Tampa Bay from a NASA satellite

Tampa Bay is a large, natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay.^[1]

"Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality. This misconception probably stems from the naming of several professional sports franchises (including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rays, and FC Tampa Bay) whose names represent the collective Tampa Bay Area, the hub of which is the city of Tampa, Florida.^[2]

Geography[link]

Tampa Bay watershed from USGS

Origin[link]

Approximately 6,000 years ago, Tampa Bay formed as a brackish drowned river valley type^[3] estuary with a wide mouth connecting it to the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to that time, it was a large fresh water lake, possibly fed by the Floridan Aquifer through natural springs.^[4] Though the exact process of the lake-to-bay transformation is not completely understood, the leading theory is that rising seas levels following the last ice age coupled with the formation of a massive sink hole near the current mouth of the bay created a connection between the lake and the gulf.^[5]

Ecology[link]

Tampa Bay is Florida's largest open-water estuary, extending over 400 square miles (1,000 km²) and forming coastlines of Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties. The freshwater sources of the bay are distributed among over a hundred small tributaries, rather than a single river.^[6] The Hillsborough River is the largest such freshwater source, with the Alafia, Manatee, and Little Manatee rivers the next largest sources. Because of these many flows into the bay, its large watershed covers portions of five Florida counties^[7] and approximately 2,200 square miles (5,700 km²). The bay bottom is silty and sandy, with an average water depth of only about 12 feet (3.7 m).^[8]

Tampa Bay's shallow waters, sea grass beds, mud flats, and surrounding mangrove-dominated wetlands provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. More than 200 species of fish are found in the waters of the bay, along with bottlenose dolphins and manatees, plus many types of marine invertebrates including oysters, scallops, clams, shrimp and crab. More than two dozen species of birds, including brown pelicans, several types of heron and egret, Roseate spoonbills, cormorants, and laughing gulls make their year-round home along its shores and small islands, with several other migratory species joining them in the winter. The cooler months are also when warm-water outfalls from power plants bordering the bay draw one out of every six West Indian manatees, an endangered species, to the area.^[9]

Tampa Bay has been designated an "Estuary of National Significance" by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Two National Wildlife Refuges are located in Tampa Bay: Pinellas National Wildlife Refuge and the refuge on Egmont Key. Most of the islands (including several man-made islands built from dredge spoil^[8][10]) and sandbars are off-limits to the public, due to their fragile ecology and their use as nesting sites by many species of birds. The Tampa Bay Estuary Program keeps watch over the Bay's health.^[8]

Human habitation[link]

Earliest known detailed map of Tampa Bay, by Don Francisco Maria Celi of the Spanish Royal Fleet, 1757. Map is oriented with east at the top. Pinellas peninsula is at bottom, Tampa peninsula in middle, Hillsborough River shown extending into the interior at top left

Humans have lived in the area for millennia, possibly as long as 12,000 to 14,000 years. The first local people to fully adapt to a sea-side lifestyle were those of the Manasota culture, a variant of the Weeden Island culture, who lived on the shores of Tampa Bay beginning around 5,000 - 6,000 years ago^[11]. They were in turn replaced by the Safety Harbor culture approximately 800 AD.

The Safety Harbor culture was dominant in the area at the time of first contact with Europeans. The Tocobaga, who built their principal town near today's Safety Harbor in the northwest corner of Old Tampa Bay, are the best known group from that era, but there were many coastal villages organized into various small chiefdoms all around the bay.^[12]

Spanish maps dated as early as 1584 identifies Tampa Bay as Baya de Spirito Santo ("Bay of the Holy Spirit").^[13] A map dated 1695 identifies the area as Bahia Tampa.^[14] Later maps dated 1794^[15] and 1800^[16] show the bay divided with three different names, Tampa Bay, Hillsboro Bay and the overall name of Bay of Spiritu(o) Santo.

The United States acquired Florida from Spain in 1819. The name Spirito Santo seems to have disappeared from maps of the region in favor of "Tampa Bay" (sometimes divided into Tampa and Hillsboro Bays) soon after the US established Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in 1824.^[17]

For the next 100 years, many new communities were founded around the bay. Fort Brooke begat Tampa on the northeast shores, Fort Harrison begat Clearwater on the west, the trading post of "Braden's Town" developed into Bradenton on the south, and St. Petersburg grew quickly after its founding in the late 19th century. By 2000, the region surrounding Tampa Bay had more than 2.5 million residents.

