Henry B. Plant Museum
Encyclopedia
The Henry B. Plant Museum is located in the south wing of Plant Hall (formerly the Tampa Bay Hotel) on the University of Tampa
’s campus, at 401 West Kennedy Boulevard. The museum focuses on the turn of the century Victorian
lifestyle of the old Tampa Bay Hotel’s guests. Highlighting the Gilded Age
and the beginnings of Florida’s and Tampa
’s tourist industry, the museum is open to the public every day except Monday and major holidays. During the Christmas
holiday season, the museum hosts the annual Victorian Christmas Stroll.
The entire building (under the title of Tampa Bay Hotel) is a U.S.
National Historic Landmark
, designated as such on December 5, 1972.
The Tampa Bay Hotel was built by railroad magnate
Henry B. Plant
at a cost of over 2.5 million dollars. It was considered the premier hotel of the eight that Mr. Plant built to anchor his rail line
. The hotel itself covers 6 acres (24,281.2 m²) and is a quarter-mile long. It was equipped with the first elevator
ever installed in Florida. The elevator is still in use today, making it one of the oldest continually operational elevators in the nation. The 511 rooms, some of which were actually suites consisting of between three-to-seven rooms, were the first in Florida to have electric light
s and telephone
s. Most rooms also included private bathroom
s, complete with a full-size tub
. The price for a room ranged from $5.00 to $15.00 a night at a time when the average hotel in Tampa charged $1.25 to $2.00. The building’s poured concrete
steel
reinforced structure was advertised as fireproof
.
The grounds of the hotel spanned 150 acre (0.607029 km²) and included a golf course
, bowling alley, racetrack, casino
and an indoor heated swimming pool
. In all, 21 buildings could be found on the hotel's campus. The Moorish Revival
architectural theme was selected by Mr. Plant because of its exotic appeal to the widely traveled Victorians that would be his primary customers. The hotel has six minaret
s, four cupola
s and three dome
s. In the early 90's, all were restored to their original stainless steel
state.
During its operating period from 1891 to 1930, the hotel housed thousands of guests, including hundreds of celebrities
. When the Spanish-American War
broke out, Plant convinced the United States
military to use his hotel as a base of operations. Generals and high ranking officers stayed in its rooms to plan invasion strategies, while enlisted men encamped on the hotel’s acreage. Colonel Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders
also were at the hotel during this time. Roosevelt retained a suite, and during the day led his men in battle exercises on the property. Other visitors of note during the hotel’s heyday were Sarah Bernhardt
, Clara Barton
, Stephen Crane
, the Prince of Wales
and the Queen of the United Kingdom. Babe Ruth
was also a guest of the hotel during its latter days, and signed his first baseball
contract
in the Grand Dining Room
. According to local legend, he hit his longest home run
ever at the old Tampa Fairgrounds stadium
located on the hotel grounds.
, and is the oldest public art in the city of Tampa. It was completely conserved in 1995.
Facing the Hillsborough River
near the University of Tampa's library are two historic cannon
from Fort Brooke
, the early 19th century military post (established 1824) around which Tampa developed. The two guns are model 1819 iron 24-pounder seacoast guns, and were originally part of a three-gun Confederate
battery
guarding Tampa Bay during the Civil War
. On May 6, 1864, a Union
naval raiding party captured Fort Brooke and, before withdrawing the next day, disabled the three heavy cannon by blowing one trunnion
off of each (trunnions are the side projections on which cannon pivot to elevate or depress). This damage is still evident on the two Plant Park guns today.
In the 1890s, Henry Plant moved two of the long-abandoned cannon from the site of the old fort to the grounds of his new Tampa Bay Hotel, placing them in a small earthwork revetment
as a curiosity for the hotel's guests. Later the guns were placed on plinth
s made of coquina
blocks. Recently Tampa's Rough Riders civic group remounted the Fort Brooke cannon on replica gun carriages in a new stone revetment in Plant Park. The lost third Fort Brooke cannon was for many years a lawn decoration at 901 Bayshore Boulevard, but was donated to a World War II scrap metal drive
on October 9, 1942.
Facing Kennedy Boulevard in Plant Park is another historic cannon, this one an impressive turn-of-the-century coast defense gun. It memorializes the important part Tampa played in the 1898 Spanish American War, and symbolically points south towards Cuba. The inscription on the cannon's monumental base describes it as an eight-inch (203 mm) gun on a "disappearing carriage" taken from Fort Dade, an old coast defense fort on Egmont Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay. The true story is a bit more complicated.
The original Fort Dade gun described on the base was emplaced in Plant Park in November 1927, but was donated to a steel scrap drive during World War II. Following the war, an eight-inch (203 mm) cannon of similar vintage was obtained from Fort Morgan, Alabama and installed on the 1927 memorial's vacant plinth. The new gun is mounted on the top portion of a 1918 railway gun carriage dating from World War I rather than the "disappearing carriage" of the original Fort Dade cannon.
