When visiting Tampa in Florida, go and see at the exotic looking building
that houses the University of Tampa. When it was built it was on a green
peninsula but now when you see the surrounding buildings and the traffic you
wonder what Henry Plant - a gentleman who was into transportation in a big way
- would have thought. Especially as he had the hotel constructed to encourage
the more well-to-do to spend their holidays in Tampa.
During the hotel's lifetime there were three methods of reaching it:
road, rail or sea. Some of the really rich guests had their own railroad
carriages which would be brought into a yard at the side of the hotel. Others
came on their yachts, for which there was a pier.
The name of the hotel was the most unoriginal thing about it - the
Tampa Bay Hotel. The building itself is an extravaganza of Victorian
architecture gone mad. Built in 1891 in Moorish Revival style, the red brick building
has wonderful shiny steel elongated onion domes surmounted with turrets and
topped with crescents. In contrast the verandah has exquisite white painted
wooden fretwork which looks like Arabian lace. It is a long building and apparently one lap of the buildings was said to
be one mile. Just right for Victorian gentlemen to take their daily walk. (I
wonder how many people do their daily jogging around it nowadays?) Of course, guests
weren't expected walk far - rickshaws were provided both inside and outside the
hotel.
Henry B. Plant brought the railroad to the west coast of Florida and in
1884 it reached Tampa. He also built the steamship terminal at Port Tampa which
has a deep water channel. He then built The Inn but wasn't satisfied with that.
He wanted something far more magnificent.
One wonders what the local populace thought of this weird construction
when it was finished. It was very opulent and very well furnished. Obviously
only people with pots of money could afford to stay there.
The furnishings were wonderful - statues, candelabra, Florentine mirrors,
a seven panelled painting called 'Wine, Women and Song' (which hung behind the
orchestra in the Ballroom) to mention but a few items. The painting is now on
display in the Henry Plant Museum.
The great thing about the hotel was that it had electricity (by Edison)
from day one and all suites had baths.
Over the years a casino, a boat house, an annexe, bachelor's quarters, a
golf shack, kennels, stables, conservatory and exhibition hall were added,
totalling twenty-one buildings. The Casino, which was built in 1896 increased
the dancing and performance area in the hotel. The ingenious part about it was
that the dance floor could be lifted, revealing a swimming pool.
The gardens were beautifully laid out with over 150 species of tropical
plants and flowers. Dotted about were wonderful porcelain seats from China and
Japan. Exactly right for the elegant ladies on which to sit and rest during
their leisurely strolls.
Stepping inside the Museum which occupies a small part of the building you
immediately get a feel of what it was like as a luxury hotel. The outer doors
have bevelled glass and are very attractive. The doorways and arches are in
keeping with the Moorish fantasy in that they are 'keyhole' style. The rooms
below the turrets have surprising niches beneath the turret.
In the hall there is a red carpet, pictures, mirrors, tables - some of
which are beautifully inlaid - jardiniere, porcelain jars and statues. The Reading Room is possibly the most authentic
in that it has almost every original piece of furniture. It is a dark room with
inlay around the door frames.
Another room illustrates how women normally spent their time: tea
services, unfinished embroidery lying about, silver service on display and some
very charming chairs.
There is a child's bedroom suite with cabinets, various pots and twin
beds with mosquito netting. There are
toys and children's clothing lying about. No child’s room would be complete
without this! Across the hallway is the parents' bedroom with its mosquito
netted bed.
Among the other rooms are a 'junk' room with a most eclectic collection
of garden furniture, pots and coloured pottery objects and a room with a
display of costumes. In here I noticed a particularly delightful back-to-back
sofa which was, unfortunately, being used as a plant pot holder. And there is a
room with an exhibition of Henry Plant's interests - the steamships and
railroads.
Having mentioned earlier the fact that the hotel had electricity, notice
the strange light bulbs. These were designed by Edison and are said to last
forever. They are set in a circle of three bulbs with a mirror above them to
reflect the light downwards.
Before leaving the museum stand on the verandah and picture it as it
would have been with the ladies and gentlemen in Victorian or Edwardian
costume. So very elegant. And take a look up through the wooden lacework to see
one of the metal turrets.
Among the well-known people who stayed here was Sarah Bernhardt. This was
in 1906 during her farewell tour when she gave a performance in the Casino. She
didn't stay in the hotel because she found it draughty. Instead she slept in her
own railroad carriage.
In 1915 the audience had to wait for two hours to see a performance by
Anna Pavlova and Company. They were coming from St. Petersburg (Florida) on the
local ferry which was late arriving.
Apparently Babe Ruth signed his first major league contract while staying
at the hotel and Dr. James Dwight (the 'father' of lawn tennis) was at the
hotel opening to promote the game. Gloria Swanson, as a child, used to visit
the hotel with her parents and when she wrote her memoirs (at the age of 80)
she mentioned the enormous dining room and the netting over the bed.
But it wasn't always fun and games at the hotel. In 1898 the
Spanish-American War broke out. Because the Tampa Bay Hotel is on the west bank
of the Hillsborough River it was used as the headquarters for U.S. Army Major
General William R. Shafter and the troops camped in the surrounding woods. The
famous Rough Riders were there, one of the officers being Lt. Col. Theodore
Roosevelt who, rather than putting up at the hotel, camped with his men. (I
wonder if he had his teddy bear with him?).
After the war the hotel returned to its former function of luxury hotel.
Henry Plant died in 1899 and in 1905 his heirs sold the hotel to the City
of Tampa and it became the only municipally owned hotel in the Southern States.
Since 1933 the Tampa Bay Hotel has been home to the University of Tampa
and the Henry B. Plant Museum. And, of course, it is a National Historic
Landmark.
www.plantmuseum.com
