The Henry B. Plant Museum is the new name for the old, National Historic Landmark, Tampa Bay Hotel. The massive Moorish Revival structure was built in 1888 to 1891 by Henry B. Plant, a railroad magnate, with a total cost of 2.5 million dollars.

The Tampa Bay Hotel is a very posh hotel of its time. It is said that it is a very great example of the Gilded Age and a mark of Florida?s tourist industry. It featured 511 rooms, and measured of 6 acres for the building alone. The whole property was 150 acres of land area and had an indoor heated swimming pool, a golf course, bowling alley, casino, and racetrack. It was used as a base of operations during the Spanish-American War and served numerous celebrities and people of high importance during its time.

The Tampa Bay Hotel was also the site of the formation of the University of Tampa. Today, it continuously houses classrooms and offices for the educational institution and features the Henry B. Plant Museum.