Plant Park once housed a small zoo
located along Biology Creek, a stream that runs down part of the park. The creek is fed from an underground spring that comes up beneath the hotel and empties a few hundred yards away into the Hillsborough River. In its heyday, the zoo contained a bear
and an alligator
, plus many smaller animals. It was famous for its hundreds of squirrel
s and small lizard
s, which are still on campus. The bear and alligator were eventually moved up river and became the core attractions for what is now the Lowry Park Zoo
. The creek's name derives from a later period in its history, when students from the university used its water to conduct various biology
experiments.
Finally a statue called Au Coup de Fusil, or the Hunting Party, can be found right outside the hotel. These two bronze
hound
s were cast in France
by Maurice Denonvilliers in 1890. Originally, they faced south rather than north, and their rapt attention was focused on a small bronze squirrel placed in a low hanging oak
limb. However the squirrel eventually was stolen and the dogs were moved to their current location. Supposedly the two dogs represent Mr. Plant's personal favorite hunting dog
s, and the hotel itself had kennel
s stocked with hunting dogs for guests use on hunting expeditions.
The Friends of Plant Park (FoPP) is a Florida not-for-profit corporation with the mission to (a) assist with the restoration, preservation and maintenance of The Henry B. Plant Park, Tampa, Florida, as a botanical garden open to the general public, (b) research and publicize the Victorian history of The Henry B. Plant Park, and (c) educate the public and cultivate community interest in and support for the foregoing activities. This group was formed in 1993.
Since 1997 the FoPP has hosted the annual 'GreenFest' activities in Henry B. Plant Park to raise money. To date those funds, along with contributions from individuals, organizations, the City of Tampa, and Hillsborough County, have allowed for the restoration of and new exhibit of the cannons, the Victorian star-shaped garden bed, and a replica of the 112 foot flagpole with a 12X18-foot replica of the 45-star American flag (1891). The original flagpole was probably a ships mast and a Florida state flag and a University of Tampa flag will fly from the replica's crossbars.
s and offices. Because of the large amount of space afforded by the hotel, the scope of the junior college was expanded, becoming the University of Tampa. The Tampa Municipal Museum was established by the city to preserve the hotel in its original form and co-exist with the newly established University. In 1941, the city of Tampa signed a 99 year lease with the University of Tampa for $1.00 a year. The lease excluded the southeast wing of the building to allow for the housing of the museum. In 1974, the Tampa Municipal Museum was renamed the Henry B. Plant Museum.
University of Tampa
The University of Tampa , is a private, co-educational university in Downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 2006, the University celebrated its 75th anniversary...
’s campus, at 401 West Kennedy Boulevard. The museum focuses on the turn of the century Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
lifestyle of the old Tampa Bay Hotel’s guests. Highlighting the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
and the beginnings of Florida’s and Tampa
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
’s tourist industry, the museum is open to the public every day except Monday and major holidays. During the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
holiday season, the museum hosts the annual Victorian Christmas Stroll.
The entire building (under the title of Tampa Bay Hotel) is a U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
, designated as such on December 5, 1972.
Tampa Bay Hotel
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
Henry B. Plant
Henry B. Plant
Henry Bradley Plant , was involved with many transportation projects, mostly railroads, in the U.S. state of Florida. Eventually he owned the Plant System of railroads which became part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad...
at a cost of over 2.5 million dollars. It was considered the premier hotel of the eight that Mr. Plant built to anchor his rail line
Plant System
The Plant System was a system of railroads and steamboats in the U.S. South, taken over by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The original line of the system, named after its owner, Henry B...
. The hotel itself covers 6 acres (24,281.2 m²) and is a quarter-mile long. It was equipped with the first elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
ever installed in Florida. The elevator is still in use today, making it one of the oldest continually operational elevators in the nation. The 511 rooms, some of which were actually suites consisting of between three-to-seven rooms, were the first in Florida to have electric light
Electric light
Electric lights are a convenient and economic form of artificial lighting which provide increased comfort, safety and efficiency. Most electric lighting is powered by centrally-generated electric power, but lighting may also be powered by mobile or standby electric generators or battery systems...
s and telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
s. Most rooms also included private bathroom
Bathroom
A bathroom is a room for bathing in containing a bathtub and/or a shower and optionally a toilet, a sink/hand basin/wash basin and possibly also a bidet....
s, complete with a full-size tub
Tub
Tub may refer to:* A large round container without a lid - used for washing clothes in, growing plants in, etc.* A shallow, plastic or paper container, typically with a lid or closure.* A bath or Bathtub - a plumbing fixture for bathing....