Environmental decline and recovery[link]

Tampa Bay was once teeming with fish and wildlife. People of the Safety Harbor culture lived almost entirely from mullet, shellfish, sea turtles, manatees, crabs, and other bounties harvested form the sea. After Tampa had been incorporated for several decades, visitors still reported schools of mullet swimming in such numbers that they "impeded the passage of boats."^[18]

The growth of the surrounding communities slowly caused deterioration of the natural environment. Heavy fishing, dredging to deepen shipping channels, and the clearing of mangroves for shoreline development were important factors.^[19] Most damaging was the discharge of waste water and other pollutants into the bay, which destroyed water quality and grasses.^[20] By the 1970s, sea grass coverage (which is vital to marine life) had decreased by more than 80%, the water was so murky that sunlight could not reach the shallow bottom, and bay beaches were regularly closed due to unsafe levels of pollutants.^[20]

Beginning in the early 1980s after federal and state legislation to improve water quality, authorities installed improved water treatment plants and tightened regulation of industrial discharge. Gradually the bay was being cleaned.^[21] By 2010, measures of sea grass coverage, water clarity, and biodiversity had improved to levels last seen in the 1950s.^[22]

The Port of Tampa

Transportation[link]

In Tampa's early days, the easiest way to get to Fort Brooke was by boat. But by the late 19th century, the deeper drafts of newer vessels meant that much of naturally shallow Tampa Bay was not navigable by commercial shipping. When Henry B. Plant's railroad reached the area in 1885, he continued the line past Tampa and across the Interbay Peninsula, where he built the town of Port Tampa on Old Tampa Bay. He wanted to create a new port for his fleet of steamships.

To alleviate the problem of the shallow bay, the US Army Corps of Engineers began dredging operations in the early 20th century. The Corp currently maintains more than 80 miles of deep-water channels in Tampa Bay; these must be continuously re-dredged and deepened due to the sandy nature of the bay bottom. Dredging has enabled seaborne commerce to become an important part of the Tampa Bay area's economy but sharply threatened the bay and region's ecology. From its small beginnings, the Port of Tampa has grown into the largest port in Florida and the 10th largest in the nation. It accommodates half of Florida's cargo in the form of bulk, break bulk, roll-on/roll-off, refrigerated and container cargo. It is the site of a ship repair and building industry, along with recently expanded cruise facilities.

The Port of Manatee, with more refrigerated dockside space than any other Gulf of Mexico port, is the closest of the three Tampa Bay deepwater ports to the Panama Canal. It is also one of the state's busiest, ranking fifth among Florida's fourteen seaports in total annual cargo tonnage. The Port of St. Petersburg is home to a U.S. Coast Guard station. The smallest of Florida's ports, it operates as a landlord port managed by the city of St. Petersburg.

The Sunshine Skyway from its southern approach, St. Petersburg in the distance

Bridges that cross Tampa Bay[link]

• Sunshine Skyway Bridge: spans the mouth of Tampa Bay from Bradenton on the south to St. Petersburg on the north. Part of I-275
• Gandy Bridge: spans Old Tampa Bay from Tampa on the east to St. Petersburg on the west. First bridge to link Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
• Howard Frankland Bridge: spans middle of Old Tampa Bay from Tampa on the east to St. Pete on the west. Part of I-275
• Courtney Campbell Causeway: spans northern Old Tampa Bay from Tampa on the east to Clearwater on the west.
• Bayside Bridge: runs roughly parallel to the western shore of Old Tampa Bay from Largo on the south to Clearwater on the north

See also[link]

• Climate of the Tampa Bay Area
• Battle of Tampa, an American Civil War naval battle in Tampa Bay.
• St. Petersburg Pier, a tourist attraction that juts into the bay from downtown Saint Petersburg, Florida
• Bayshore Boulevard, street near Downtown Tampa that runs along the bay, world's longest sidewalk

References[link]

External links[link]

• Tampa Bay Water Atlas
• Hillsborough Bay (USACE)
• Tampa Bay Watershed - Florida DEP

v t e Tampa Bay Area Topics Tampa Bay · Climate · History · Media · Sports · Tampa International Airport · Hillsborough County Schools · Pinellas County Schools · University of South Florida Central cities Tampa · St. Petersburg · Clearwater Smaller communities Pinellas Park · Temple Terrace · Brandon · Zeyphrhills · Plant City · Largo · Dunedin · Tarpon Springs · Lutz · Greater Sun Center Counties in MSA Hernando · Hillsborough · Pasco · Pinellas See also:  Florida

Coordinates: 27°45′45″N 82°32′45″W / 27.7625°N 82.54583°W / 27.7625; -82.54583

Tampa
—  City  —
Images from top, left to right: Skyline of Downtown Tampa, Tampa Bay Times Forum, Ybor City, Henry B. Plant Museum, Raymond James Stadium, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): Cigar City, The Big Guava
Location in Hillsborough County and the state of Florida
Tampa Location in the United States
Coordinates: 27°56′50″N 82°27′31″W / 27.94722°N 82.45861°W / 27.94722; -82.45861
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Hillsborough
Settled	1823
Incorporated (Village)	January 18, 1849
Incorporated (Town)	September 10, 1853 and August 11, 1873
Incorporated (City)	December 15, 1855 * and July 15, 1887
Government
• Type	Mayor-council
• Mayor	Bob Buckhorn (D)
• City attorney	Jim Shimberg[1]
• Legislative	City Council
Area
• City	170.6 sq mi (441.9 km2)
• Land	112.1 sq mi (290.3 km2)
• Water	58.5 sq mi (151.6 km2)  34.3%
• Urban	802.3 sq mi (2,078 km2)
• Metro	2,554 sq mi (6,610 km2)
Elevation	48 ft (14.6 m)
Population (2010)
• City	335,709
• Rank	55th in the US
• Density	2,969.6/sq mi (1,146.7/km2)
• Urban	2.7 million (19th)
• Metro	4 million
Demonym	Tampanian
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP Codes	33601-33626, 33629-33631, 33633-33635, 33637, 33647, 33650-33651, 33655, 33660-33664, 33672-33675, 33677, 33679-33682, 33684-33690, 33694, 33697[2]
Area code(s)	813
FIPS code	12-71000[3]
GNIS feature ID	0292005[4]
Website	www.tampagov.net
* Original city charter revoked by Florida Legislature on October 4, 1869[5]

