the palm genus, ''Phoenix'', upon which it was first id ...
, which has caused a considerable amount of damage to various local palm tree landscapes and threatens the native palm tree species in the region.
Tropical storms
Though threatened by tropical systems almost every hurricane season (which runs from June 1 to November 30), Tampa seldom feels major effects from tropical storm
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
s or hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
s. No hurricane has made landfall
Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...
in the immediate Tampa Bay area since the category 4 1921 Tampa Bay hurricane made landfall near Tarpon Springs
Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 23,484 at the 2010 census. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal poi ...
and caused extensive damage throughout the region.
Over the past few decades, four major hurricanes were forecast to hit the Tampa Bay area from the south-southwest, which is a worse-case track that would result in a maximum storm surge
A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...
event: Hurricane Donna
Hurricane Donna, known in Puerto Rico as Hurricane San Lorenzo, was the strongest hurricane of the 1960 Atlantic hurricane season, and caused severe damage to the Lesser Antilles, the Greater Antilles, and the East Coast of the United States, ...
(1960), Hurricane Charley
Hurricane Charley was the first of four separate hurricanes to impact or strike Florida during 2004, along with Hurricane Frances, Frances, Hurricane Ivan, Ivan and Hurricane Jeanne, Jeanne, as well as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to ...
(2004), Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...
(2017), and Hurricane Ian
Hurricane Ian was a large and destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane that was the deadliest hurricane to strike the state of Florida since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. Ian caused widespread damage across western Cuba and the southeast Unit ...
(2022). However, all of these storms veered to the east or northeast before reaching Tampa Bay and instead made landfall down the coast, resulting in serious damage in southwest Florida
Southwest Florida is the region along the southwest Gulf coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is known for its beaches, subtropical landscape, and winter resort economy.
Definitions of the region vary, though its boundaries are generally ...
. Irma had the greatest effect on Tampa. It made landfall near Marco Island
Marco may refer to:
People
* Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco
* Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor
* Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin
* Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish co ...
on September 10, 2017, and moved due north, passing through eastern Hillsborough County as a Category 1 storm and causing widespread issues in the area, particularly disrupting the electrical grid
An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...
for several days.
Because of tremendous population growth and coastal development in the century since the last hurricane landfall combined with rising sea levels due to climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, the Tampa Bay Area is considered one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to a direct hit from a major storm.
Seasonal trends
Summer
Summertime weather patterns predominate from late May through early October, which is the region's rainy season. Daily weather is very consistent during this period, with daytime highs usually reaching the average high of about , lows usually in the mid- to upper 70s °F (23–25 °C), high humidity
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present.
Humidity depe ...
, and a regular chance of rain, especially in the afternoon. Mainly due to the proximity of large bodies of water, the official high temperature has never hit – the all-time record high temperature is , first recorded on June 5, 1985, and tied on June 26, 2020. Afternoon thunderstorms are regularly generated by the interaction of the Gulf
A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...
and Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
sea breeze
A sea breeze or onshore breeze is any wind that blows from a large body of water toward or onto a landmass; it develops due to differences in air pressure created by the differing heat capacities of water and dry land. As such, sea breezes ar ...
s and are such a regular occurrence during the summer that the Tampa Bay area and nearby inland areas of Central Florida
Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...
are recognized as the "Lightning Capital of North America". Afternoon thundershowers occasionally intensify into a severe thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
, bringing heavy downpours, frequent lightning, strong straight-line winds, and sometimes hail.
Autumn
Average temperatures gradually fall beginning in September, and average daily rainfall amounts also decrease as autumn progresses; November is usually Tampa's driest month. However, rain totals in the fall can be augmented by passing tropical systems, which can dump several inches of rain.
Winter
Winter in the area is generally dry and cooler. Average high temperatures range from the low to mid-70s °F (21–23 °C) during the day to the low to mid-50s °F (11–13 °C) at night. Occasional cold front
A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface trough of low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropical cyclone (to the west in the Norther ...
s push through the area during the season, usually bringing a brief period of rain followed by daytime highs in the 50s °F (10–13 °C) and nighttime lows near 40 °F (5 °C) for a day or two. Tampa experiences occasional frosts, with an annual mean minimum temperature of
Since the Tampa area is home to a diverse range of freeze-sensitive agriculture and aquaculture
Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...
, hard freezes, although quite rare, are a major concern. Hard freezes (defined as a temperature of or below for several hours) occur rarely in the Tampa area; every five to twenty years depending on the exact location. The last widespread freeze occurred on the morning of January 18, 2018, when the official temperature at Tampa International Airport dropped to . The lowest temperature ever recorded in Tampa was on December 13, 1962. The only snowfall officially recorded in Tampa occurred on January 19, 1977, with local accumulations ranging between a trace and .
Spring
Tampa sees a slow increase in average temperatures beginning in mid-February, and spring brings mostly warm and sunny weather to the area. While temperatures in late spring approach summertime values, the rainy season does not usually begin until June, leading to the threat of brush fire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...
s from approximately late March until May. Occasionally, a late-season cold front pushes through the area, potentially bringing a brief round of severe weather followed by a few days of unseasonably cool temperatures.
Monthly averages
Cityscape
Neighborhoods
The city is divided into many neighborhoods, many of which were towns and unincorporated communities annexed by the growing city. Generally, the city is divided into the following areas: Downtown Tampa
Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa, Florida, United States, and the chief financial district of the Tampa Bay Area.
It is second only to Westshore regarding employment in the area. Companies with a major presence downtown ...
, New Tampa
New Tampa is a region in Florida that encompasses both a area within the corporate limits of the City of Tampa, as well as a larger land area that is in unincorporated Hillsborough, but retains a Tampa mailing address. The incorporated portion ...
, West Tampa
West Tampa is one of the oldest neighborhoods within the city limits of Tampa, Florida, United States. It was an independently incorporated city from 1895 until 1925, when it was annexed by Tampa.
West Tampa is located west of the Hillsborough ...
, East Tampa
East Tampa is a district within the city limits of Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore o ...
, North Tampa, and South Tampa
South Tampa is a region in the city of Tampa that includes the neighborhoods of Beach Park, Ballast Point, Bayshore Beautiful, Bayshore Gardens, Bayside West, Belmar Shore, Davis Islands, Port Tampa, Fair Oaks-Manhattan Manor, Golfview, ...
. Well-known neighborhoods include Ybor City
Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly ...
, Forest Hills, Ballast Point, Sulphur Springs
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage under ...
, Seminole Heights
Seminole Heights is a historic neighborhood and district located in central Tampa, Florida, Tampa. It includes many early 20th century bungalow homes and historic buildings. It was an early residential area of Tampa connected by streetcar. The ...
, Tampa Heights
Tampa Heights is one of the oldest neighborhoods within the city limits of Tampa, situated in the central part of the city. As of the 2000 census, the neighborhood had a population of 16,393.
Historic buildings in the area include the Tampa Free ...
, Palma Ceia
Palma Ceia is a neighborhood located southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida in South Tampa. It is bounded by Miguel Street West of MacDill Avenue and Neptune Street East of MacDill Avenue to the north; Bay to Bay Boulevard from Dale Mabry to Himes a ...
, Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
, Davis Islands, Harbour Island, Tampa Palms
Tampa Palms is a neighborhood within the New Tampa district of the city of Tampa, Florida. As of the 2010 census the neighborhood had a population of 13,515. The ZIP Codes serving the neighborhood are 33559, 33592, 33613, 33617, 33637, and 33647.
