, 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.
Early inhabitants Humans have lived in Florida for millennia, at least 14,000 years. Due to worldwide glaciation, sea levels were much lower at the time, and Florida's peninsula extended almost 60 miles west of today's coastline.
Paleo-Indian sites have been found near rivers and lakes in northern Florida, leading to speculation that these first Floridians also lived on Tampa Bay when it was still a freshwater lake. Evidence of human habitation from this early period has been found at the Harney Flats site, which is approximately 10 miles east of the current location of Tampa's downtown waterfront. The earliest evidence of human habitation directly on the shores of Tampa Bay comes from the
Manasota culture, a variant of the
Weeden Island culture, who lived in the area beginning around 5,000–6,000 years ago, after sea levels had risen to near modern levels and the bay was connected to the Gulf of Mexico. This culture, which relied almost exclusively on the bay for food and other resources, was in turn replaced by the similar
Safety Harbor culture by approximately 800 AD. The pre-contact Indigenous nation most associated with the Tampa Bay are the historic
Tocobaga nation, who are known to be among the ancestors of the contemporary Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes of Florida.
European exploration The Safety Harbor culture was dominant in the area at the time of first contact with Europeans in the mid-1500s. The
Tocobaga, who built their
principal town near today's
Safety Harbor in the northwest corner of Old Tampa Bay, are the most documented group from that era because they had the most interactions with
Spanish explorers. However, there were many other coastal villages organized into various small chiefdoms all around the bay. Not finding gold or silver in the vicinity and unable to convert the native inhabitants to Christianity, the Spanish did not remain in the Tampa Bay area for long. However,
diseases they introduced decimated the native population over the ensuing decades, leading to the near-total collapse of every established culture across peninsular Florida. Between this depopulation and the indifference of its colonial owners, the Tampa Bay region would be virtually uninhabited for almost 200 years. Tampa Bay was given different names by early mapmakers. Spanish maps dated from 1584 identifies Tampa Bay as
Baya de Spirito Santo ("Bay of the
Holy Spirit"). A map dated 1695 identifies the area as
Bahia Tampa. Later maps dated 1794 and 1800 show the bay divided with three different names,
Tampa Bay west of the Interbay peninsula and
Hillsboro Bay on the east with an overall name of
Bay of Spiritu Santo. At other times, the entire bay was identified as
The Bay of Tocobaga. United States control The United States acquired Florida from Spain in 1821. 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. For the next several decades, during the
Seminole Wars, the Tampa Bay would be a primary point of confrontation, detention, and forced expulsion of the Seminole & Miccosukee people of Florida. Fort Brooke, Fort Dade, and the American military's miscellaneous Egmont Key facilities were the primary sites associated with the removal of the Seminole in the Floridian leg of the
Trail of Tears. For the next 100 years, many new communities were founded around the bay. Fort Brooke begat
Tampa on the northeast shore, Fort Harrison (a minor military outpost on Florida's west coast) begat
Clearwater, 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, on the western bay shore opposite Tampa. By 2010, the
Tampa Bay Area was home to over 4 million residents.
Transportation By sea As Tampa began to grow in the mid-1800s, roads across central Florida were still just rough trails and rail lines did not yet extend down the Florida peninsula, so the most convenient means of traveling to and from the area was by sea. By the late 19th century, however, the shallow nature of Tampa Bay made it impossible for large modern vessels with deeper drafts to reach the city of Tampa's downtown wharves on Hillsboro Bay. Most ships would anchor well out from shore and transfer cargo and passengers to and from the city in smaller boats. In 1898, Plant used his connections in the federal government to make Port Tampa a major embarkation point for the U.S. Army during the
Spanish–American War, leading to the U.S. Congress appropriating funds for the
United States Army Corps of Engineers to begin the first large dredging operation in Tampa Bay. A deep shipping channel was created which linked Port Tampa to the mouth of the bay, enabling Plant to greatly expand his
