Tampa Bay - Human Habitation

Human Habitation

Humans have lived in the area for millennia, possibly as long as 12,000 to 14,000 years. The first local people to fully adapt to a sea-side lifestyle were those of the Manasota culture, a variant of the Weeden Island culture, who lived on the shores of Tampa Bay beginning around 5,000 - 6,000 years ago. They were in turn replaced by the Safety Harbor culture approximately 800 AD.

The Safety Harbor culture was dominant in the area at the time of first contact with Europeans. The Tocobaga, who built their principal town near today's Safety Harbor in the northwest corner of Old Tampa Bay, are the best known group from that era, but there were many coastal villages organized into various small chiefdoms all around the bay.

Spanish maps dated as early as 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, Hillsboro Bay and the overall name of Bay of Spiritu(o) Santo.

The United States acquired Florida from Spain in 1819. 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 100 years, many new communities were founded around the bay. Fort Brooke begat Tampa on the northeast shores, Fort Harrison begat Clearwater on the west, 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. By 2010, the region surrounding Tampa Bay was home to almost 3 million residents.