Tampa is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the county seat of Hillsborough County. With an estimated population of 403,364 in 2023, Tampa is the 49th-most populous city in the country and the third-most populous city in Florida after Jacksonville and Miami.
The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 17th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a population of 3,175,275 as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
Channel District is a residential neighborhood in the City of Tampa that includes an entertainment complex, just east of Downtown Tampa, Florida. It is bordered by Ybor Channel on the east and Garrison Channel on the south. Channelside is a nickname for the entertainment complex Channelside Bay Plaza, within the neighborhood that includes shops, restaurants, and bars. It is located next to the Florida Aquarium, American Victory Museum, Port Tampa Bay and a short stretch on the Tampa Riverwalk to the Tampa Bay History Center. Also located in the district is the Amalie Arena where the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning play their home games. The Arena also hosts concerts and other events. The center of the Bay Plaza has a large open court for live music, with views of the downtown skyline, cruise ships and the Port of Tampa. It also houses a Sony Giant Screen theater. The TECO Streetcar has several stops in the district. Also, NEVs are being utilized by startups to link Tampa's core neighborhoods including Channelside. The Tampa Convention Center is located adjacent to the district to the west.
The TECO Line Streetcar is a heritage streetcar transit line in Tampa, Florida, run by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transportation Authority (HART), owned by the city of Tampa, and managed by Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. It connects Downtown and Channelside to the historic Ybor City district. There is also an "In-Town" trolley-replica bus system that connects Downtown, Channelside, and Harbour Island.
The Garrison Channel is one of several channels for boat traffic in and around the Port of Tampa in the City of Tampa, Florida. The Garrison Channel is anchored by the Channelside District on the East, leads to the Ybor and Sparkman Channel and by the Tampa Convention Center on its westside. It also leads itself to the Hillsborough River. The Garrison Channel is where the Waterside Marriott and Amalie Arena are located on the north bank, and Harbour Island is located at the south end of the Garrison Channel.
Fort Brooke was a historical military post established at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in present-day Tampa, Florida in 1824. Its original purpose was to serve as a check on and trading post for the native Seminoles who had been confined to an interior reservation by the Treaty of Moultrie Creek (1823), and it served as a military headquarters and port during the Second Seminole War (1835–1842). The village of Tampa developed just north of the fort during this period, and the area was the site of a minor raid and skirmish during the American Civil War. The obsolete outpost was sparsely garrisoned after the war, and it was decommissioned in 1883 just before Tampa began a period of rapid growth, opening the land for development.
The modern history of Tampa, Florida, can be traced to the founding of Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in today's downtown in 1824, soon after the United States had taken possession of Florida from Spain. The outpost brought a small population of civilians to the area, and the town of Tampa was first incorporated in 1855.
Curtis Hixon Hall was an indoor sports arena, convention center, concert venue, and special events center which was located at 600 Ashley Drive along the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa, Florida. It opened in 1965, and was the primary concert, indoor sports, and civic gathering place for the city of Tampa for about twenty years. The construction of newer and more specialized facilities around town during the 1980s gradually reduced the number of events held at Curtis Hixon Hall, and the opening of the much larger Tampa Convention Center in 1990 made it obsolete.
The Tampa Museum of Art is located in downtown Tampa, Florida. It exhibits modern and contemporary art, as well as Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities. The museum opened its first exhibit on November 22, 1920 when the institution was called the Tampa Museum of Fine Arts. After many address changes during the institution's first several decades, it debuted an award-winning new building in 2010 for its permanent location along Tampa's Riverwalk on the banks of Hillsborough River.
Park Tower is a skyscraper located in downtown Tampa, Florida. It is Tampa's first high-rise tower. At the time of its completion in November 1973, it was the tallest in Florida, and is currently sixth-tallest in Tampa, at 460 feet (140 m). It was the tallest building in Tampa until One Tampa City Center was built in 1981.
