Downtown Tampa's History

Downtown Tampa: Past and Future Rolled into One
By Kendra Gemma

As I marvel at the cigar roller's workstation on display at the Ybor City State Museum, it occurs to me that while Tampa's development was sparked by the cigar industry, the city today is like one of the roller's creations: Its inner core contains Cuban, Spanish and other rich heritages, and the outer shell and colorful band hold the past together in an artistic package.

Tampa's illuminating history and its bright future can be explored by museum hopping through downtown.

Accent on History

I begin my history lesson in Ybor City, a brick-paved community just north of downtown Tampa. Founded in 1886 by Don Vicente Martinez Ybor, a Spanish immigrant who built cigar factories and an entire village to house his workers, the town was once larger than Tampa. The streets teemed with Cuban, Italian, German, Spanish and Afro-Cuban immigrants who brought with them their own cultural traditions.

Today, the streetscape is quiet as I enter the wood-planked Ybor City State Museum. It reminds me of an old general store and I stroll through the aisles, collecting juicy historical tidbits. I learn that during the Spanish-American War, Cuban immigrants produced 90 alternative newspapers promoting Cuba's freedom from Spain. Infamous revolutionary Jose Marti often visited Ybor City to rally support.

Other pursuits were less incendiary, but just as impassioned. A new exhibit displays vintage photos of bands and some of their hand painted instruments. Each ethnicity's music pulsed through the streets, played on Italian bagpipes, Cuban bongos and German accordions.

All that learning, in a former bakery no less, has stirred up my appetite. Lucky for me, the 100-year-old Columbia Restaurant is just a few blocks away. I dig into chicken and yellow rice "Ybor" and make a mental note to return one night for dinner and the acclaimed flamenco show.

After sating my hunger, I head over to the Henry B. Plant Museum for a taste of how the other half vacationed at the turn of the 20th century.

Once containing 500 rooms on 150 acres, the former Tampa Bay Hotel played winter host to wealthy northerners, who came south to hunt, play golf, bet on horses and socialize – all on property.

"We want you to feel like you're leaving 2005 behind and entering the world of 1891," says Sally Shifke, the museum relations "concierge," as she leads me through the Moorish-inspired hotel.

Amazingly, it does seem I've been transported. Lamps lit with Edison filament bulbs, courting chairs and flocked wallpaper still decorate the resort. As I enter the two-story dining room, I can almost smell the seven-course meals and hear the orchestra performing in the gallery above.

I could linger all afternoon in Victorian repose at the Henry B. Plant Museum, but the Tampa Bay History Center has its own plans to take me back in time. There, budding archaeologists can unearth 10,000-year-old weapons, while pop culture buffs can get a kick out of kitschy 1950s souvenirs.

For modern design of a higher caliber, I visit Tampa Museum of Art's new exhibit, Georgia O'Keeffe and Her Time: Modern Masters from the Lane Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. More than 40 paintings by American artists working in the early 20th century depict the development of the country's modern art movement. O'Keeffe's Calla Lily on Grey soothes me, while Arthur G. Dove's jazz-inspired works energize me.

For truly brilliant – and very modern – art, I'll have to wait until January 7, 2006, when Lights on Tampa turns downtown into a free, interactive art show. The innovative project will repurpose several buildings into canvases for installations of light sculptures, video projections and kinetic LED displays. 

An already-illuminated building, Tampa Theatre and its retro marquee lure me in for a new independent flick and a step into the golden days of movie palaces. Designed to resemble a castle, it opened in 1926 and boasts exuberant Florida Mediterranean motifs.

It's hard to pry my eyes off the flamboyantly ornamented walls and the twinkling ceiling in order to watch the film, but the lights have dimmed and the organist is about to perform on the vintage Wurlitzer... It's showtime!

For more information on Tampa area museums and other cultural diversions, log on to www.VisitTampaBay.com or call the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-44-TAMPA.