Tampa Bay History Center

WHO WE ARE

Beginning with a look at Florida’s first peoples, who inhabited the peninsula some 10,000 years ago, and the arrival of European explorers in the 1500s, to Tampa Bay’s role as a port city, the industrial capital of West Central Florida, and a draw for tourists and visitors the world over, the History Center tells the story of Tampa Bay’s and Florida’s history, heritage and culture.

Visitors to the History Center can dine in the Columbia Cafe, a branch of the world-famous Columbia Restaurant, featuring signature Spanish-Cuban cuisine, a staple of Tampa’s iconic immigrant community of Ybor City. 

In addition, the History Center is also home to the Touchton Map Library and the Florida Center for Cartographic Education. The only cartographic research center of its kind in the state, the History Center houses one of the most comprehensive collections of Florida cartography in the world, with holdings spanning five centuries. The Touchton Map Library features a regular schedule of changing exhibitions and is open by appointment to researchers and students.

Founded in 1989 by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, the History Center opened its new, 60,000 square-foot facility with three floors of exhibition galleries on the Tampa Riverwalk in 2009. By 2012 the organization was a Smithsonian Affiliate museum and earned accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums in 2015.

INFORMATION

Tampa Bay History Center