Tampa (pronunciation: /ˈtæmpə/)^[6] is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County^[7] and is located on the west coast of Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709.^[8][9]

The current location of Tampa was once inhabited by indigenous peoples of the Safety Harbor culture, most notably the Tocobaga and the Pohoy, who lived along the shores of Tampa Bay. It was briefly explored by Spanish explorers in the early 16th century, but there were no permanent American or European settlements within today's city limits until after the United States had acquired Florida from Spain in 1819.

In 1824, the United States Army established a frontier outpost called Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, near the site of today's Tampa Convention Center. The first civilian residents were pioneers who settled near the fort for protection from the nearby Seminole population. The town grew slowly until the 1880s, when railroad links, the discovery of phosphate, and the arrival of the cigar industry jump-started Tampa's development and helped it to grow into an important city by the early 1900s.

Today, Tampa is a part of the metropolitan area most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area. For U.S. Census purposes, Tampa is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida MSA. The four-county area is composed of roughly 2.7 million residents, making it the second largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the state, and the fourth largest in the Southeastern United States, behind Miami, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.^[10] The Greater Tampa Bay area has just over 4 million residents and generally includes the Tampa and Sarasota metro areas. The Tampa Bay Partnership and U.S. Census data showed an average annual growth of 2.47 percent, or a gain of approximately 97,000 residents per year. Between 2000 and 2006, the Greater Tampa Bay Market experienced a combined growth rate of 14.8 percent, growing from 3.4 million to 3.9 million and hitting the 4 million people mark on April 1, 2007.^[11]

Tampa has a number of sports teams, such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL, the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League, the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League. The Tampa Bay Rays in Major League Baseball, are actually based in neighboring St. Petersburg, Florida.

In 2008, Tampa was ranked as the 5th best outdoor city by Forbes.^[12] A 2004 survey by the NYU newspaper Washington Square News ranked Tampa as a top city for "twenty-somethings."^[13] Tampa is now ranked as a "Gamma" world city by Loughborough University. According to Loughborough, Tampa ranks alongside other world cities such as Phoenix, Santo Domingo, and Osaka.^[14] In recent years Tampa has seen a notable upsurge in high-market demand from consumers, signaling more wealth concentrated in the area.^[15] Tampa has been tapped to host the 2012 Republican National Convention.^[16]

History[link]

Name[link]

The word "Tampa" may mean "sticks of fire" in the language of the Calusa, a Native American tribe that once lived south of today’s Tampa Bay. This might be a reference to the many lightning strikes that the area receives during the summer months. Other historians claim the name means "the place to gather sticks".^[17]

Toponymist George R. Stewart writes that the name was the result of a miscommunication between the Spanish and the Indians, the Indian word being "itimpi", meaning simply "near it".^[18] The name first appears in the "Memoir" of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda (1575), who had spent 17 years as a Calusa captive. He calls it "Tanpa" and describes it as an important Calusa town. While "Tanpa" may be the basis for the modern name "Tampa", archaeologist Jerald Milanich places the Calusa village of Tanpa at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor, the original "Bay of Tanpa". A later Spanish expedition did not notice Charlotte Harbor while sailing north along the west coast of Florida and assumed that the current Tampa Bay was the bay they sought. The name was accidentally transferred north.^[19]

Map makers were using the term Bay or Bahia Tampa as early as 1695.^[20]

Early explorations[link]

Hernando de Soto

Not much is known about the cultures who called the Tampa Bay area home before European contact. When Spanish explorers arrived in the 1520s, they found a ring of Tocobaga villages around the northern half of Tampa Bay from modern-day Pinellas County to Tampa and Calusa villages along the southern portion of the bay in modern-day Manatee County.^[21]

Expeditions led by Pánfilo de Narváez and Hernando de Soto landed near Tampa to look for gold and possibly start a colony. Neither conquistador stayed in the region for long once it became clear that the local riches were only abundant fish and shellfish. The native inhabitants, who derived most of their resources from the sea, repulsed any Spanish attempt to establish a permanent settlement or convert them to Catholicism.