...
, College Hill, Water Street Water Street may refer to:
*Water Street, Hong Kong
** Water Street (constituency) around Water Street, Hong Kong
* Water Street, Milwaukee
*Water Street, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated village
* Water Street (Augusta, Maine)
*Water Street (St. Jo ...
, Channelside
Channel District is a residential neighborhood in the City of Tampa that includes an entertainment complex, just east of Downtown Tampa, Florida. It is bordered by Ybor Channel, Tampa, Ybor Channel on the east and Garrison Channel, Tampa, Garrison ...
and non-residential areas of Gary and the Westshore Business District.
Architecture
Tampa displays a wide variety of architectural designs and styles. Most of Tampa's high rises demonstrate post-modern architecture
Postmodern architecture is a style or movement which emerged in the 1960s as a reaction against the austerity, formality, and lack of variety of modern architecture, particularly in the international style advocated by Philip Johnson and Henry- ...
. The design for the renovated Tampa Museum of Art
The Tampa Museum of Art is located in downtown Tampa, Florida. It exhibits modern and contemporary art, as well as Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities. The museum was founded in 1979 and debuted an award-winning new building in 2010 just north ...
displays post-modern architecture, while the city hall and the Tampa Theatre
The Tampa Theatre is a historic U.S. theater and city landmark in Downtown Tampa, Florida. Designed as an atmospheric theatre style movie palace by architect John Eberson, it opened on October 15, 1926.
The theatre features a wide range of in ...
belong to Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
architecture.
The Tampa mayor Pam Iorio made the redevelopment of Downtown Tampa, Tampa's downtown, especially residential development, a priority. Several residential and mixed-development high-rises have been constructed. Another of Mayor Iorio's initiatives was the Tampa Riverwalk, a mixed-use path along the Hillsborough River in downtown. Channelside was recently approved to undergo major renovations by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik along with Bill Gates and other investors. Several museums have already opened, including new homes for the Tampa Bay History Center, the Glazer Children's Museum, and the Tampa Museum of Art
The Tampa Museum of Art is located in downtown Tampa, Florida. It exhibits modern and contemporary art, as well as Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities. The museum was founded in 1979 and debuted an award-winning new building in 2010 just north ...
. The breakdown of development for the rest of the plan is as follows: 39% residential units, 29% office space, 15% hotels, 8% retail, 7% other, and 2% cultural uses. Mayor Bob Buckhorn continued these developments which are bearing fruit during the term of Mayor Jane Castor.
Tampa is the site of several skyscrapers. Overall, there are 30 completed buildings that rise over high. The city also has 147 high-rises, second only to Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
in the state of Florida. The List of tallest buildings in Tampa, tallest building in the city is 100 North Tampa, formerly the AmSouth Building, which rises 42 storey, floors and in Downtown Tampa. The structure was completed in 1992, and is the tallest building in Florida outside of Miami and Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
.
File:RegionsTampa.jpg, 100 North Tampa (1992)
File:Bank of America Plaza Tampa.jpg, Bank of America Plaza (Tampa), Bank of America Plaza (1986)
File:Onetampacitycenter downtown.jpg, One Tampa City Center (1981)
File:Tampa architectural photos 268.jpg, SunTrust Financial Centre (1992)
File:ElementTampa.jpg, The Element (2009)
File:ParkTowerTampa.jpg, Park Tower (Tampa), Park Tower (1972)
File:RivergateTower.jpg, Rivergate Tower (1988)
File:Sunshine Skyway Bridge - Detail.jpg, The Sunshine Skyway Bridge (1987)
Landmarks
File:Tampatheater.jpg, Tampa Theatre
The Tampa Theatre is a historic U.S. theater and city landmark in Downtown Tampa, Florida. Designed as an atmospheric theatre style movie palace by architect John Eberson, it opened on October 15, 1926.
The theatre features a wide range of in ...
File:Tampa Bayshore Blvd skyline02.jpg, Downtown Tampa
Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa, Florida, United States, and the chief financial district of the Tampa Bay Area.
It is second only to Westshore regarding employment in the area. Companies with a major presence downtown ...
as seen from Bayshore Boulevard
Bayshore Boulevard is a waterfront road on Hillsborough Bay in South Tampa, Florida. Located south of downtown Tampa
Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa, Florida, United States, and the chief financial district of the ...
File:Tampa architectural photos 256.jpg, Part of the Tampa Riverwalk
File:I Tampa, FL 2.jpg, Fountains at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park
File:Tampa FL Sulphur Springs Tower tall pano02.jpg, Sulphur Springs Water Tower
The Sulphur Springs Water Tower, a landmark in the Sulphur Springs
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage under ...
section of the city, stands 214 feet tall and was built by Grover Poole in the late 1920s. This Florida land boom of the 1920s, boom period for Florida also saw the construction of an ornate movie palace, the Tampa Theatre
The Tampa Theatre is a historic U.S. theater and city landmark in Downtown Tampa, Florida. Designed as an atmospheric theatre style movie palace by architect John Eberson, it opened on October 15, 1926.
The theatre features a wide range of in ...
, a List of Mediterranean Revival Style Buildings of Davis Islands, Mediterranean revival on Davis Islands, and Bayshore Boulevard
Bayshore Boulevard is a waterfront road on Hillsborough Bay in South Tampa, Florida. Located south of downtown Tampa
Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa, Florida, United States, and the chief financial district of the ...
, which borders Hillsborough Bay from downtown Tampa to areas in South Tampa. The road has a continuous sidewalk on the eastern end, the longest in the world.
The Ybor City
Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly ...
District is home to several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places and has been declared a Ybor City Historic District, National Historic Landmark. Notable structures include El Centro Español de Tampa, Centro Asturiano de Tampa and other History of Ybor City, social clubs built in the early 1900s. Including L'Unione Italiana or the Italian Club, at 1731 East 7th Avenue in Ybor City. The Italian Club mission "is to preserve and honor the culture, traditions and heritage of the Italian Community and to maintain the historical facility as a functioning memorial to the working class immigrants."
Babe Zaharias Golf Course in the Forest Hills area of Tampa has been designated a Historical Landmark by the National Register of Historic Places. It was bought in 1949 by the famous Babe Didrikson Zaharias, "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, who had a residence nearby, and closed upon her death. In 1974, the city of Tampa opened the golf course to the public.
''The Story of Tampa'', a public painting by Lynn Ash, is a oil on masonite mural that weaves together many of the notable aspects of Tampa's unique character and identity. It was commissioned in 2003 by the city's Public Art Program and can be found in the lobby of the Tampa Municipal Office Building.
Park Tower (Tampa), Park Tower (originally the First Financial Bank of Florida) is the first substantial skyscraper in downtown Tampa. Completed in 1973, it was the tallest skyscraper in Tampa until the completion of One Tampa City Center in 1981. The Rivergate building, a cylindrical structure known as the "Beer Can building", was featured in the movie The Punisher (2004 film), ''The Punisher''.
Spanning the southern part of Tampa Bay is the massive steel-span Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
Tampa is home to the Bro Bowl, one of the last remaining skateparks built during skateboarding's "Golden Era" in the 1970s. It opened in 1979 and was constructed by Tampa Parks and Recreation in 1978. It was the first public skatepark to be constructed in Florida and the third on the East Coast of the United States, East Coast.
Other Tampa landmarks include the Tampa Riverwalk, which is a 2.6-mile-long (4.2 km) open space and pedestrian trail development along the Hillsborough River, and Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park.
