Tampa Bay History Center

Our galleries are filled with lots of opportunities to look, touch, listen and play. Kids can jump on the saddle and ride with the cattle ranchers, play with tiny Tampa trains, or dress up like a pioneer in our Cracker cabin.

The History Center includes three floors of permanent and temporary exhibition galleries focusing on 12,000 years of Florida’s history.

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 modern 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.

Our History-to-Go kits offer engaging, primary source-based activities that will help your students improve their historical thinking skills. Filled with cultural artifacts, historic photographs and other learning materials, History-to-Go kits are designed to supplement the study of various Florida history topics.

Multiple field trip options are availabe for preschoolers-adult.