The newcomers brought a weapon against which the natives had no defense: infectious disease. Archeological evidence reveals a total collapse of the native cultures of Florida in the years after European contact. The Tampa area was depopulated and ignored for more than 200 years.^[17]

Seasonal residents and U.S. control[link]

In the mid-18th century, events in American colonies drove the Seminole Indians into the wilds of northern Florida.^[22] During this period, the Tampa area had only a handful of residents: Cuban and Native American^[23] fishermen. They lived in a small village at the mouth of Spanishtown Creek on Tampa Bay, in today’s Hyde Park neighborhood along Bayshore Boulevard.^[23]

In 1821, the United States purchased Florida from Spain (see Adams-Onís Treaty), partly to reduce Indian raids, and partly to eliminate a refuge for escaped slaves from neighboring Southern states. One of the first U.S. actions in its new territory was a raid which destroyed Angola, a settlement built by escaped slaves and free blacks on the eastern shore of Tampa Bay.^[24][25]

Frontier days[link]

The Treaty of Moultrie Creek (1823) created a large Indian reservation in the interior of the peninsula of Florida. As part of efforts to establish control over the vast wilderness, the U.S. government built a series of forts and trading posts in the new territory. "Cantonment Brooke" was established on January 10, 1824, by Colonels George Mercer Brooke and James Gadsden at the mouth of the Hillsborough River on Tampa Bay, at the site of the Tampa Convention Center in Downtown Tampa. On January 22, 1824, the post was officially named Fort Brooke.^[26]

Barracks and tents at Fort Brooke circa 1840

During its first decades of existence, Tampa was very much an isolated frontier outpost. The sparse civilian population practically abandoned the area when the Second Seminole War flared up in late 1835. After almost seven years of vicious fighting, the Seminoles were forced away from the Tampa region and many settlers returned.^[27]

The Territory of Florida had grown enough by 1845 to become the 27th state.

Four years after statehood, on January 18, 1849, Tampa had also grown enough to officially incorporate as the "Village of Tampa". Tampa was home to 185 inhabitants, not including military personnel stationed at Fort Brooke.^[28] The city's first census count in 1850, however, listed Tampa-Fort Brooke as having 974 residents, inclusive of the military personnel.^[29]

Tampa was reincorporated as a town on December 15, 1855, and Judge Joseph B. Lancaster became the first mayor in 1856.^[30]

Tampa during the Civil War[link]

During the American Civil War, Florida seceded along with most of the southern states to form the Confederate States of America. Fort Brooke was manned by Confederate troops, and martial law was declared in Tampa in January 1862. Tampa's city government ceased to operate for the duration of the war.^[31]

In late 1861, the Union Navy set up a blockade around many southern ports to cut off the Confederacy from outside help, and several ships were stationed near the mouth of Tampa Bay. Blockade runners based in Tampa were able to repeatedly slip through the blockade to trade cattle and citrus for needed supplies, mainly with Spanish Cuba.^[32]

Union gunboats sailed up Tampa Bay to bombard Fort Brooke and the surrounding city of Tampa. The Battle of Tampa on June 30 and July 1, 1862, was inconclusive, as the shells fell ineffectually, and there were no human casualties on either side.^[33][34]

More damaging to the Confederate cause was the Battle of Fort Brooke on October 17 and October 18, 1863. Two Union gunboats shelled the fort and surrounding town and landed troops, who found blockade runners hidden up the Hillsborough River near present-day Lowry Park Zoo and destroyed them. The local militia mustered to intercept the Union troops, but they were able to return to their ships after a short skirmish and headed back out to sea.^[35]

The war ended in April 1865 with a Confederate defeat. In May 1865, federal troops arrived in Tampa to occupy the fort and the town as part of Reconstruction. They remained until August 1869.

Reconstruction[link]

The Reconstruction period was hard on Tampa. With little industry, and land transportation links limited to bumpy wagon roads from the east coast of Florida, Tampa was a fishing village with very few people, and poor prospects for development. Throughout its history, Tampa had been affected by yellow fever epidemics borne by mosquitoes from the surrounding swampland, but the sickness was particularly widespread during the late 1860s and 1870s. The disease was little understood at the time, and many residents simply packed up and left rather than face the mysterious and deadly peril.^[36]

In 1869, residents voted to abolish the city of Tampa government.^[37] The population of "Tampa Town" was below 800 in the official 1870 census count and had fallen further by 1880 (see demographics, below).

Fort Brooke, the seed from which Tampa had germinated, had served its purpose and was decommissioned in 1883. Except for two cannons displayed on the nearby University of Tampa campus, all traces of the fort are gone. A large downtown parking garage near the old fort site is called the Fort Brooke Parking Garage.^[38]

Prosperity[link]

Ybor's 1st Cigar Factory c. 1900

In the mid-1880s, Tampa's fortunes took several sudden turns for the better. First, phosphate was discovered in the Bone Valley region southeast of Tampa in 1883. The mineral, vital for the production of fertilizers and other products, was soon being shipped out from the Port of Tampa in great volume. Tampa is still a major phosphate exporter.

Plant's railroad[link]

Henry B. Plant's railroad line reached Tampa and its port shortly thereafter, finally connecting the small town to the nation's railroad system after years of efforts by local leaders. Previously, Tampa's overland transportation links had consisted of rutted sandy roads stretching across the Florida countryside. Plant's railroad made it much easier to get goods in and out of the Tampa Bay area. Phosphate and commercial fishing exports could be sent north^[39] and many new products were brought into the Tampa market, along with the first tourists.