Demographics
As of 2000, the largest European ancestries in the city were German (9.2%), Irish (8.4%), English (7.7%), Italian (5.6%), and French (2.4%).
As of 2010, there were 157,130 households, out of which 13.5% were vacant. In 2000, 27.6% households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.4% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.9% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.07.
In 2000, the city's population was spread out, with 24.6% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.7 years old. For every 100 females, there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.
In 2006, the median income for a household in the city was $39,602, and the median income for a family was $45,823. Males had a median income of $40,461 versus $29,868 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,522. 20.1% of the population and 16.4% of families were below the poverty line. 31.0% of those under the age of 18 and 13.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty level.
As of 2000, those who spoke only English at home accounted for 77.4% of all residents, while 22.6% spoke other languages in their homes. The most significant was Spanish speakers who made up 17.8% of the population, while French came up as the third most spoken language, which made up 0.6%, and Italian was at fourth, with 0.6% of the population.
Religion
Communities of faith have organized in Tampa from 1846, when a Methodism, Methodist congregation established the city's first church,["Tampa – Florida's Industrial Port City".]
''Florida History Internet Center''.
. Retrieved February 27, 2010. to 1939, when a 21-year-old Billy Graham began his career as a spiritual evangelist and preacher on downtown's Franklin Street,["Downtown Tampa: Its Cultural and Historical Significance".]
The Tampa Connection Project
''TampaGov''.
Retrieved February 27, 2010. and through to today. Among Tampa's noteworthy church (building), religious structures are Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Tampa, Florida), Sacred Heart Catholic Church, a 1905 downtown landmark noted for its soaring, Romanesque Revival architecture, Romanesque revival construction in granite and marble with Franz Mayer & Co., German-crafted stained glass windows,["Sacred Heart Parish History".]
''Sacred Heart Catholic Church''.
. Retrieved February 27, 2010. the distinctive rock and mortar St. James House of Prayer Episcopal Church, St. James Episcopal House of Prayer, listed with the National Register of Historic Places, and the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal, AME church, which has seen the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.[ and President Bill Clinton speak from its pulpit. The latter two have been designated by the city government as Local Landmark Structures.
Tampa's religious community includes a broad representation of Christian denominations, including those above, and Baptists, Baptist, Presbyterianism, Presbyterian, Lutheranism, Lutheran, Christian Science, Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), Church of God, United Church of Christ, Philippine Independent Church, Metropolitan Community Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Seventh-day Adventist, Eastern Orthodox (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Greek, Coptic Orthodox Church in the United States, Coptic, Syriac Orthodox Church, Syrian, and Orthodox Church in America, OCA), various Pentecostalism, Pentecostal movements, Anglicans, the Quakers, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is also at least one congregation of Messianic Judaism, Messianic Jews in Tampa. There is a Korea Baptist Convention, Korean Baptist church, a Mennonite church, several Haitian churches, and a Vietnamese Baptist Church. Tampa has several American Jews, Jewish synagogues practicing Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox, Conservative Judaism, Conservative, and Reform Judaism, Reform. In addition, there is a small Zoroastrian community present in Tampa. as well as several Unitarian Universalist congregations
Around the city are a handful of mosques for followers of Islam, as well as a Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan-style Buddhism, Buddhist temple, a Theravada, Thai Buddhist Wat, and local worship centers for the Sikh, Hindu and Baháʼí Faiths. The Church of Scientology, based in nearby Clearwater, Florida, Clearwater, maintains a location for its members in Tampa.
Overall, Tampa is 50th out of the largest 51 metropolitan area in the percentage of the populace that attends religious services of any kind, with less than 35% of the population regularly attending services. Only the Portland, Oregon area is less observant.
]
Economy
Finance, retail, healthcare, insurance, shipping by air and sea, National security, national defense, professional sports, tourism, and real estate all play vital roles in the area's economy. Hillsborough County alone has an estimated 740,000 employees, a figure which is projected to increase to 922,000 by 2015.
Since the year 2000, Tampa has seen a notable upsurge in high-market demand from consumers, signaling more wealth concentrated in the area. In 2021, the US Department of Labor awarded a two-year grant of nearly US$3 million to a program called "Connecting Talent to Careers" led by the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute and Tooling U-SME to deliver a rapid re-employment program to address a shortage of skilled labor in manufacturing in the region exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Corporations and nonprofits
Several large corporations, such as banks and telecommunications companies, maintain regional offices in Tampa. The largest credit union in Florida, Suncoast Credit Union, is headquartered in Tampa.
Several Fortune 1000 companies are headquartered in the metropolitan area, including Bloomin' Brands, WellCare, Jabil, TECO Energy, and Raymond James Financial. Other companies headquartered in Tampa include Greenway Health, College Hunks Hauling Junk, Arturo Fuente, J.C. Newman Cigar Company, Masonite International, Sykes Enterprises, Cott Corporation, The Melting Pot (restaurant), The Melting Pot, Checkers and Rally's and The Mosaic Company
The main server farm for Wikipedia and other Wikimedia Foundation projects is in Tampa.
Downtown
Downtown Tampa is undergoing significant development and redevelopment in line with a general national trend toward urban residential development. In April 2007, the Tampa Downtown Partnership noted development proceeding on 20 residential, hotel, and mixed-use projects. Many of the new downtown developments were nearing completion in the midst of a housing market slump, which caused numerous projects to be delayed or revamped, and some of the 20 projects TDP lists have not broken ground and are being refinanced. Nonetheless, several developments were completed, making downtown into a 24-hour neighborhood instead of a 9 to 5 business district. As of 2010, Tampa residents faced a decline in rent of 2%. Nationally rent had decreased 4%. The ''Tampa Business Journal'' found Tampa to be the number two city for real estate investment in 2014.
Port Tampa Bay
Port Tampa Bay is now the seventh largest in the nation and Florida's largest tonnage port, handling nearly half of all seaborne commerce that passes through the state. Tampa ranks second in the state behind Miami in terms of cruise ship travel. Besides smaller regional cruise ships such as Yacht Starship and SunCruz Casino, Tampa also serves as a port of call for three cruise lines: Holland America's Pacific Aria, MS ''Ryndam'', Royal Caribbean's MS Grandeur of the Seas, ''Grandeur of the Seas'' and MS Radiance of the Seas, ''Radiance of the Seas'', and Carnival's Carnival Inspiration, ''Inspiration'' and Carnival Legend, ''Legend''.
MacDill Air Force Base
MacDill Air Force Base
MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida.
The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...
remains a major employer as the parent installation for over 15,000 active uniformed military, United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense (DoD) civil service and DoD contractor personnel in the Tampa Bay area. A significant majority of the civil service and contractor personnel are, in fact, themselves retired career military personnel.
In addition to the 6th Air Mobility Wing, which is "host wing" for the base, MacDill is also home to Headquarters, United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), Headquarters, United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), the 927th Air Refueling Wing, Headquarters, United States Marine Forces Central Command (USMARCENT), Headquarters, United States Special Operations Command Central (USSOCCENT), and numerous other military activities of the active and reserve components of the armed forces.
Arts and culture
Arts and entertainment
Tampa is home to a variety of stage and performing arts venues and theaters, including the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa Theatre
The Tampa Theatre is a historic U.S. theater and city landmark in Downtown Tampa, Florida. Designed as an atmospheric theatre style movie palace by architect John Eberson, it opened on October 15, 1926.
The theatre features a wide range of in ...
