TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — If you are a history buff, you will have to check out this exhibit at the Tampa Bay History Center.
The exhibit named “Sharps and Marks in Paradise: Selling Florida in the 1920s” features dozens of original maps of Florida, including Tampa Bay.
“It’s really great being from Tampa, it’s great to be able to share our history,” Tampa Bay History Center Touchton Map Library Director Rodney Kite-Powell said.
Kite-Powell walked News Channel 8’s Brianda Villegas through the exhibit, which highlights how much the Sunshine State has grown over the years.
Maps of Lakeland, Clearwater Beach, Pinellas County and even Polk County lined the walls of the exhibit.
“We really want people to gain an appreciation for the place they’re visiting or the place that they are now calling home,” Kite-Powell said.
He also pointed out a map of Davis Islands from the 1920s.
“The airport wasn’t a part of the original plan,” he explained “That came in the 1930s.”
Also part of the collection were several maps of South Florida thaht showed places like Miami and Coral Gables.
The Tampa Bay History Center is also home to the Touchton Map Library, which has thousands of historic maps online available for digital viewing, including the Peter Martyr map from 1511.
You can check out the Sharps and Marks in Paradise exhibit at the Tampa Bay History Center from now until July 14.