Ybor's cigars[link]

The new railroad link enabled another important industry to come to Tampa. In 1885, the Tampa Board of Trade enticed Vicente Martinez Ybor to move his cigar manufacturing operations to Tampa from Key West. Proximity to Cuba made importation of "clear Havana tobacco" easy by sea, and Plant's railroad made shipment of finished cigars to the rest of the US market easy by land.^[40]

Since Tampa was still a small town at the time (population less than 5000), Ybor built hundreds of small houses around his factory to accommodate the immediate influx of mainly Cuban and Spanish cigar workers. Ybor City's factories rolled their first cigars in 1886, and many different cigar manufacturers moved their operations to town in ensuing years. Many Italian and a few eastern European Jewish immigrants arrived starting in the late 1880s, opening businesses and shops that catered to cigar workers. By 1900, over 10,000 immigrants had moved to the neighborhood. Several thousand more Cuban immigrants built West Tampa, another cigar-centric suburb founded a few years later by Hugh MacFarlane. Between them, two "Latin" communities combined to exponentially expand Tampa's population, economic base, and tax revenues, as Tampa became the "Cigar Capital of the World".^[41]

The Moorish Revival Tampa Bay Hotel

Tampa Bay Hotel[link]

In 1891, Henry B. Plant built a lavish 500+ room, quarter-mile (400 m) long, US$2.5 million eclectic/Moorish Revival-style luxury resort hotel called the Tampa Bay Hotel among 150 acres (0.61 km²) of manicured gardens along the banks of the Hillsborough River. Plant's resort featured a race track, a heated indoor pool, a golf course, a 2000-seat auditorium, tennis courts, stables, hunting and fishing tours, and electric lights and telephones in every room, plus the first elevator in town and exotic art collectibles which Plant had shipped in from around the world.^[42]

The Tampa Bay Hotel was relatively prosperous for about a decade. The resort hosted thousands of guests and many celebrities of the era, but was only filled to capacity during the Spanish-American War (see below). Henry Plant died in 1899, and his heirs sold the facilities to the city of Tampa in 1904. The city operated the hotel and used the grounds as a community gathering place until 1932, when the resort was closed, remodeled, and reopened as the University of Tampa a year later.^[43]

Spanish-American War[link]

Mainly because of Henry Plant's connections in the War Department, Tampa was chosen as an embarkation center for American troops in the Spanish-American War. Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders were among the 30,000 troops who waited in Tampa for the order to ship out to Cuba during the summer of 1898, filling the town to bursting and delivering another huge boost to the local economy.^[44]

Crucial time[link]

The discovery of phosphate, the arrival of Plant's railroad, and the founding of Ybor City and West Tampa—all in the mid-1880s—were crucial to Tampa's development. The once-struggling village of Tampa became a bustling boomtown almost overnight, and had grown into one of the largest cities in Florida by 1900.^[40]

Franklin Street, looking north past the old Hillsborough County Courthouse, Tampa c. 1910s-1920s

Early 20th century[link]

During the first few decades of the 20th century, the cigar-making industry was the backbone of Tampa's economy. The factories in Ybor City and West Tampa made an enormous number of cigars—in the peak year of 1929, over 500,000,000 cigars were hand rolled in the city.^[45]

In 1904, a local civic association of local businessmen dubbed themselves Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (named after local mythical pirate Jose Gaspar), and staged an "invasion" of the city followed by a parade. With a few exceptions, the Gasparilla Pirate Festival has been held every year since.^[46]

Bolita and organized crime[link]

Beginning in the late 19th century, illegal bolita lotteries were very popular among the Tampa working classes, especially in Ybor City. In the early 1920s, this small-time operation was taken over by Charlie Wall, the rebellious son of a prominent Tampa family, and went big-time. Bolita was able to openly thrive only because of kick-backs and bribes to key local politicians and law enforcement officials, and many were on the take.^[47]

Profits from the bolita lotteries and Prohibition-era bootlegging led to the development of several organized crime factions in the city. Charlie Wall was the first major boss, but various power struggles culminated in consolidation of control by Sicilian mafioso Santo Trafficante, Sr., and his faction in the 1950s. After his death in 1954 from cancer, control passed to his son Santo Trafficante, Jr., who established alliances with families in New York and extended his power throughout Florida and into Batista-era Cuba.^[48][49]

The era of rampant and open corruption ended in the 1950s, when the Senator Kefauver's traveling organized crime hearings came to town and were followed by the sensational misconduct trials of several local officials. Although many of the worst offenders in government and the mob were not charged, the trials helped to end the sense of lawlessness which had prevailed in Tampa for decades.^[47]

Panorama of Downtown Tampa taken in 1913.

Mid to late 20th century[link]

Tampa grew considerably as a result of World War II. Prior to the United States' involvement in the conflict, construction began on MacDill Field, the predecessor of present day MacDill Air Force Base. MacDill Field served as a main base for Army Air Corps and later Army Air Forces operations just before and during World War II, with multiple auxiliary airfields around the Tampa Bay area and surrounding counties. At the end of the war, MacDill remained as an active military installation while the auxiliary fields reverted to civilian control. Two of these auxiliary fields would later become the present day Tampa International Airport and St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. With the establishment of an independent U.S. Air Force in 1947, MacDill Field became MacDill AFB.

