The Port of Tampa is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area, one of Florida’s largest metro areas and the third largest in the Southeastern United States. Located on the north shore of Tampa Bay at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, the Port of Tampa is the State’s largest port, handling about 50 million tons of cargo each year.

Tampa (meaning “Great Lighting”) got its name from the local Seminole Indians. It was first mentioned in memoirs by Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, who was held captive for 17 years by the Calusa Indians. The Narvaez Expedition from Spain landed near the Port of Tampa to start a colony in 1528, but they abandoned their camp to chase more riches to the north. A survivor of the expedition was rescued by Hernando de Soto 12 years later. When the Spaniards learned no gold would be found in the Port of Tampa and that Indian warriors would not be converted to Catholicism, they abandoned the area. It was largely ignored by colonial powers for the next 200 years.

Acquiring Florida in 1763, Great Britain named the bay Hillsborough Bay, but they were more interested in commerce via the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, only Cuban fishermen used the harbor to reap the plentiful fish harvest. Spain regained control of Florida in 1783 but still did not appreciate the potential of the Port of Tampa.

In 1821, the United States bought Florida from Spain to stop slaves from escaping Southern plantations and to end Indian raids. One of the first official US actions was to destroy the village of Angola built by escaped slaves on the shores of the Port of Tampa.

The US built a string of forts and trading posts to get control over the swamps, and the 1823 Treat of Moultrie established a big Indian reservation in the interior. The same year, Colonels Brooke and Gadsden established Fort Brooke at Tampa Bay where today’s convention center stands in the downtown Port of Tampa. The wooden fort attracted settlers, but growth was slow in the uncomfortable climate that was under constant attack from the Seminoles. However, the fort was important to victory in the Second Seminole War in 1835, and the settlement began to grow.

In 1845, Florida became the 27th State in the United States. The “Village of Tampa” was incorporated in 1849, with 185 civilians calling it home. By 1850, Tampa-Fort Brooke supported 974 residents, and it was incorporated as a town in 1855.

Florida joined the Confederate States during the American Civil War. Martial law ruled the Port of Tampa from early 1862, and Confederate troops lodged in Fort Brooke. In late 1861, the Union navy placed several ships at the mouth of Tampa Bay, but blockade runners got through to trade with Cuba. When the war ended in 1865, federal troops occupied the fort and the town, staying there until 1869.

After the Civil War, the Port of Tampa suffered. It had little industry, and land transportation was difficult. Yellow fever invaded the Port of Tampa throughout the 1860s and 70s, forcing many Tampa residents to leave. Residents voted to abolish the Port of Tampa’s government in 1869 and, by 1880, the village was literally dying.

In 1863, the Port of Tampa’s luck changed when phosphate was discovered southeast of the city. Used for making fertilizers, phosphate was soon shipped from the port. The railroad came to the Port of Tampa, giving the overland transportation needed for development and providing another way to ship commercial fish and phosphate to the north. The new transportation routes brought products to the city, created a tourist industry, and attracted industry to the Port of Tampa.

In 1885, Vincente Martinez Ybor moved his cigar manufacturing plant to the Port of Tampa, where find Cuban tobaccos were easy to get, making possible shipment of cigars to the rest of the US. Ybor built houses for his factory workers from Cuba and Spain, and other cigar factories soon appeared. In the 1880s, Italian and eastern European Jewish immigrants arrived to operate businesses catering to cigar workers. The cigar-making industry supported the Port of through the early 20th Century. In 1929, the factories hand-rolled more than 500 million cigars. When the Great Depression came, the cigar industry shrank, but other industries appeared, particularly shipping and tourism.

In the late 1800s, Port of Tampa workers enjoyed bolita lotteries. In the early 1920s, the illegal bolita grew openly with kick-backs and bribes of local authorities. The bolita lotteries and bootlegging during Prohibition brought organized crime to the Port of Tampa, and it stayed there until the 1950s when Senator Kevauver’s hearings arrived in town, and corruption of local officials was revealed.

The Tampa Port Authority manages the Port of Tampa, which can handle huge amounts of a wide variety of cargoes on its 1012 hectares. Located on Florida’s central west coast, it’s the United State’s closest port to the Panama Canal.

The Port of Tampa’s shipping channel is 43 feet deep, and the public docks can accommodate vessels with up to 41 feet of draft. Port of Tampa public dock facilities offer over eight thousand feet of docking space and 585 thousand square feet of warehouses, including 200 thousand square feet of temperature controlled space.

With almost 7 million people within 100 miles of the Port of Tampa, the region contains the largest metropolitan consumer market in Florida and the 10th largest consumer market in the U.S. The Port of Tampa offers year-round shipbuilding, maintenance, and repair services, and its ship repair industry is vital to the local economy.