. The price for a room ranged from $5.00 to $15.00 a night at a time when the average hotel in Tampa charged $1.25 to $2.00. The building’s poured concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
reinforced structure was advertised as fireproof
Fireproof
-Track List for Original 2002 Release:# "Fireproof" – 3:46# "Just 2 Get By" – 4:17# "Echelon" – 3:25# "Stay Up" – 3:40# "Behind Closed Doors" – 2:55# "Epidemic" – 3:14# "Hindsight" – 2:57# "Light at My Feet" – 3:28# "A Shame" – 3:17...
.
The grounds of the hotel spanned 150 acre (0.607029 km²) and included a golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
, bowling alley, racetrack, casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
and an indoor heated swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
. In all, 21 buildings could be found on the hotel's campus. The Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of the Romanticist fascination with all things oriental...
architectural theme was selected by Mr. Plant because of its exotic appeal to the widely traveled Victorians that would be his primary customers. The hotel has six minaret
Minaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
s, four cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
s and three dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
s. In the early 90's, all were restored to their original stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
state.
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
. When the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
broke out, Plant convinced the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military to use his hotel as a base of operations. Generals and high ranking officers stayed in its rooms to plan invasion strategies, while enlisted men encamped on the hotel’s acreage. Colonel Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders
Rough Riders
The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War...
also were at the hotel during this time. Roosevelt retained a suite, and during the day led his men in battle exercises on the property. Other visitors of note during the hotel’s heyday were Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage and early film actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress the world has ever known". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas...
, Clara Barton
Clara Barton
Clarissa Harlowe "Clara" Barton was a pioneer American teacher, patent clerk, nurse, and humanitarian. She is best remembered for organizing the American Red Cross.-Youth, education, and family nursing:...
, Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism...
, the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
and the Queen of the United Kingdom. Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
was also a guest of the hotel during its latter days, and signed his first baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
in the Grand Dining Room
Dining room
A dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level...
. According to local legend, he hit his longest home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
ever at the old Tampa Fairgrounds stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
located on the hotel grounds.
Plant Park and hotel grounds
The hotel once featured many attractions, most located in what is now known as Plant Park. Today, as part of both the University of Tampa's campus and the museum's grounds, several can still be seen. At the entrance to the park is the "Henry Bradley Plant Memorial Fountain," commissioned by Margaret Plant in 1899 after her husband's death. The fountain title is Transportation, and reflects Mr. Plant's system of trains and ships with carved representations of each on the sculpture. The fountain was carved from solid stone by George Grey BarnardGeorge Grey Barnard
'George Grey Barnard was an American sculptor, "an excellent American sculptor", the French art dealer René Gimpel reported in his diary , "very much engrossed in carving himself a fortune out of the trade in works of art." His lasting monument, rather than any sculpture of his own, is the...
, and is the oldest public art in the city of Tampa. It was completely conserved in 1995.
Facing the Hillsborough River
Hillsborough River (Florida)
The Hillsborough River is a river located in the state of Florida in the USA. It arises in the Green Swamp near the juncture of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties, and flows through Pasco and Hillsborough Counties to an outlet in the city of Tampa on Tampa Bay. The name Hillsborough River first...
near the University of Tampa's library are two historic cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
from Fort Brooke
Fort Brooke
Fort Brooke was a historical military post situated on the east bank of the Hillsborough River in present-day Tampa, Florida. The Tampa Convention Center currently stands at the site.-Fort Brooke as a military outpost:...
, the early 19th century military post (established 1824) around which Tampa developed. The two guns are model 1819 iron 24-pounder seacoast guns, and were originally part of a three-gun Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
guarding Tampa Bay during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. On May 6, 1864, a Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
naval raiding party captured Fort Brooke and, before withdrawing the next day, disabled the three heavy cannon by blowing one trunnion
Trunnion
A trunnion is a cylindrical protrusion used as a mounting and/or pivoting point. In a cannon, the trunnions are two projections cast just forward of the centre of mass of the cannon and fixed to a two-wheeled movable gun carriage...
off of each (trunnions are the side projections on which cannon pivot to elevate or depress). This damage is still evident on the two Plant Park guns today.
In the 1890s, Henry Plant moved two of the long-abandoned cannon from the site of the old fort to the grounds of his new Tampa Bay Hotel, placing them in a small earthwork revetment
Revetment
Revetments, or revêtements , have a variety of meanings in architecture, engineering and art history. In stream restoration, river engineering or coastal management, they are sloping structures placed on banks or cliffs in such a way as to absorb the energy of incoming water...
as a curiosity for the hotel's guests. Later the guns were placed on plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
s made of coquina
Coquina
Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of the shells of either molluscs, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. For a sediment to be considered to be a coquina, the average size of the...
blocks. Recently Tampa's Rough Riders civic group remounted the Fort Brooke cannon on replica gun carriages in a new stone revetment in Plant Park. The lost third Fort Brooke cannon was for many years a lawn decoration at 901 Bayshore Boulevard, but was donated to a World War II scrap metal drive
War effort
In politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force...
on October 9, 1942.
