TAMPA, Fla. — Monday is the 137th anniversary of Tampa becoming incorporated as a city.
The city is celebrating all week long with more than a dozen events showcasing the city's history over the past century. City leaders and historians are hosting a lineup of events during what they call Archives Awareness Week.
From July 14-20, exhibits and programs are free and open to the public. The week-long celebration was first established in 1992.
Here is some information about Tampa's history and a list of events:
Tampa's origins
While the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon first arrived in the Tampa Bay area in 1513, it wouldn't be until the 1820s when the first settler arrived. The area was initially inhabited by the Calusa and Timucua people followed by the Seminole tribe, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.
People settled in Tampa in 1824 when the U.S. Army established Fort Brooke to protect the strategic harbor at Tampa Bay. In 1845, the development of the region began when the territory became part of the United States.
In 1849, the settlement incorporated as the Village of Tampa then reincorporated as the city of Tampa in 1855, according to the University of Florida library. The city government was later suspended by Confederate Military Authorities during the Civil War leading to the re-incorporation as Town of Tampa before finally becoming the City of Tampa in 1887, according to the city's website.
A year prior, Vincente Martinez Ybor established Sanches y Haya cigar company, which led to Ybor City becoming a center of that industry and a hub for Latin culture. In the 1880s, the city started to see economic growth when financier Henry B. Plant brought the railroad to town.
List of events to celebrate
Monday
- Aging Gracefully: The cigar industry in Tampa from 1953 to 2010
- 11 a.m. at J.C. Newman Company
- Join company historian Holden Rasmussen to learn about the changes to the cigar industry.
- Happy birthday, Tampa!
- 3 p.m. at Old City Hall, Council Chambers
- Hear from City Council member Charlie Miranda and Fred Hears, curator of Black history at the Tampa Bay History Center. Birthday cake will be served after.
- Bookbinding for beginners
- 6:30 p.m. at Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library
- Attendees will create a small journal.
Tuesday
- Lynn Ash: The story of Tampa
- 10 a.m. at the City Center at Hanna Avenue
- The local artist will discuss The Story of Tampa painting and guests will receive a complimentary poster of the painting
- Central Ave Live
- 5-8 p.m. at Tampa's Black History Museum
- Tampa musicians will perform songs from artists who were an integral part of Central Avenue's musical heyday. There will also be guest speakers talking about the city's musical history and an instrument petting zoo for kids.
Wednesday
- 1924: Life in Tampa's scrub community
- 5:30 p.m. at Tampa's Black History Museum
- There will be a talk on the lives of black residents in one of Tampa's oldest communities 100 years ago.
- Objects from the archives from 1924
- 11 a.m. at Tampa Bay History Center
- Attendees can take a look at maps and artifacts from a history collection to get a glimpse into life in Tampa in the 1920s.
Thursday
- Tony Pizzo's Tampa: Screening and discussion
- 4 p.m. at the Tampa Theatre
- A viewing of clips of a TV show produced by WUSF in 1979 to explore Tampa's rich history
- Genealogy: Your photos- dating, storing and improving
- 6 p.m. at Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library
- Explores the art and science of preserving, dating and restoring family photos
Friday
- Memorial Park Cemetery historical marker dedication
- 10:30 a.m. at C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Public Library
- Members of the Hillsborough County Historical Advisory Council and community leaders will unveil a new historical marker recognizing the Memorial Park Cemetery.
There are also a couple of exhibits that people can go to depicting the history of the city in different aspects. You can see the full list here.