Henry B. Plant Museum, Tampa, Florida, USA

The Henry B. Plant Museum is housed in the south wing of Plant Hall (Tampa Bay Hotel) on the University of Tampa’s campus.

Henry B. Plant Museum: 401 W Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, Florida, USA

Plant Hall was originally built by Henry B. Plant as the Tampa Bay Hotel; a 511-room resort-style hotel that opened on February 5, 1891 near the terminus of the Plant System rail line, also forged and owned by Plant.

The Plant Museum’s exhibits focus on historical Gilded Age tourism in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, the elite lifestyle of the hotel’s guests, and the Tampa Bay Hotel’s use during the Spanish–American War.

The main attraction is the building itself, which was built as a hotel.

But now it is used as a university school building.

In front of the Plant Hall is a small park.

The rear side of the building

A long hallway with rooms on the sides

Going upstairs

The rooms are used as classrooms.

The museum is located on the left wing of the building.

It is filled with old furniture that was used when it was the hotel.

He became hugely wealthy from the transportation business.  So he built this hotel to bring people to Tampa using his transportation business.

His train and ship routes

More furniture used in the hotel

The military used the hotel during the Spanish-American War.

During this war, many Cubans moved to Tampa and created the cigar city, Ybor City.

The style of the hotel is Islamic.