Florida August Road Trip - Post #1
These will not be quite as long as some, both because I was moving quickly on this particular trip and because I am still working on revisions to the website (so I don't want new posts to be overly complicated right now). This was a trip I took to northern Florida the first full week of August, visiting the Tampa Bay area and Jacksonville before doing some PD sessions for Volusia School District in Daytona Beach. Post #1 is going to focus on a new portion of an older museum in Tampa . . .
Part One - Visiting the Tampa Bay History Center:
I wanted to start with a short segment on the larger museum - the Tampa Bay History Center. It is a very nice 3-story museum focusing on Florida and Tampa/St. Petersburg history - permanent exhibits at the museum include Florida's First People, European Exploration, Cigar City (focusing on historic Ybor City and their production of Cuban cigars), and exhibits on the Seminole and other native tribes.
Part Two - Using their virtual exhibit on Florida History from YOUR classroom:
Another thing from the main museum I wanted to feature is the virtual exhibit "Florida Front and Center: Objects That Define Florida". This exhibit is fully accessible outside the museum (though field trips would get to see the physical artifacts rather than virtual pictures and descriptions).
A curated collection of over 60 meaningful artifacts uses high-quality images, immersive 3D scans, and insightful videos to bring museum pieces to life. Organized into five broad historical periods, the exhibit spans millions of years, from the prehistoric creatures that once roamed the peninsula to the modern-day cultural icons that continue to shape Florida’s identity. High-quality images, immersive 3D scans, and insightful videos bring each era’s artifacts to life. This artifact-based approach encourages close observation, critical thinking, and thoughtful classroom discussion, making it an ideal complement to primary source–driven instruction.
Below I have provided examples of the artifacts, as well as portions of the K-5 artifact analysis sheets (they also have middle school and high school versions). The only thing I will warn you is that I found it difficult to find the actual artifact package on their website - the educational resources are easy to find, but there are no links directly from the teacher materials to the artifact pages. I will include this again at the end with the list of resources, but here is a direct link to the artifacts - https://tampabayhistorycenter.org/exhibit/florida-front-and-center/ - as well as the teacher resources created by the museum - https://tampabayhistorycenter.org/florida-front-and-center-educator-resources/
To be clear, the in-museum portion is relatively small - there is a research room available upon request, and a revolving exhibit from their collections available for display on the 4th floor (the current one is on "Mapping the 14th Colony", about Florida's role in the Revolutionary War and a colony which stayed loyal to Britain during the conflict). Below I include visuals from another link to a FOX13 news story (and embedded video) on the current exhibit - https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-bay-history-center-exhibit-florida-revolutionary-era-history
Resources and Links Mentioned Above:
Tampa Bay History Center, https://tampabayhistorycenter.org/
Tampa Bay History Center's YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/@TampaBayHistoryCenter
"Florida Front and Center: Objects That Define Florida" Virtual Exhibit, Tampa Bay History Center, 2026, https://tampabayhistorycenter.org/exhibit/florida-front-and-center/
"Florida Front and Center Educator Resources" (lesson plan), Tampa Bay History Center, 2026, https://tampabayhistorycenter.org/florida-front-and-center-educator-resources/
"Map collection at Tampa History Center displays thousands of antique maps" (story and embedded video), FOX13 TV - Tampa Bay, Sep 2023, https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-history-center-antique-maps-touchton-st-augustine
"Tampa Bay History Center's new exhibit reveals Florida's untold Revolutionary-era history" (story and embedded video), FOX13 TV - Tampa Bay, Jul 2026, https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-bay-history-center-exhibit-florida-revolutionary-era-history
Touchton Map Library, Tampa Bay History Center (with the Florida Center for Cartographic Education and the University of South Florida Libraries), 2026, https://tampabayhistorycenter.org/exhibit/touchton-map-library/
"The Revolution From Florida's Side: Mapping the 14th Colony", Tampa Bay History Center, Jun 2026, https://tampabayhistorycenter.org/blog/the-revolution-from-floridas-side-mapping-the-14th-colony/
Below that are a few screenshots of the map catalog, giving you an idea what is available from the Touchton Map Library . . .
Part Three - Making Use of the NEW Touchton Map Library:
While I was interested in viewing the main library, the main thing that drew me to downtown Tampa was the new Touchton Map Library, based on the 4th floor of the museum. This is a joint project with the Florida Center for Cartographic Education and the University of South Florida Libraries, providing a new home to thousands of maps, charts, and other documents dating back from the early European exploration of North America more than 500 years ago up through the early 21st century. Here is a link to a nice story (and embedded video) from FOX13 in Tampa on the library and the need for map education - https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-history-center-antique-maps-touchton-st-augustine
The other portion of the map library that could be very helpful to teachers in other parts of the country, though, is their online map resources. They have digitized 100s of maps, particularly from early American history, and have them readily available for study online. They also do periodic short videos on some of the maps, explaining their details and significance. Here are a couple of examples:
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