| 1830 |
A chart of the coast from Fort Brooke to the Suwannee River was made by Captain Rufus D. Kilgore. This chart helps guide steamers and small vessels into Tampa Bay.
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| 1850 |
Cattle trade has become a major shipping business in Tampa. Ballast Point is used as the docking area for large, heavy draft ships. Only shallow draft steamers and small sailing vessels can reach the wharf on Whiting Street in Tampa.
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| 1880 |
The River and Harbor Act provides for an 8-foot channel to the Hillsborough River and a 19-foot channel to Port Tampa, south of the city of Tampa, on the southwest tip of the Interbay Peninsula.
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| 1884 |
Henry Bradley Plant purchases Florida Transit and Peninsula Railroad. This move joined the Atlantic port of Jacksonville with the Gulf port of Tampa.
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| January 10, 1885 |
January 10, 1885 Plant City incorporated and named in Plant's honor.
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| 1888 |
To encourage passenger travel, Plant begins construction of the exotic Tampa Bay Hotel.
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| February 1891 |
Tampa Bay Hotel opens.
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| June 23, 1899 |
Henry Plant dies in Tampa at the age of 79.
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| June 22, 1905 |
City of Tampa acquires the Tampa Bay Hotel.
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| 1910 |
Construction of Ybor and Sparkman Channels, which connects the east side of Hillsborough Bay with the old channel running from the Hillsborough River to Tampa Harbor. This is the beginning of the development of the Port of Tampa. Commercial shipping companies begin to take advantage of the port. 1923 Tampa Stevedoring Company founded. Cargoes arriving by rail to be loaded aboard ships included – feed, fertilizer, sugar, scrap iron, and citrus.
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| 1932 |
1932 Tampa Bay Hotel closes.
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| 1933 |
The city of Tampa leases the Tampa Bay Hotel to The University of Tampa. Also at this time, the City of Tampa establishes a municipal museum which later becomes the Henry B. Plant Museum.
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| 1949 |
Under the River and Harbor Act, the Garrison Channel is dredged to a depth of 34 feet, connecting Hillsborough Bay with the town of Port Tampa.
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| May 11, 1976 |
Tampa Bay Hotel is selected as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service.
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| Present |
The port is now 43 feet deep. Approximately 4,900 vessels moving through it carrying 50 million tons of cargo a year. This includes pleasure cruise ships which carry half a million passengers from the Port of Tampa to popular vacation spots.
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