Tampa Florida History

The Calusa Indians were the first native inhabitants on Florida’s west coast. During the 16th century, Spanish explorers Juan Ponce de León and Hernando de Soto attempted to establish settlements along Tampa Bay. For two hundred years thereafter, wars between the Spanish, French and British dominated the Florida scene. In the early 1800s, there were a series of Seminole Wars and the Civil War while the cattle and citrus industry took root. Henry Flagler’s railroad at the turn of the 20th century brought major development and commerce, including a steamship line between the Port of Tampa and Havana, Cuba. During the Spanish-American War, Tampa was the staging ground for U.S. troops and President Roosevelt.

The area prospered with the growth of the Cuban cigar industry in Ybor City, having moved from Key West. It became known as the “cigar capital of the world”. It declined after 1959 with Fidel Castro’s revolution when the U.S. put an embargo on Cuban products. Tampa’s economy declined; however, when Ybor City was designated a national historic district in 1990, major revitalization projects and new hotels brought Tampa back into the limelight, especially with a new tourism industry. Over the past few years, it has become a major travel and entertainment center.