, Gorilla Theatre (venue), Gorilla Theatre, and the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre next to the Florida State Fairgrounds.
Performing arts companies and organizations which call Tampa home include the Florida Orchestra, Opera Tampa, Jobsite Theater, the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, Stageworks Theatre, Spanish Lyric Theater, Tampa Bay Opera, and the Tampa Bay Symphony.
Current popular nightlife districts include Channelside
Channel District is a residential neighborhood in the City of Tampa that includes an entertainment complex, just east of Downtown Tampa, Florida. It is bordered by Ybor Channel, Tampa, Ybor Channel on the east and Garrison Channel, Tampa, Garrison ...
, Ybor City
Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly ...
, Soho (Tampa), SoHo, International Plaza and Bay Street, and Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa, Seminole Hard Rock. Downtown Tampa
Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa, Florida, United States, and the chief financial district of the Tampa Bay Area.
It is second only to Westshore regarding employment in the area. Companies with a major presence downtown ...
also contains some nightlife, and there are more clubs/bars to be found in other areas of the city. Tampa is rated sixth on Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' magazine's list of top party cities.
The area has become a "de facto" headquarters of professional wrestling, with many pros living in the area. WWE's former developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, was also based in Tampa.
Tampa is home to several death metal bands, an extreme form of heavy metal music that evolved from thrash metal in the mid-late 1980s. Many of the genre's pioneers and foremost figures are based in and around the city. Chief among these are Deicide (band), Deicide, Six Feet Under (band), Six Feet Under, Obituary (band), Obituary, Death (metal band), Death and Morbid Angel. The Tampa scene grew with the birth of Morrisound Recording, which established itself as an international recording destination for metal bands.
Christian rock band Underoath is based out of Tampa.
In 2009, the new Frank Wildhorn musical ''Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventure'' hosted its world premiere at the Straz Center.
Museums
The Tampa area is home to a number of museums that cover a wide array of subjects and studies. These include the Museum of Science & Industry (Tampa), Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI), which has several floors of science-related exhibits plus the only IMAX, domed IMAX theater in Florida and a planetarium; the Tampa Museum of Art
The Tampa Museum of Art is located in downtown Tampa, Florida. It exhibits modern and contemporary art, as well as Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities. The museum was founded in 1979 and debuted an award-winning new building in 2010 just north ...
; the University of South Florida#Marshall Student Center, USF Contemporary Art Museum; the Tampa Bay History Center; the Tampa Firefighters Museum; the Henry B. Plant Museum; and Ybor City Museum State Park. Permanently docked in downtown's Channel District is the SS American Victory, SS ''American Victory'', a former World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Victory ship which is now used as a museum ship. Florida Museum of Photographic Arts Features local and international photography exhibitions.
Children's Museum
The Children's Museum of Tampa opened in 1986. It was created in response to the need for informal cultural and learning environment for the need of young children. It has since grown into a Larger location in Downtown Tampa next to the Tampa Museum of Art and Curtis Hixon Park. This location opened in September 2010 and was renamed Glazer Children's Museum in honor of the Glazer Family Foundation that donated $5 million to the construction of the new building.
Cuisine
Tampa has a diverse culinary scene from small cafes and bakeries to bistros and farm-to-table restaurants. The food of Tampa has a history of Cuban, Spanish, Floribbean and Italian cuisines. There are also many Colombian cuisine, Colombian, Puerto Rican cuisine, Puerto Rican, Vietnamese cuisine, Vietnamese and barbecue restaurants. Seafood is very popular in Tampa, and Greek cuisine is prominent in the area, including around Tarpon Springs
Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 23,484 at the 2010 census. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal poi ...
. Food trucks are popular, and the area holds the record for the world's largest food truck rally. In addition to Ybor, the areas of Seminole Heights
Seminole Heights is a historic neighborhood and district located in central Tampa, Florida, Tampa. It includes many early 20th century bungalow homes and historic buildings. It was an early residential area of Tampa connected by streetcar. The ...
and South Tampa
South Tampa is a region in the city of Tampa that includes the neighborhoods of Beach Park, Ballast Point, Bayshore Beautiful, Bayshore Gardens, Bayside West, Belmar Shore, Davis Islands, Port Tampa, Fair Oaks-Manhattan Manor, Golfview, ...
are known for their restaurants.
Tampa is the birthplace of the Florida version of the deviled crab and the Cuban sandwich, which has been officially designated as the "signature sandwich of the city of Tampa" by the city council. A Tampa Cuban sandwich is distinct from other regional versions, as Genoa salami is layered in with the other ingredients, likely due to the influence of Italian immigrants living next to Cubans and Spaniards in Ybor City.
Several restaurant chains were founded or headquartered in Tampa, including Outback Steakhouse, The Melting Pot (restaurant), The Melting Pot, Front Burner Brands, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Carrabba's, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Bonefish Grill, Columbia Restaurant, Checkers and Rally's, Taco Bus, and PDQ.
Tourism and recreation
The city of Tampa operates over 165 parks and beaches covering within city limits; 42 more in surrounding suburbs covering are maintained by Hillsborough County. These areas include Hillsborough River State Park, just northeast of the city. Tampa is home to a number of attractions and theme parks, including Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Adventure Island (water park), Adventure Island, ZooTampa at Lowry Park, and the Florida Aquarium.
ZooTampa at Lowry Park features over 2,000 animals, interactive exhibits, rides, educational shows and more. The zoo serves as an economic, cultural, environmental and educational anchor in Tampa.
Big Cat Rescue is one of the largest accredited sanctuaries in the world dedicated entirely to abused and abandoned big cats. It is home to about 80 lions, tigers, bobcats, cougars and other species, most of whom have been abandoned, abused, orphaned, saved from being turned into fur coats, or retired from performing acts.[ They have a variety of different tours available.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is a Africa-themed park near the ]University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
. It features many thrilling roller coasters, for which it is known, including Sheikra, Montu, Cheetah Hunt and Kumba. Visitors can also view and interact with a number of African wildlife. Adventure Island (water park), Adventure Island is a water park adjacent to Busch Gardens.
The Florida Aquarium is a aquarium in the Channel District. It hosts over 20,000 species of aquatic plants and animals. It is known for its unique glass architecture. Adjacent to the aquarium is the SS ''American Victory'', a World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Victory ship preserved as a museum ship.
The Tampa Bay History Center is a museum in the Channel District. It boasts over of exhibits through 12,000 years. There are theaters, a map gallery, a research center and a museum store.
Well-known shopping areas include International Plaza and Bay Street, WestShore Plaza, the Soho (Tampa), SoHo district, and Hyde Park Village. Palma Ceia
Palma Ceia is a neighborhood located southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida in South Tampa. It is bounded by Miguel Street West of MacDill Avenue and Neptune Street East of MacDill Avenue to the north; Bay to Bay Boulevard from Dale Mabry to Himes a ...
is home to the Palma Ceia Design District. Previously, Tampa had been home to the Floriland Mall (now an office park), Tampa Bay Center (demolished and replaced with the new Tampa Bay Buccaneers training facility, known as "One Buc Place"), and East Lake Square Mall (now an office park).
The Tampa Port Authority operates three cruise ship terminals in Tampa's Channel District, Tampa, Channel District. The Port of Tampa is the year-round home port for Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Paradise, MS C''arnival Paradise'' and seasonally, the Carnival Pride, MS ''Carnival Pride''. Tampa is also a seasonal port for Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, as well as Royal Caribbean International's Rhapsody of the Seas, MS ''Rhapsody of the Seas'' and MS Radiance of the Seas, MS ''Radiance of the Seas''. Cruise itineraries from Tampa include stops in the Western Caribbean islands, Honduras, Belize, and Mexico. Longer sailings include the Panama Canal, the ABC islands (Leeward Antilles), ABC Islands and the Eastern Caribbean.