steamship line. In 1917, the Corps of Engineers dredged another channel from the mouth of Tampa Bay to the Port of Tampa, instantly making the city an important shipping center. The Corps of Engineers currently maintains more than 80 miles of deep-water channels in Tampa Bay up to a depth of 47 feet. These must be continuously re-dredged and deepened due to the sandy nature of the bay bottom. While dredging has enabled seaborne commerce to become an important part of the Tampa Bay area's economy, it has also damaged the bay's water quality and ecology. More care has been taken in recent decades to lessen the environmental impact of dredging. Dredged material has also been used to create several spoil islands on the eastern side of Hillsboro Bay. These islands have become important nesting sites for many seabirds, including threatened species such as
oystercatchers, and have been designated as "sanctuary islands" that are off-limits to boaters. File:Tampa Bay, Florida, by Field, J. C., b. 1845.jpg|Tampa's waterfront, 1890. File:Atlantic Coast Line railroad company terminal at the Port of Tampa, Florida (10977712996).jpg|
Port Tampa, c. 1900. File:Port of Tampa.JPG|Facilities at
Port Tampa Bay from
Davis Islands,
downtown Tampa at left
Ports on Tampa Bay •
Port Tampa Bay (known as the
Port of Tampa until 2014): Oldest port on Tampa Bay, can trace its roots to the wharves of
Fort Brooke in the 1820s. Currently centered east and southeast of downtown Tampa on Hillsboro and McKay Bays. Largest port in Florida; 10th largest in the nation. Port Tampa Bay accommodates half of Florida's
cargo in the form of bulk,
roll-on/roll-off, refrigerated and container cargo, and petroleum products. Home to extensive ship repair and building industry and several
cruise ship terminals. •
Port Tampa: Established in 1885 by
Henry B. Plant at the terminus of the
Plant System railroad line on the eastern shore of Old Tampa Bay. Eclipsed in tonnage and importance by the Port of Tampa in the early 1900s, but still an important arrival point for
aviation fuel which is piped to nearby
Tampa International Airport and
MacDill Air Force Base. •
Port Manatee: Located on the southern shore of Lower Tampa Bay. Most refrigerated dockside space of any Gulf of Mexico port. Ranked fifth among Florida's fourteen seaports in total annual cargo tonnage. •
The Port of St. Petersburg: Located on the
St. Petersburg waterfront on Old Tampa Bay and operated by the city. Smallest of Florida's ports, caters mainly to private vessels. Site of
U.S. Coast Guard station.
By land from its southern approach,
St. Petersburg in the distance. In the early 20th century, traveling overland between the growing communities around Tampa Bay was an arduous process. The trip between Tampa and St. Petersburg was almost around the north end of Old Tampa Bay and took up to 12 hours by train and over a full day over uncertain roads by car. The trip between St. Petersburg and Bradenton was even longer – over all the way around Tampa Bay, a trip that still took about two hours into the 1950s. In 1924, the
Gandy Bridge over Old Tampa Bay reduced the driving distance between Tampa and St. Petersburg to . Ten years later, the Davis Causeway (later renamed the
Courtney Campbell Causeway) was built between Clearwater and Tampa. More bridges criss-crossed Tampa Bay over the ensuing decades, making travel between the surrounding communities much faster and furthering the economic development of the Tampa Bay area.
Bridges that cross Tampa Bay •
Sunshine Skyway Bridge: Opened 1954. Spans Lower Tampa Bay from
Bradenton on the south to St. Petersburg on the north, greatly reducing travel times between Manatee and Pinellas Counties. Part of
I-275 &
US 19. •
Gandy Bridge: Opened 1924 (first roadway bridge over Tampa Bay). Spans Old Tampa Bay from Tampa on the east to St. Petersburg on the west. Part of
U.S. Route 92. •
Howard Frankland Bridge: Opened 1960. Spans middle of Old Tampa Bay from Tampa on the east to St. Pete on the west. Part of
I-275. •
Courtney Campbell Causeway: Opened 1934. Spans northern Old Tampa Bay from Tampa on the east to Clearwater on the west. Part of
Florida State Road 60. •
Bayside Bridge: Opened 1993. Runs roughly parallel to the western shore of Old Tampa Bay from
Largo / St. Petersburg on the south to Clearwater on the north. Built to help relieve traffic congestion on nearby
US-19. •
22nd Street Causeway: Opened 1926. Bridge portion spans the mouth of McKay Bay near Port Tampa Bay. Part of
U.S. Route 41.
By air piloting the world's
first scheduled airline service over Tampa Bay, 1914. The aircraft is a
Benoist XIV. The difficulty of traveling between Tampa and St. Petersburg in the early 20th century inspired the world's first scheduled air service, the
St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, which operated during the tourist season of 1914. While the construction of bridges made air travel across Tampa Bay unnecessary, several airports have been built along the shoreline.
Albert Whitted Airport on the St. Petersburg waterfront and
Peter O. Knight Airport on
Davis Island near downtown Tampa were both established in the 1930s. Later,
Tampa International Airport and
St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport were established on opposite sides of Old Tampa Bay, and
MacDill Air Force Base opened on the southern tip of Tampa's Interbay Peninsula. ==See also==