During the 1950s and 1960s Tampa saw record-setting population growth that has not been seen since. This amazing growth spurred major expansion of the city’s highways and bridges bringing thousands into the city and creating endless possibilities for Tampa business owners who welcomed tourists and new citizens alike into their neighborhoods. It was during this time period in the city’s history that two of the most popular tourist attractions in the area were developed – Busch Gardens and Lowry Park. Many of the well-known institutions that play an important role in the economic development of the city were established during this time period.^[50]

In 1956, the University of South Florida was established in North Tampa, spurring major development in this section of the city and offering many new job opportunities. Tampa continued to expand as new hospitals, schools, churches and subdivisions all began appearing to accommodate the growth. Many business offices began moving away from the traditional downtown office building into more convenient neighborhood office plazas.^[50]

Four attempts have been made to consolidate the municipal government of the city of Tampa with the county government of Hillsborough County (1967, 1970, 1971, and 1972), all of which failed at the ballot box; the greatest loss was also the most recent attempt in 1972, with the final tally being 33,160 (31%) in favor and 73,568 (69%) against the proposed charter.^[51]

The biggest recent growth in the city was the development of New Tampa, which started in 1988 when the city annexed a mostly rural area of 24 square miles (62 km²) between I-275 and I-75.

East Tampa, historically a mostly black community, was the scene of several race riots during and for some time after the period of racial segregation, mainly due to problems between residents and the Tampa Police Department.

Demographics[link]

As of 2000, the largest ancestries are German (9.2%), Irish (8.4%), English (7.7%), Italian (5.6%), and French (2.4%).^[8]

As of 2010, there were 157,130 households out of which 13.5% were vacant. In 2000, 27.6% households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.4% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.9% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.07.

In 2000, the city's population was spread out with 24.6% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.7 years old. For every 100 females there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.

In 2006, the median income for a household in the city was $39,602, and the median income for a family was $45,823. Males had a median income of $40,461 versus $29,868 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,522. 20.1% of the population and 16.4% of families were below the poverty line. 31.0% of those under the age of 18 and 13.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty level.

As of 2000, English spoken as a first language accounted for 77.4% of all residents, while 22.6% spoke other languages as their mother tongue. The most significant was Spanish speakers who made up 17.8% of the population, while French came up as the third most spoken language, which made up 0.6%, and Italian was at fourth, with 0.6% of the population.^[55]

A 2006 study by UCLA suggests that Tampa has one of the highest GLBT populations per capita with 6.1% of citizens polled identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transexual. The Tampa Bay metropolitan area also ranks 5th of all major metropolitan areas with 5.9% being GLBT.^[56]

Geography and weather[link]

Tampa is located on the West coast of Florida at 27°58′15″N 82°27′53″W / 27.97083°N 82.46472°W / 27.97083; -82.46472 (27.970898, -82.464640).^[57]

Tampa Bay Landsat image.

Topography[link]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 170.6 square miles (442 km²), of which 112.1 square miles (290 km²) is land and 58.5 square miles (151.5 km²) (34.31%) is water. The highest point in the city is only 48 feet (15 m). Tampa is bordered by two bodies of water, Old Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Bay, both of which flow together to form Tampa Bay, which in turn flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The Hillsborough River flows out into Hillsborough Bay, passing directly in front of Downtown Tampa and supplying Tampa with its main source of fresh water. Palm River is a smaller river flowing from just east of the city into McKay Bay, which is a smaller inlet, sited at the northeast end of Hillsborough Bay^[58] Tampa's cartography is marked by the Interbay Peninsula which divides Hillsborough Bay (the eastern) from Old Tampa Bay (the western).

Climate[link]

Paddling on the Hillsborough River

Tampa has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with hot summer days, frequent thunderstorms in the summer (rain is less frequent in the fall and winter), and a threat of a light winter freeze from November 15 through March 5 caused by occasional cold fronts from the north, and even then not every year. Since Tampa has some characteristics of a tropical climate, hard freezes happen rarely (every 15 to 20 years). Tampa is listed as USDA zone 10, which is about the northern limit of where coconut palms and royal palms can be grown. Average highs range from 70 to 90 °F (21 to 32 °C) year round, and lows 52 to 76 °F (11 to 24 °C).^[59] While it may surprise anyone who has suffered the area's intense summer heat, Tampa's official recorded high has never hit 100 °F (37.8 °C) - the all-time record high temperature is 99 °F (37 °C), recorded on June 5, 1985.^[59]

Temperatures are hot from around mid-April through mid-October, which coincides approximately with the rainy season. Summertime weather is very consistent, with highs near 90°F (32-34 °C), lows in the mid-70s °F (23-24 °C), and high humidity. Afternoon thunderstorms, usually generated by the interaction of the Gulf and Atlantic sea breezes, are such a regular occurrence during the summer that the Tampa Bay area is recognized as the "Lightning Capital of North America". Every year, Florida averages 10 deaths and 30 injuries from lightning strikes, with several of these usually occurring in or around Tampa.^[60]

In the winter, average temperatures range from the low to mid 70s during the day to the low to mid 50s at night. However, sustained colder air from Canada pushes into the area on several occasions every winter, dropping the highs and lows to 15 degrees below the average (or even colder) for several days at a time before seasonal average temperatures return. The temperature falls below freezing an average of 2 to 3 times per year, though this does not occur every season.^[61] Since the Tampa area is home to a diverse range of freeze-sensitive agriculture and aquaculture, hard freezes, although very infrequent, are a major concern. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Tampa was 18 °F (−8 °C) on December 13, 1962.^[59]