Events
Perhaps the most well known and anticipated events are those from Tampa's annual celebration of "Gasparilla", particularly the Gasparilla Pirate Festival
The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is a large parade and a host of related community events held in Tampa, Florida almost every year since 1904. The theme of the festivities is a friendly invasion by the mythical pirate José Gaspar (also known as Gasp ...
, a mock pirate invasion held since 1904 in late January or early February. Often referred to as Tampa's "Mardi Gras", the invasion flotilla led by the pirate ship, ''Jose Gasparilla'', and subsequent parade draw over 400,000 attendees, contributing tens of millions of dollars to the city's economy. Beyond the initial invasion, numerous Gasparilla festivities take place each year between January and March, including the Gasparilla Children's Parade, the more adult-oriented Sant'Yago Knight Parade, the Gasparilla Distance Classic, Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, and the Gasparilla Film Festival, Gasparilla International Film Festival, among other pirate themed events. The Gasparilla parade is the third largest parade in the United States.
Other notable events include the Outback Bowl, which is held New Year's Day at Raymond James Stadium. Each February, The Florida State Fair brings crowds from across the state, while "Fiesta Day" celebrates Tampa's Cuban, Spanish, German, Italian, English, Irish, Jewish, and African-Cuban immigrant heritage. The India International Film Festival (IIFF) of Tampa Bay also takes place in February. In April the MacDill Air Fest entertains as one of the largest military air shows in the U.S. Guavaween, a nighttime street celebration infuses Halloween with the Latin flavor of Ybor City
Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly ...
. Downtown Tampa hosts the largest anime convention in Florida, Metrocon, a three-day event held in either June or July at the Tampa Convention Center. Ybor also hosts "GaYbor Days", an annual street party in the LGBT-friendly GaYbor district. The Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, held annually since 1989, is the city's largest film festival event, and one of the largest independent gay film festivals in the country.
Tampa hosted the 2012 Republican National Convention and the 15th IIFA Awards, 15th International Indian Film Academy Awards in April 2014.
Since 2015, Tampa has hosted the annual Tampa Riverfest, typically held during the first weekend of May. Held at the Tampa Riverwalk, the festival welcomes many musical artists and local restaurants.
Sports
*Co-champions, championship game canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Tampa is currently represented by teams in three major professional sports leagues: the National Football League, the National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball. The NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning call Tampa home, while the Tampa Bay Rays of the Major League Baseball, MLB play across the bay in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg. As indicated by their names, these teams, plus several other sports teams, represent the entire Tampa Bay Area, Tampa metropolitan area. Tampa Bay's current professional teams have won eight combined championships in their respective leagues.
The Tampa Bay area has long been a site for Major League Baseball spring training facilities and minor league baseball teams. The New York Yankees conduct spring training in Tampa, and their Low-A (baseball), Low-A affiliate Tampa Tarpons play there in the summer.
On the collegiate level, the South Florida Bulls, University of South Florida Bulls compete in 17 sports in NCAA Division I and the Tampa Spartans, University of Tampa Spartans compete in 20 sports in NCAA Division II.
Between September 2020 and July 2021 all three of Tampa Bay's major teams, as well as the Tampa Bay Rowdies, qualified for their sport's championship series. The Lightning beat the Dallas Stars in the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals, the Rays lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2020 World Series, the Rowdies and Phoenix Rising FC were named co-league champions after the USL Championship game was canceled due to COVID-19, the Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl LV, Super Bowl, and the Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens in the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals. This dynasty earned the area the nickname "Champa Bay".
Football
Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers began in 1976 NFL season, 1976 as an expansion team of the NFL. They struggled at first, losing their first 26 games in a row to set a league record for futility. After a brief taste of success in the late 1970s, the Bucs again returned to their losing ways, and at one point lost at least 10 games for 12 seasons in a row. The hiring of Tony Dungy in 1996 NFL season, 1996 started an improving trend that eventually led to the team's victory in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2002 NFL Season, 2003 under coach Jon Gruden. They won their second championship in Super Bowl LV with quarterback Tom Brady and became the first NFL team to ever win a Super Bowl at their home stadium.
Storm
Originally the Pittsburgh Gladiators and a charter member of the Arena Football League (AFL), the Tampa Bay Storm relocated from Pittsburgh in 1991 Arena Football League season, 1991 and won ArenaBowl V that year. They later won 4 more ArenaBowls (ArenaBowl VII, VII, ArenaBowl IX, IX, ArenaBowl X, X, and ArenaBowl XVII, XVII, and also appeared in ArenaBowl I, ArenaBowl III, III, ArenaBowl XII, XII, ArenaBowl XXIII, XXIII and ArenaBowl XXX, XXX), and their five championships were the most in league history. The AFL suffered through several years of decreasing revenue in the 2010s, leading to fewer active franchises. There were only five teams during the 2017 Arena Football League season, 2017 season, after which the Storm's ownership group suspended operations.
Bandits
Tampa was also home to the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League. The Bandits made the playoffs twice in their three seasons under head coach Steve Spurrier and drew league-leading crowds to Tampa Stadium, but the team folded along with the rest of the USFL after the 1985 USFL season, 1985 season. They played at Tampa Stadium, which hosted the 1984 USFL Championship Game.
Vipers
The Tampa Bay Vipers play in the second edition of the XFL (2020), XFL. Their inaugural season was cut short after five weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tornadoes
The Tampa Bay Tornadoes were founded in 2020 and describe themselves as the successors to the defunct Tampa Bay Storm. They play in the American Arena League.
Baseball
History
The Tampa Bay area has long been home to nationally competitive amateur baseball and has hosted spring training and minor league baseball, minor league teams for over a century. Tampa became the first city in Florida to host a major league team for spring training in 1913, when the Chicago Cubs trained at Plant Field. The Tampa Smokers were the city's first minor league team, beginning play as charter members of the new Florida State League in 1919.
Rays
After decades of trying to lure an existing Major League Baseball franchise, the Tampa Bay area finally gained a team in 1998, when the expansion Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa Bay Devil Rays began play at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg. After a decade of futility on the field, the Devil Rays shortened their nickname to simply Rays in 2008 and promptly won the 2008 American League Championship Series, 2008 American League American League Championship Series, Pennant, finishing runner up in 2008 World Series, World Series. They also won American League East titles in 2008 and 2010 under manager Joe Maddon before slipping back in the standings.
In 2007, the Rays began the process of searching for a stadium site closer to the center of the area's population, possibly in Tampa. However, over a decade later, rivalry between Tampa and St. Petersburg and the challenges of financing a new ballpark have kept the Rays playing at Tropicana Field.
In 2020, the Rays won the AL East for the first time in a decade with the best record in the American League. Due to the Coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19 shortened season, 16 teams made the playoffs, so the Rays had to play a best of 3 series against the division rival Toronto Blue Jays in the first round of the 2020 Tampa Bay Rays season#Postseason, Rays postseason, where they swept the visitors in two games at Tropicana Field. then play a divisional series against the New York Yankees, which they won in 5 games at a neutral site in San Diego. The Rays then faced the Astros, who had defeated them in the divisional round the previous year. Tampa Bay went out to a quick 3–0 series lead, but Houston came back to tie the series 3–3. The Rays avoided the reverse sweep in Game 7 and won their second American League Pennant, then lost the 2020 World Series, World Series in 6 games to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Low-A Southeast
Several Major League baseball teams conduct Spring training, Spring Training in the area, and most also operate minor league teams in the Low-A Low-A Southeast, Southeast. The major league New York Yankees and the affiliated minor league Tampa Tarpons use George M. Steinbrenner Field across Dale Mabry Highway from Raymond James Stadium.