Among the bulk cargo facilities at the Port of Tampa are a liquid sulphur receiving facility with capacity for 8.3 million gallons of molten sulphur, cement storage silos and distribution facilities, and tanks with capacity to receive and distribute almost 123 thousand barrels of asphalt. Six tanks with combined capacity for liquid nitrogen, calcium nitrate, molten sulphur, sulphuric acid, and anhydrous ammonia are complemented by 8-, 12-, and 14-inch pipelines and liquid bulk storage tanks.

Under construction in the Port of Tampa are a state-of-the-art liquid propane gas terminal covering 12.5 acres and an 18-acre coal-handling facility. Multi-user docks for handling cement, limestone, and coal are equipped with silos, pipelines, and a conveyer system with a four thousand tons-per-hour unload rate. C.F. Industries operates a terminal with off-dock rail access, a warehouse of over 122 thousand square feet, and state-of-the-art fendering to handle outbound phosphate and fertilizer products.

Other facilities handling bulk cargo include the Port of Tampa Juice Service facility, handling import and export of frozen juice concentrates and export of tallow. A facility operated by Martin Marietta Aggregates features multi-user docks with two radial stackers and one 16-foot pipeline to handle cement construction materials, aggregate, and sulphuric acid. A multi-user dock operates 24 hours a day to serve several companies with 10x10-inch pipelines; 8-, 12-, and 16-inch pipelines, flexible fendering, and leased backland to handle petroleum products, caustic soda, and anhydrous ammonia. The Cargill, Inc. Grain Division operates a facility with a grain elevator, export terminals, and 25 silos with a million-bushel capacity and two sheds to handle outbound agricultural commodities and inbound grains.

The Port of Tampa’s general cargo facilities include a berth and terminal operated by Smorgon for scrap metal steel. Ports America operates multi-user docks, secure multi-purpose cargo, and passenger facility. This 28-acre facility has heavy lift capacity for 245 metric tons and includes an 86 thousand square foot transit shed and a 45 thousand square foot transit shed. The Port of Tampa facility also contains paved and lighted container storage, reefer outlets, and container and general cargo handling equipment as well as access for roll-on/roll-off cargo.

Ports America also operates a 25-acre general cargo facility with a 37.5 thousand square foot container freight station, a bonded warehouse, a centralized examination station, and a foreign trade zone. The facility has capacity for heavy lift up to 245 metric tons, an 85 thousand square foot transit shed, and container and general cargo-handling equipment with capacity for handling up to 95 thousand pounds. This Ports America facility handles containerized cargo, pipe, steel and steel products, and vehicles.

Port of Tampa’s Harborside Refrigerated Services operates a multi-user dock with a dockside cold storage facility with capacity to store up to 198 thousand square feet of cargo. It has two million cubic feet of freezer/cooler space, one million cubic feet of cooler space and load capacity for 800 pounds per square foot. This facility handles seafood, melons, and chilled and frozen goods.

SSA Gulf operates a lighted, fenced container terminal and general cargo facility with 22 acres of paved backland, roll-on/roll-off access, and container and general cargo-handling equipment up to 95 thousand pounds. The Trademark Metals Recycling facility is a multi-user scrap metal export facility operating 24 hours a day with load limit of 2500 pounds per square foot.

The City of Tampa is a favorite port of departure for cruise passengers who want enjoy the charm of this international city. Cruise Terminal 6 is a lighted 24-hour facility with security patrols, ample parking, and easy access to downtown Tampa. Cruise Terminal 2 and Cruise Terminal 3 are state-of-the-art passenger terminals with easy access to downtown. The Port of Tampa homeports three cruise lines: Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America, and Royal Caribbean. These lines offer the of 4-, 5-, 7-, and 14-day cruises, and Carnival Legend offers 7-day cruises to the Western Caribbean.

With the city, the Port of Tampa is developing the Channelside complex with an inviting combination of restaurants, shops, and IMAX cinema. Next to Channelside is the Florida Aquarium. Minutes from Channelside are popular tourist destinations like Busch Gardens, Lowry Park Zoo, the Museum of Science and Industry, and Raymond James Stadium.

Ybor City, an historic Spanish district near downtown features nightclubs, bars, and shops. Once home to Cuban and Italian immigrants, Ybor City was famous for its cigar factories. It’s a National Historic Landmark District, easy to visit on its famous streetcars connecting Ybor City to downtown Tampa.

Visitors to the Port of Tampa will find a wide range of entertainment and amusements. The Florida Aquarium follows a drop of rain from a swamp through Florida's aquifer, to its rivers, and into the ocean. Lowry Park Zoo is one of the country’s top-rated zoos with children's areas, restaurants, a manatee hospital, and encounters with animals from around the world.

Busch Gardens is not only a world-class amusement park but also a first-class zoo. Though expensive, visitors will enjoy rides, shows, and the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales in a family-friendly atmosphere and amazing scenery.