In the Great Blizzard of 1899, Tampa experienced its one and only known blizzard, with "bay effect" snow coming off Tampa Bay.^[62][63] The last measurable snow in Tampa fell on January 19, 1977. The accumulation amounted to all of 0.2 inches (0.5 cm), but the city, unprepared for and unaccustomed to wintry weather, came to a virtual standstill for a day. Three major freezes occurred in the 1980s: in January 1982, January 1985, and December 1989. The losses suffered by farmers forced many to sell off their citrus groves, which helped fuel a boom in subdivision development in the 1990s and 2000s.^[64][65]

Yearly precipitation trends[link]

Because of the frequent summer thunderstorms, Tampa has a pronounced wet season, receiving an average of 26.1 inches (663 mm) of rain from June to September but only about 18.6 inches (472 mm) during the remaining eight months of the year. The historical averages during the late summer, especially September, are augmented by passing tropical systems, which can easily dump many inches of rain in one day. Outside of the summer rainy season, most of the area's precipitation is delivered by the occasional passage of a weather front.^[59]

Cityscape[link]

Architecture[link]

Tampa displays a wide variety of architectural designs and styles. Most of Tampa's high rises demonstrate Post-modern architecture. The design for the renovated Tampa Museum of Art, displays Post-modern architecture, while the city hall and the Tampa Theatre belong to Art Deco architecture. The Tampa mayor Pam Iorio made the redevelopment of Tampa's downtown, especially residential development, a priority.^[69] Several residential and mixed-development high-rises have been constructed. Another of Mayor Iorio's initiatives was the Tampa Riverwalk, a mixed use path along the Hillsborough River in downtown and Channelside. Several museums are part of the plan, including new homes for the Tampa Bay History Center, the Tampa Children's Museum, and the Tampa Museum of Art.^[70] Mayor Bob Buckhorn has continued these developments.

Tampa is the site of several skyscrapers. Overall, there are 18 completed buildings that rise over 250 feet (76 m) high. The city also has 69 high-rises,^[71] more than any other city in Florida after Miami. The tallest building in the city is 100 North Tampa, formerly the AmSouth Building, which rises 42 floors and 579 feet (176 m) in Downtown Tampa.^[72] The structure was completed in 1992, and is the tallest building in Florida outside of Miami and Jacksonville.^[72]

Neighborhoods and surrounding municipalities[link]

The city is divided into many neighborhoods, many of which were towns and unincorporated communities annexed by the growing city. Generally, the city is divided into the following areas: Downtown Tampa, New Tampa, West Tampa, East Tampa, North Tampa, and South Tampa. Well-known communities include Ybor City, Forest Hills, Ballast Point, Sulphur Springs, Seminole Heights, Tampa Heights, Palma Ceia, Hyde Park, Davis Islands, Tampa Palms, College Hill, and non-residential areas of Gary and the Westshore Business District.

Surrounding communities[link]

Tampa's downtown skyline in August, 2009

Landmarks[link]

The Tampa Theatre.

The Sulphur Springs Water Tower, a landmark in Sulphur Springs section of the city, dates back to the late 1920s. This boom period for Florida also saw the construction of an ornate movie palace, the Tampa Theatre, a Mediterranean revival on Davis Islands, and Bayshore Boulevard, which borders Hillsborough Bay from downtown Tampa to areas in South Tampa. The road has a 6-mile (9.7 km) continuous sidewalk on the eastern end, the longest in the world.^[73][74]

The Ybor City District is home to several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places and has been declared a National Historic Landmark. Notable structures include El Centro Español and other social clubs built in the early 1900s.

Babe Zaharias Golf Course in the Forest Hills area of Tampa has been designated a Historical Landmark by the National Register of Historic Places. It was bought in 1949 by the famous 'Babe', who had a residence nearby, and closed upon her death. In 1974, the city of Tampa opened the golf course to the public.^[75] The Story of Tampa, a public painting by Lynn Ash, is a 4' × 8' oil on masonite mural that weaves together many of the notable aspects of Tampa's unique character and identity. It was commissioned in 2003 by the city's Public Art Program and can be found in the lobby of the Tampa Municipal Office Building.^[76] Park Tower (originally the First Financial Bank of Florida) is the first substantial skyscraper in downtown Tampa. Completed in 1973, it was the tallest skyscraper in Tampa until the completion of One Tampa City Center in 1981.^[77] The Rivergate building, a cylindrical building known as the "Beer Can building", was featured in the movie "The Punisher".

Spanning the southern part of Tampa Bay, is the massive steel-span Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

Tampa is home to the Bro Bowl, one of the last remaining skateparks built during skateboarding's "Golden Era" in the 1970s. It opened in 1979 and was constructed by Tampa Parks and Recreation. It was the first public skatepark to be constructed in Florida and the third on the East Coast.^{[citation needed]}

Tampa City Hall.

Government[link]

Tampa is governed under the strong mayor form of government. The Mayor of Tampa is the chief executive officer of city government and is elected in four-year terms, with a limit of two consecutive terms. The current mayor is Bob Buckhorn, who took office on April 1, 2011.