Across the bay in Pinellas County, the Philadelphia Phillies affiliate Clearwater Threshers and Toronto Blue Jays affiliate Dunedin Blue Jays also play in the Low-A Southeast. Other nearby Low-A Southeast teams include the Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate Bradenton Marauders and the Detroit Tigers affiliate Lakeland Flying Tigers. The Phillies, Blue Jays, Pirates, and Tigers all play their Spring Training games at their minor league teams' ballparks.
The Tarpons have won five league titles, the Flying Tigers have won four, the Threshers have won two, and the Blue Jays and Marauders have each won one.
The area was formerly home to many teams in the former Florida State League that no longer exist, most notably the Tampa Smokers, St. Petersburg Saints, and the Tampa Tarpons (1957–1988), original Tampa Tarpons.
Hockey
Lightning
The NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning was established in 1992, and play their home games at Amalie Arena in downtown Tampa. In 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, 2004, the team won their first Stanley Cup by defeating the Calgary Flames in 7 games. The Lightning lost the Eastern Conference Final in 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, 2011 in 7 games against the eventual champion Boston Bruins. The Bolts were Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference champions in 2014–15 NHL season, 2015, losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals, Finals. They returned to the Eastern Conference Final in 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, 2016 but lost in 7 games to the eventual champion Pittsburgh Penguins. They returned again to the Eastern Conference Final in 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, 2018 but lost in 7 games to the eventual champion Washington Capitals. The Lightning won their second Stanley Cup in 2020 Stanley Cup Finals, 2020, defeating the Dallas Stars in 6 games. They would later win their third Stanley Cup the following year in 2021 Stanley Cup Finals, 2021 after defeating the Montreal Canadiens in 5 games. Tampa hosted the skills contests and 63rd National Hockey League All-Star Game, 2018 NHL All-Star Game weekend on January 27–28, 2018.
Soccer
Rowdies
The Tampa Bay Rowdies compete in the USL Championship, United Soccer League Championship after spending their first 6 seasons in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League. The team began play at Tampa's George M. Steinbrenner Field in 2010, then moved to St. Petersburg's Al Lang Field in 2011. The Rowdies won their first league championship in Soccer Bowl 2012. The Rowdies made the USL Championship Final for the first time in 2020, though it was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19. The Rowdies and the other finalist, Phoenix Rising FC, were named co-champions by the league.
Previously, Tampa had hosted two top-level soccer teams. The Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–93), Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), original North American Soccer League was the area's first major sports franchise, beginning play in 1975 at Tampa Stadium. The Rowdies were an immediate success, drawing good crowds and winning Soccer Bowl '75 in their first season to bring Tampa its first professional sports championship. Though the NASL ceased operations in 1984, the Rowdies continued to compete in various soccer leagues until finally folding in 1993.
Mutiny
The success of the Rowdies prompted Major League Soccer (MLS) to award Tampa a charter member of the new league in 1996. The Tampa Bay Mutiny were the first MLS Supporters' Shield winner and had much early success beginning in 1996 Major League Soccer season, 1996. However, the club folded in 2001 MLS season, 2001 when local ownership could not be secured mainly due to a financially poor lease agreement for Raymond James Stadium. The city has no current representation in MLS, however, the Rowdies are seeking to join the league.
Basketball
The Tampa Bay Titans play in The Basketball League (TBL). Their home games are played at Pasco–Hernando State College.
The St. Pete Tide and the Tampa Gunners play in the Florida Basketball Association (FBA). The Tide's home games are played at St. Petersburg Catholic High School, and the Gunners are a travel team.
Amalie Arena was used as the home of the National Basketball Association, NBA's Toronto Raptors for the 2020–21 NBA season, 2020–2021 season because of Canadian government regulations due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. It was the first time an NBA team played home games in Tampa, though some exhibition preseason games had been played in Tampa between the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat prior to this.
College sports
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
is the only NCAA Division I sports program in Tampa. USF began playing intercollegiate sports in 1965. The South Florida Bulls, Bulls established a South Florida Bulls men's basketball, men's basketball team in 1971 and a South Florida Bulls football, football team in 1997 and sponsor 17 teams in total. The Bulls joined the Big East Conference (1979–2013), Big East in 2005, and the football team rose to as high as #2 in the Bowl Championship Series, BCS rankings in 2007. They are now part of the American Athletic Conference. USF has won six NCAA national championships: softball in 1983 and 1984, women's swimming in 1985, and sailing in 2009, 2016, and 2017.
University of Tampa
The University of Tampa
The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...
Tampa Spartans, Spartans compete in 20 sports at the NCAA Division II level in the Sunshine State Conference (SSC). They have won a total of 19 Division II National Championships, including eight in baseball.
Hillsborough Community College
The Hillsborough Community College Hawks are an National Junior College Athletic Association, NJCAA Division I junior college team and a member of the Florida College System Activities Association they compete in the Suncoast Conference and the Southern Conference in NJCAA Region VIII, Region VIII of The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).
Major events hosted in the Tampa Bay Area
*Super Bowl XVIII, Super Bowls XVIII and Super Bowl XXV, XXV (Tampa Stadium)
*Super Bowl XXXV, Super Bowls XXXV, Super Bowl XLIII, XLIII, and Super Bowl LV, LV (Raymond James Stadium)
*1984 USFL Championship Game (Tampa Stadium)
*2008 World Series games 1 and 2 (Tropicana Field)
*2004 Stanley Cup Finals games 1, 2, 5, and 7 (Amalie Arena)
*2015 Stanley Cup Finals games 1, 2 and 5 (Amalie Arena)
*2021 Stanley Cup Finals games 1, 2, and 5 (Amalie Arena)
*Soccer Bowl 2012 Leg 2 (Al Lang Stadium)
*ArenaBowl IX (Tropicana Field)
*Arena Bowl XII, ArenaBowl XII and ArenaBowl XVII, XVII (Amalie Arena)
*2017 College Football Playoff National Championship, 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game (Raymond James Stadium)
*1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament#Final four, 1999 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Final Four (Tropicana Field)
*2008 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament#Final Four – St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida, 2008, 2015 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament#Final Four, 2015, and 2019 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament#Final Four, 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Final Four (Amalie Arena)
*1978 NCAA Division I Soccer Tournament#Final, 1978, 1979 NCAA Division I Soccer Tournament#Final, 1979, and 1980 NCAA Division I Soccer Tournament#Final, 1980 NCAA Division I men's soccer championship game (Tampa Stadium)
*1990 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament#Final, 1990 and 1991 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament#Final, 1991 NCAA Division I men's soccer championship game (USF Track and Field Stadium, USF Soccer Stadium)
*2012 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament#Frozen Four – Tampa, Florida, 2012 and 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament#Frozen Four – Tampa, Florida, 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Hockey Frozen Four (Amalie Arena)
*2009 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament#Final Four – St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida, 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Final Four (Amalie Arena)
*2015 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship and 2015 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship (The Concession Golf Club)
*2021 USL Championship Playoffs, 2021 USL Championship Final (Al Lang Stadium)
Future events planned to be held in the Tampa Bay area
*2023 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament#Frozen Four, 2023 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Frozen Four (Amalie Arena)
*2023 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament#Final, 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Final Four (Amalie Arena)
*2025 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament#Final Four, 2025 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Final Four (Amalie Arena)
Government
Mayor
Tampa is governed under the strong mayor form of government. The Mayor of Tampa is the chief executive officer of city government and is elected in four-year terms, with a limit of two consecutive terms. The current mayor is Jane Castor, who took office on May 1, 2019.
