Since its founding in 1956, the University of South Florida has grown into a major regional center of education and research. Intellectually, culturally, and economically, the university is a vital part of the Tampa community. Stories in this tour…

Tampa is a baseball town. Since the end of the Civil War, baseball has been played on Tampa’s side streets, sandlots, parks, fields, and large stadiums. The stories in this tour tell of the evolution of baseball in the city. From the loosely…

A tour of historical homes and locations, as well as the history of local organizations, in and around one of Tampa's most vibrant neighboring cities, Temple Terrace.

The historical sites and museums located on this tour focus on the military history of Downtown Tampa, the Hillsborough River, and organizations established to preserve military history throughout Hillsborough County.

Tampa is rich in Cuban background and history, particularly in Ybor City and West Tampa, largely due to the booming cigar industry and the many immigrants who flocked to Tampa to staff its factories.

Starting out as small settlement in the 1850's, the city of Dunedin has grown to become an important part of Florida. Though famous for its history (citrus, alligator tank production, MLB training camps, etc.) and now its breweries, Dunedin is…

The railroad magnate, Henry B. Plant, opened the Tampa Bay area up to the rest of the United States, thereby helping to make it the influential and prosperous place it is today. The Plant System laid the foundation for the development of Tampa as a…

This tour will take you on a journey of many places of art and culture in the Tampa Bay area.

Although mostly out of harm's way during the Civil War, Tampa experienced several small engagements between Union and Confederate forces, the Battles of Tampa and Fort Brooke & Ballast Point. The memory of the Civil War lived on through the…

The Tampa Bay area is rich in history and culture-- and the many fantastic museums and historical centers that seek to preserve and promote it! Any tour of Tampa history should start here, with our strong and growing network of public history and…

This tour explores the exceptionally rich rural history of Florida. The ability to investigate this often more-obscure agricultural and pioneering past of the state is greatly aided by the work of the Cracker Country Rural History Museum. As a…

It is impossible to tell the story of Ybor City without reference to the immigrant populations that made this community what it was. This tour explores sites of immigrant culture and community in Ybor City. It was created by USF history students in…

This tour explores foodways, popular culture, and public entertainment in twentieth-century Ybor City. It was created by USF history students in Dr. K. Stephen Prince's spring 2019 seminar, "Tampa History as U.S. History."

Tampa has a rich history of labor activism and radical politics. This tour explores the history of labor radicalism, unionization, and strikes in the city, with a particular focus on West Tampa and Ybor City. This tour was produced by USF history…

Tampa is known as the "Cigar City." Without the cigar industry, the modern history of the city would have looked entirely different. This tour explores the history of the cigar industry in Ybor City and West Tampa. It was created by USF history…

"Walking in Fernando's First Footsteps" is a walking tour of Historic Ybor City based on the historical fiction, “Fernando’s Footsteps” by local author and Tampa native, Tony Carreño. Available through the Ybor City Museum Society, the story is…