The City Council is a legislative body served by seven members, in which four are elected from specific areas of town and the other three are "at-large" (serving citywide).^[78]

Education[link]

Hillsborough High School in Tampa's Seminole Heights neighborhood

Primary and secondary schools[link]

Public primary and secondary education is operated by Hillsborough County Public Schools, officially known as the School District of Hillsborough County (SDHC). It is ranked the eighth largest school district in the United States, with around 189,469 enrolled students. SDHC runs 208 schools, 133 being elementary, 42 middle, 27 high schools, two K-8s, and four career centers. There are 73 additional schools in the district that are charter, ESE, alternative, etc. Twelve out of 25 high schools in the SDHC are included in Newsweek's list of America's Best High Schools.

Public libraries[link]

Tampa's library system is operated by the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System. THPLS operates 28 libraries throughout Tampa and Hillsborough County, including the John F. Germany Main Library in Downtown Tampa. The Tampa library system first started in the early 20th century, with the West Tampa Library, which was made possible with funds donated by Andrew Carnegie.

Higher education[link]

University of Tampa's Plant Hall

There are a number of institutions of higher education in Tampa. The city is home to the main campus of the University of South Florida (USF), a member of the State University System of Florida founded in 1956.^[79] In 2010, it was the eleventh highest individual campus enrollment in the US with over 46,000 students.^[80] Its mascot is Rocky The Bull, with green and gold as his colors. The University of Tampa (UT) is a private, four-year liberal arts institution.^[81] Founded in 1931 and located across the Hillsborough River from downtown Tampa, UT has over 6,500 students attending. Its mascot is the Spartan, with scarlet, black, and gold as its school colors. Hillsborough Community College is a two-year community college in the Florida College System with campuses in Tampa and Hillsborough County.^[82]

Other colleges and universities in the wider Tampa Bay Area include Eckerd College and St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg.^[83]

Economy[link]

Tampa Convention Center, built at the site of Fort Brooke

Service, retail, finance, insurance, shipping by air and sea, national defense, professional sports, tourism, and real estate all play a vital role in the area's economy.^[84] Hillsborough County alone has an estimated 740,000 employees, a figure which is projected to increase to 922,000 by 2015.^[84] Many corporations, such as large banks and telecommunications companies, maintain regional offices in Tampa. Several Fortune 1000 companies are headquartered in the metropolitan area,^[85] including OSI Restaurant Partners, WellCare Health Plans, Inc., TECO Energy, and Raymond James Financial. MacDill Air Force Base also remains a major employer as the parent installation for over 15,000 active uniformed military, Department of Defense (DoD) civil service and DoD contractor personnel in the Tampa Bay area. A significant majority of the civil service and contractor personnel are, in fact, themselves retired career military personnel. In addition to the 6th Air Mobility Wing, which is "host wing" for the base, MacDill is also home to Headquarters, United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), Headquarters, United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), the 927th Air Refueling Wing, Headquarters, United States Marine Forces Central Command (USMARCENT), Headquarters, United States Special Operations Command Central (USSOCCENT), and numerous other military activities of the active and reserve components of the armed forces.

Downtown Tampa is undergoing significant development and redevelopment in line with a general national trend toward urban residential development. The Tampa Downtown Partnership notes development proceeding on 20 residential, hotel, and mixed-use projects as of April 2007.^[86] Many of the new downtown developments are nearing completion in the midst of a housing market slump, which has caused numerous projects to be delayed or revamped,^[87] and some of the 20 projects TDP lists have not broken ground and are being refinanced. Nonetheless several developments are nearing completion, which city leaders hope will make downtown into a 24-hour neighborhood instead of 9 to 5 business district.^[88] As it stands, Tampa residents face a decline in rent which has decreased an average of 2% next year. Nationally rent has decreased 4%.^[89]

Tampa's port is now the seventh largest in the nation and Florida's largest tonnage port, handling nearly half of all seaborne commerce that passes through the state. Tampa currently ranks second in the state behind Miami in terms of cruise ship travel. Besides smaller regional cruise ships such as Yacht Starship and SunCruz Casino, Tampa also serves as a port of call for three cruise lines: Holland America's MS Veendam, Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas, and Carnival's Legend and Inspiration.^[90]

The main server farm for Wikipedia and other Wikimedia Foundation projects is located in Tampa.^[91]

Healthcare and utilities[link]

Tampa and its surrounding suburbs are host to over 20 hospitals and four trauma centers. Three of the area's hospitals were ranked among "America's best hospitals" by US News and World Report. It is also home to many health research institutions.

Media[link]

Major daily newspapers serving the city are The Tampa Tribune and The Tampa Bay Times. La Gaceta is the nation's only trilingual newspaper, written in English, Spanish, and Italian. There is also a wide variety of smaller regional newspapers, alternative weeklies, and magazines, including the Florida Sentinel Bulletin, Creative Loafing, Reax Music Magazine, Tampa Bay Times, The Oracle, Tampa Bay Business Journal, and MacDill Thunderbolt. Major television affiliates include WFTS 28 (ABC), WTSP 10 (CBS), WFLA 8 (NBC), WTVT 13 (Fox), WTOG 44 (The CW), WTTA 38 (MyNetworkTV), and WVEA 62 (Univision).