You Have Now Arrived in Tampa

Native tribes were the first to settle in a "village by the bay" in which they called Tanpa, which meant "sticks of fire". However on maps made by early explorers, the spelling became "Tampa". Explorers excavated the Tampa Bay area in the 1500s just as they did other areas in Florida. Panfilo de Narvaez was on a quest not too far from Tampa, though he passed away at sea. Hernando de Soto sailed into the area in the spring of 1539 in search of gold, and for the next two hundred years, the area was left untouched. In 1772, the Hillsborough River was named by Bernard Romans, and in 1821, Florida was purchased from Spain. In 1824, Fort Brooke attracted traders to the Tampa Bay area, and the town of Tampa was finally named in 1855. One of the "railroad kings", Henry B. Plant, came to Tampa in 1884 and extended his railroad to Tampa as well as began a steamship line from Tampa to Key West to Havana, Cuba. Today, Tampa is home to several known attractions, which include Busch Gardens, The Florida Aquarium, and several sporting venues (the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (football), Devil Rays (baseball), and Tampa Bay Lightning (hockey)). On top of everything this city has to offer, it annually hosts the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in honor of Jose Gaspar. Send A Postcard From Tampa! Bibliography- The History of Tampa Written by Ms. Jasztal, 2005.

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