Facing Kennedy Boulevard in Plant Park is another historic cannon, this one an impressive turn-of-the-century coast defense gun. It memorializes the important part Tampa played in the 1898 Spanish American War, and symbolically points south towards Cuba. The inscription on the cannon's monumental base describes it as an eight-inch (203 mm) gun on a "disappearing carriage" taken from Fort Dade, an old coast defense fort on Egmont Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay. The true story is a bit more complicated.
The original Fort Dade gun described on the base was emplaced in Plant Park in November 1927, but was donated to a steel scrap drive during World War II. Following the war, an eight-inch (203 mm) cannon of similar vintage was obtained from Fort Morgan, Alabama and installed on the 1927 memorial's vacant plinth. The new gun is mounted on the top portion of a 1918 railway gun carriage dating from World War I rather than the "disappearing carriage" of the original Fort Dade cannon.
Plant Park once housed a small zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
located along Biology Creek, a stream that runs down part of the park. The creek is fed from an underground spring that comes up beneath the hotel and empties a few hundred yards away into the Hillsborough River. In its heyday, the zoo contained a bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
and an alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
, plus many smaller animals. It was famous for its hundreds of squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
s and small lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s, which are still on campus. The bear and alligator were eventually moved up river and became the core attractions for what is now the Lowry Park Zoo
Lowry Park Zoo
Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo is a nonprofit zoo located in Tampa, Florida. In 2004, Lowry Park Zoo was voted the #1 Family Friendly Zoo in the US by Child Magazine, and is recognized by the State of Florida as the center for Florida wildlife conservation and biodiversity .Tampa's Lowry Park Zoological...
. The creek's name derives from a later period in its history, when students from the university used its water to conduct various biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
experiments.
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
hound
Hound
A hound is a type of dog that assists hunters by tracking or chasing the animal being hunted. It can be contrasted with the gun dog, which assists hunters by identifying the location of prey, and with the retriever, which recovers shot quarry...
s were cast in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
by Maurice Denonvilliers in 1890. Originally, they faced south rather than north, and their rapt attention was focused on a small bronze squirrel placed in a low hanging oak
Live oak
Live oak , also known as the southern live oak, is a normally evergreen oak tree native to the southeastern United States...
limb. However the squirrel eventually was stolen and the dogs were moved to their current location. Supposedly the two dogs represent Mr. Plant's personal favorite hunting dog
Hunting dog
A hunting dog refers to any dog who assists humans in hunting. There are several types of hunting dogs developed for various tasks. The major categories of hunting dogs include hounds, terriers, dachshunds, cur type dogs, and gun dogs...
s, and the hotel itself had kennel
Kennel
A kennel is the name given to any structure or shelter for dogs. A kennel is a doghouse, run, or other small structure in which a dog is kept...
s stocked with hunting dogs for guests use on hunting expeditions.
The Friends of Plant Park (FoPP) is a Florida not-for-profit corporation with the mission to (a) assist with the restoration, preservation and maintenance of The Henry B. Plant Park, Tampa, Florida, as a botanical garden open to the general public, (b) research and publicize the Victorian history of The Henry B. Plant Park, and (c) educate the public and cultivate community interest in and support for the foregoing activities. This group was formed in 1993.
Since 1997 the FoPP has hosted the annual 'GreenFest' activities in Henry B. Plant Park to raise money. To date those funds, along with contributions from individuals, organizations, the City of Tampa, and Hillsborough County, have allowed for the restoration of and new exhibit of the cannons, the Victorian star-shaped garden bed, and a replica of the 112 foot flagpole with a 12X18-foot replica of the 45-star American flag (1891). The original flagpole was probably a ships mast and a Florida state flag and a University of Tampa flag will fly from the replica's crossbars.
Closing and renewal
The hotel was closed in 1930, and remained empty and unused for three years. In late 1933, the Tampa Bay Junior College was allowed to move into the hotel, using the old suites as classroomClassroom
A classroom is a room in which teaching or learning activities can take place. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, including public and private schools, corporations, and religious and humanitarian organizations...
s and offices. Because of the large amount of space afforded by the hotel, the scope of the junior college was expanded, becoming the University of Tampa. The Tampa Municipal Museum was established by the city to preserve the hotel in its original form and co-exist with the newly established University. In 1941, the city of Tampa signed a 99 year lease with the University of Tampa for $1.00 a year. The lease excluded the southeast wing of the building to allow for the housing of the museum. In 1974, the Tampa Municipal Museum was renamed the Henry B. Plant Museum.