Sulphur Springs is a neighborhood and district located within the city limits of Tampa, Florida. At the time of the 2010 census, there were 5,727 residents, down somewhat from the 2000 census count of 6,308. In the late 19th century the mineral springs were a draw. In the 1940s, the area was a major tourist attraction, featuring a 40-foot water slide and gator farm. Today, one of the primary draws to the area is Busch Gardens Tampa, a world-famous animal theme park and amusement park, located only 2.8 miles from Sulphur Springs. It is also the location of the Sulphur Springs History and Heritage Museum. Other nearby attractions and institutions include Adventure Island, The Florida Aquarium, the Museum of Science & Industry and the Universities of South Florida (USF) and Tampa (UT).
The Tampa Convention Center is a mid-sized convention center located in downtown Tampa, Florida at the mouth of the Hillsborough River. It has both waterfront views of Tampa Bay and views of the city's skyline. Harbour Island is across the eponymous bridge on the other side of the Garrison Channel. The center is connected to the neighboring Channelside District and Ybor City via the TECO Line Streetcar, which has a station across the street. The center opened in 1990 and encompasses 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) in total. It has a 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2) exhibit hall, a ballroom capable of accommodating over 2,000 guests, and 36 meeting rooms that can be adjusted to various sizes. The facility hosts over 100 events per year.
The cityscape of Tampa includes historic and architecturally noteworthy structures in its downtown and residential areas. The Seminole Heights and Hyde Park neighborhoods are two of the largest historic preservation districts in Tampa.
Harbour Island is an island neighborhood within the city limits of Tampa, Florida and the sub-district within Downtown Tampa. The ZIP Code serving the area is 33602.
The Rivergate Tower, also known as the Sykes building or the Beer Can Building, is a 454-foot-tall (138 m) skyscraper in Tampa, Florida. The skyscraper is the seventh tallest building in Tampa with 31 floors. Rivergate Tower's principal tenant is Sykes Enterprises, a publicly-traded company that operates technical help and customer support centers internationally.
The Glazer Children's Museum is a non-profit children's museum located in downtown Tampa, Florida, next to the Tampa Museum of Art and Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, alongside the Tampa Riverwalk. It is part of the Downtown River Arts neighborhood.
The Tampa Riverwalk is a 2.6-mile-long (4.2 km) open space and pedestrian trail along the Hillsborough River in Tampa, Florida. The Riverwalk extends along most of the downtown Tampa waterfront from the Channelside District on the eastern terminus to the mouth of the Hillsborough River and then north along the riverside to Tampa Heights, forming a continuous path that connects a multitude of parks, attractions, public spaces, and hotels. Among the notable points of interest along the Riverwalk are the Tampa Bay History Center, Amalie Arena, the Tampa Convention Center, Rivergate Tower, Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, Water Works Park, and the Waterfront Arts District which includes the Tampa Museum of Art, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Glazer Children's Museum, and the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. Locations along the Riverwalk play host to many community events, most notably the numerous festivals held at Curtis Hixon Park and the arrival of the "pirate ship" Jose Gasparilla, which moors at the Riverwalk behind the Convention Center during the Gasparilla Pirate Festival.
Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park is an 8 acres (3.2 ha) public park located along the Hillsborough river in downtown Tampa, Florida that opened in its current configuration in 2010. It is adjacent to the Tampa Riverwalk, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tampa Museum of Art, Glazer Children's Museum, and Rivergate Tower. The park overlooks the University of Tampa's Plant Hall, which is directly across the river. The park is in an area known as the Waterfront Arts District.
Green ARTery is a greenway and trailway plan to connect neighborhoods in Tampa, Florida. The trails are bounded by the Hillsborough River to the North and West, McKay Bay and Old Tampa Bay to the South, and 40th Street to the East. Neighborhoods included in the ARTery include Old Seminole Heights, Southeast Seminole Heights, South Seminole Heights, Woodland Terrace, River Grove, Live Oaks Square, Lake Minihaha & Rogers Golf Course, Hampton Terrace, VM Ybor, East Tampa, Historic Ybor, Ybor Heights, East Ybor, Palmetto Beach, Downtown Tampa, Central Park, Tampa Heights, Ridgewood Park, Riverside Heights, and Channelside (Tampa).
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Tampa in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States.