City Council
The Tampa City Council, City Council is a legislative body served by seven members. Four members are elected from specific numbered areas designated City Districts, and the other three are "at-large" members (serving citywide).
Fire department
The city of Tampa is served by Tampa Fire Rescue. With 23 fire stations, the department provides fire and medical protection for Tampa and New Tampa, and provides support to other departments such as Tampa International Airport, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and MacDill Air Force Base 6th Medical Group.
Law enforcement
The Tampa Police Department
The Tampa Police Department (TPD) is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of Tampa, Florida. The Tampa Police Department has over 1,000 authorized sworn law enforcement personnel positions and more than 350 civilian and support staff ...
has over 1000 sworn officers and many civilian service support personnel under a Chief of police, chief of police chosen by the mayor and approved by the city council.
Elections
Municipal elections are held on the first Tuesday of March and a runoff election, if necessary occurs on the fourth Tuesday of April. All city officials elected during the March elections takes office on May 1. The supervisor of elections Hillsborough County is responsible for all municipal elections in the city. Based on the legislation passed by the Hillsborough County, Florida, Board of County Commissioners for Hillsborough County, any registered voter may ask to receive accommodations in voting based on their specific health condition.
Other offices
There are several other government offices in the city apart from the Mayor, City Council, Fire Department and Police Department. There is a: City Clerk, Legal, Internal Audit along with a Revenue and Finance Department as well.
Education
Primary and secondary schools
Public primary and secondary education is operated by Hillsborough County Public Schools, officially known as the School District of Hillsborough County (SDHC). It is the eighth-largest school district in the United States, with around 189,469 enrolled students. SDHC runs 208 schools, 133 being elementary, 42 middle, 27 high schools, two K–8s, and four career centers. There are 73 additional schools in the district that are charter, ESE, alternative, etc. Twelve out of 27 high schools in the SDHC are included in ''Newsweeks list of America's Best High Schools.
Public libraries
Tampa's library system is operated by the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System. THPLS operates 25 libraries throughout Tampa and Hillsborough County, including the John F. Germany Public Library in Downtown Tampa. The Tampa library system first started in the early 20th century, with the West Tampa Library, which was made possible with funds donated by Andrew Carnegie. Tampa's libraries are also a part of a larger library network, The Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative, which includes the libraries of the neighboring municipalities of Temple Terrace and Plant City. The Hillsborough County Library Cooperative follows similar structure and design as the Pasco County Library Cooperative which is based on providing a network for all citizens and students of said county to be given equal opportunity and access to literature regardless of location.
Higher education
There are a number of institutions of higher education in Tampa.
The city is home to the main campus of the University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
(USF), a member of the State University System of Florida founded in 1956. USF is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and is one of only three universities in Florida designated as a Preeminent State Research University. As of 2021, USF has the seventh highest undergraduate enrollment in the U.S. with over 51,000 students.
The University of Tampa
The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...
(UT) is a private, four-year liberal arts college, liberal arts institution. It was founded in 1931, and in 1933, it moved into the former Tampa Bay Hotel across the Hillsborough River from downtown Tampa. "UT" has undergone several expansions in recent years, and had an enrollment of over 9000 students in 2018.
Hillsborough Community College is a two-year community college in the Florida College System with campuses in Tampa and Hillsborough County. Southern Technical College is a private two-year college that operates a campus in Tampa. Hillsborough Technical Education Centers (HiTEC) is the postsecondary extension of the local areas Public Schools district. The schools provide for a variety of technical training certification courses as well as job placement skills.
The Stetson University College of Law is in Gulfport and has a second campus, the Tampa Law Center, in downtown Tampa. The Law Center houses the Tampa branch of Florida's Second District Court of Appeal.
Other colleges and universities in the wider Tampa Bay Area include Jersey College, Eckerd College, Florida College, and St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg.
Media
The major daily newspaper serving the city is the ''Tampa Bay Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single y ...
'', which purchased its longtime competition, ''The Tampa Tribune'', in 2016. Print news coverage is also provided by a variety of smaller regional newspapers, alternative weeklies, and magazines, including the ''Florida Sentinel Bulletin'', ''Creative Loafing'', ''Reax Music Magazine'', ''The Oracle (University of South Florida), The Oracle'', ''Tampa Bay Business Journal'', ''MacDill Thunderbolt'', and ''La Gaceta (Tampa), La Gaceta'', which notable for being the nation's only trilingual newspaper—English, Spanish, and Italian, owing to its roots in the cigar-making immigrant neighborhood of History of Ybor City#El Lector, Ybor City.
Major television stations include WFTS 28 (American Broadcasting Company, ABC), WTSP 10 (CBS), WFLA-TV 8 (NBC), WTVT 13 (Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox), WTOG 44 (The CW), WTTA 38 (MyNetworkTV), WEDU and WEDQ 3 (PBS), WMOR-TV 32 (Independent station (North America), Independent), WXPX 66 (Ion Television, ION), WCLF 22 (Christian Television Network, CTN), WFTT 62 (UniMás) and WVEA-TV, WVEA 50 (Univision).
The area is served by dozens of FM and AM radio stations including WDAE, which was the first radio station in Florida when it went on the air in 1922.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Roads
Three motor vehicle bridges cross Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...
to Pinellas County, Florida, Pinellas County from Tampa city limits: the Howard Frankland Bridge (I-275 Interstate 275 (I-275) may refer to:
*Interstate 275 (Florida), a loop through Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Bradenton in Florida
*Interstate 275 (Michigan), a western bypass of Detroit, Michigan
*Interstate 275 (Ohio–Indiana–Kentucky), a full belt ...
), the Courtney Campbell Causeway (Florida State Road 60, SR 60), and the Gandy Bridge (U.S. 92). The old Gandy Bridge was completely replaced by new spans during the 1990s, but a span of the old bridge was saved and converted into a pedestrian and biking bridge renamed The Friendship Trail. It was the longest overwater recreation trail in the world. However, the bridge was closed in 2008 due to structural problems.
Tampa has several freeways which serve the city. There are two tolled freeways bringing traffic in and out of Tampa. The Lee Roy Selmon Expressway (SR 618), runs from suburban Brandon, Florida, Brandon at its eastern terminus, through Downtown Tampa, to the neighborhoods in South Tampa (near MacDill Air Force Base
MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida.
The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...
) at its western terminus. The Florida State Road 589, Veterans Expressway (SR 589), meanwhile connects Tampa International Airport
Tampa International Airport is an international airport west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA)., effective December 30, 2021. T ...
and the bay bridges to the northwestern suburbs of Carrollwood, Florida, Carrollwood, Greater Northdale, Florida, Northdale, Westchase, Florida, Westchase, Citrus Park, Florida, Citrus Park, Cheval, Florida, Cheval, and Lutz, Florida, Lutz, before continuing north as the Florida State Road 589, Suncoast Parkway into Pasco County, Florida, Pasco and Hernando County, Florida, Hernando counties.
