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Journey to new depths off the coast of La Florida.
Treasure Seekers Gallery
2024 Gala: Ships & Saddles
Saddle
Decade of Change: Florida in the 1920s
Decade of Change Exhibition
Sharps & Marks in Paradise: Selling Florida in the 1920s
Decade of Change exhibition

What’s happening at the museum right now.

Blue Star Museums
Blog

Explore the past, embrace the present: Blue Star Museums at the Tampa Bay History Center

Summer in the Tampa Bay region brings not only the warmth of the Florida sun but also a special opportunity for our military families. The Tampa Bay History Center proudly 

History you
can touch.

Illustration of hands holding the globe.

Treasure Seekers

There’s more than meets the aye at this exhibit on conquistadors, pirates and shipwrecks. All aboard -- or walk the plank.
Illustration of a magnifying glass.

A Place of Your Own

Experience Tampa’s port industries from inside an actual cargo container. Test your knowledge of Florida’s natural resources. Play with regional history in a whole new way.
Sextant in Treasure Seekers Gallery at the Tampa Bay History Center
Students explore the galleries of the Tampa Bay History Center

Dig through
our archives.

illustration of a treasure map.

Touchton Map Library

Navigate more than 8,000 maps, charts and logs from the early exploration of Europe and North America.
Illustration of a stack of books.

Witt Research Center

View nearly 10,000 books, manuals, maps, documents, microfilm, and family/subject papers spanning prehistoric to present-day Florida.
Tony Jannus and the Benoist Airboat, Opening St. Petersburg-Tampa AirBoat Line, January 1, 1914
Collections archive storage at the Tampa Bay History Center
Paella “Española”
Cafe

Modern flavor.
Historic taste.

Resting on the Tampa Riverwalk inside the Tampa Bay History Center, this charming cafe captures the flavor of the original Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. We offer a sampling of the Spanish- and Cuban-inspired dishes that made the 118-year-old restaurant famous.