Three of the city's freeways carry the interstate highway system, interstate highway designation. Interstate 4 and Interstate 275 (Florida), Interstate 275 cut across the city and intersect near downtown. Interstate 75 in Florida, Interstate 75 runs along the east side of town for much of its route through Hillsborough County until veering to the west to bisect New Tampa.
Along with the city's freeways, major surface roads serve as main arteries of the city. These roads are Hillsborough Avenue (U.S. Route 92, U.S. 92 and U.S. Route 41 in Florida, U.S. 41), Dale Mabry Highway (U.S. Route 92, U.S. 92), Florida State Road 45, Nebraska Avenue (U.S. 41/SR 45), U.S. Route 41 Business (Tampa, Florida), Florida Avenue (U.S. 41 Business), Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, Florida State Road 582, Fowler Avenue, Busch Boulevard, Florida State Road 60, Kennedy Boulevard (SR 60), Florida State Road 60, Adamo Drive, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Airports
Tampa is served by three airports (one in Tampa, two in the metro area) that provide significant scheduled passenger air service:
*Tampa International Airport
Tampa International Airport is an international airport west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA)., effective December 30, 2021. T ...
(IATA airport code, IATA: TPA) is Tampa's main airport and the primary location for commercial passenger airline service into the Tampa Bay area. It is also a consistent favorite in surveys of the industry and the traveling public. The readers of ''Condé Nast Traveler'' have frequently placed Tampa International in their list of Best Airports, ranking it #1 in 2003, and #2 in 2008 A survey by Zagat in 2007 ranked Tampa International first among U.S. airports in overall quality. During 2008, it was the 26th-busiest airport in North America.
*St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (IATA airport code, IATA: PIE) lies just across the bay from Tampa International Airport in neighboring Pinellas County
Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg– Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical ...
. The airport has become a popular destination for discount carriers, with over 90% of its flights are on low-cost carrier Allegiant Air. A joint civil-military aviation facility, it is also home to Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, the largest air station in the U.S. Coast Guard.
*Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport (IATA: SRQ) is in nearby Sarasota. Sarasota airport has more flights to Delta's Atlanta hub than any other city, but also serves several other large U.S. cities.
Rail
Tampa's intercity passenger rail service is based at Tampa Union Station, a historic facility, adjacent to downtown between the Channel District and Ybor City
Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly ...
. The station is served by Amtrak's ''Silver Star (Amtrak train), Silver Star'', which calls on Tampa twice daily: southbound to Miami station (Amtrak), Miami and northbound for Pennsylvania Station (New York City), New York City.[Amtrak Atlantic Coast Service](_blank)
. Retrieved January 21, 2010. Union Station also serves as the transfer hub for Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach service, offering bus connections to several cities in southwest Florida
Southwest Florida is the region along the southwest Gulf coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is known for its beaches, subtropical landscape, and winter resort economy.
Definitions of the region vary, though its boundaries are generally ...
and to Orlando Health/Amtrak station, Orlando.
Uceta Yard, Uceta Rail Yard on Tampa's east side services CSX as a storage and intermodal freight transport facility. Freight and Intermodal container, container cargo operations at the city's seaports also depend upon dockside rail facilities.
Seaports
The Port of Tampa is the largest port in Florida in throughput tonnage, making it one of the busiest commercial ports in North America. Petroleum and phosphate are the lead commodities, accounting for two-thirds of the 37 million tons of total bulk and general cargo handled by the port in 2009. The port is also home to Foreign Trade Zone #79, which assists companies in Tampa Bay and along the I-4 Corridor in importing, exporting, manufacturing, and distribution activities as part of the United States foreign trade zone program.
Weekly containerized cargo service is available in the Port of Tampa. Cargo service is offered by Ports America, Zim American Integrated Shipping Company, and MSC which has recently partnered with Zim. 3,000 to 4,250 TEU containerships regularly call the Port of Tampa.
The bay bottom is very sandy, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constantly dredging the ship channels to keep them navigable to large cargo ships.
Mass transit
Public mass transit in Tampa is operated by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART), and includes Transit bus, public bus as well as a streetcar line. The HART bus system's main hub is the Marion Transit Center in Downtown Tampa
Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa, Florida, United States, and the chief financial district of the Tampa Bay Area.
It is second only to Westshore regarding employment in the area. Companies with a major presence downtown ...
, serving nearly 30 local and express routes. HART also operates a rapid-transit bus system called MetroRapid that runs between Downtown and the University of South Florida.
The TECO Line Streetcar provides electric streetcar service along eleven stations on a route, connecting Ybor City
Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly ...
, the Channel District, Tampa, Channel District, the Tampa Convention Center, and downtown Tampa. The TECO Line fleet features varnished wood interiors reminiscent of late 19th and mid-20th century streetcars.
Limited transportation by privately operated "Neighborhood Electric Vehicles" (NEV) is available, primarily in Downtown Tampa and Ybor City. Water taxis are available on a charter basis for tours along the downtown waterfront and the Hillsborough River.
The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) develops bus, light rail, and other transportation options for the seven-county Tampa Bay area
The Tampa Bay area is a major populated area surrounding Tampa Bay on the west coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 18th largest metropolitan area in the United St ...
.
Healthcare
Tampa and its surrounding suburbs are host to over 20 hospitals, four trauma centers, and multiple Cancer treatment centers. Tampa is also home to many health research institutions. The major hospitals in Tampa include Tampa General Hospital, St. Joseph's Children's & Women's Hospital, James A. Haley Veterans Health Administration, Veterans Hospital, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, and the Pepin Heart Institute at Advent Health Hospital. Shriners Hospitals for Children is based in Tampa. Turning Point of Tampa founded in 1987 addresses behavioral health. USF's Byrd Alzheimer's Institute is both a prominent research facility and Alzheimer's patient care center in Tampa. Along with human health care, there are hundreds of animal medical centers including a Humane Society of America.
Utilities
Water in the area is managed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The water is mainly supplied by the Hillsborough River, which in turn arises from the Green Swamp (Florida), Green Swamp, but several other rivers and desalination plants in the area contribute to the supply. Power is mainly generated by TECO Energy.
Notable people
Sister cities
Tampa has formalized sister city agreements with:
* Agrigento, Italy (1991)
* Ashdod, Israel (2005)
* Barranquilla, Colombia (2012)
* Boca del Río, Veracruz, Boca del Río, Mexico (2002)
* Le Havre, France (1993)
* Heraklion, Greece (2019)
* İzmir, Turkey (1993)
* Lanzhou, China (2016)
* Oviedo, Spain (1992)
* Porto Alegre, Brazil (2013)
* South Dublin, South Dublin County, Ireland (2015)
* Veracruz (city), Veracruz, Mexico (2002)
See also
*Baldomero López
*List of metropolitan areas in the Americas
*List of public art in Tampa, Florida
*List of United States cities by population
*National Register of Historic Places listings in Tampa, Florida
*Seal of Tampa
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
Official website
Tampa Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau
Tampa Chamber of Commerce
University of South Florida Libraries: archival, manuscripts and photographic collections
Tampa website dedicated to historic Tampa photographs
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Tampa Changing
nbsp;– Historical and modern photographs of Tampa
{{Authority control
Tampa, Florida,
Cities in Florida
Cities in Hillsborough County, Florida
County seats in Florida
Populated places established in 1823
Populated places on Tampa Bay
Port cities and towns of the Florida Gulf coast
1823 establishments in Florida Territory