b'When Plant visited Tampa in the early 1880s, there wereonly 750 people living there. Envisioning Tampa Bay as the hubof his transportation system, Plant constructed the huge andluxurious Tampa Bay Hotel. He wanted it to compete with thegrandhotelsofhisfriendlycompetitor,HenryFlagler. TheTampa Bay Hotel, with 511 rooms, was the grandest of all eighthotels that Plant built. Amenities included a golf course, tenniscourts, boathouse and horse racing track. The floor of his 2,000seat performing arts center and casino was rolled away duringthe day to reveal a 50 by 70 foot swimming pool.The Moorish Revival architectural theme was selected byPlant for its appeal to the widely traveled Victorians who wouldbehisprimarycustomers. Thehotelhassixminarets,fourcupolas, and three domes. It was one of the first buildings inFlorida to have electricity.Opposite page: Bronze sculpture, Au Coup de Fusil. This page: (left)Henry Plants great granddaughters Amy and Mary Ellen with theirdogs (c. 1935); Above is a current photo of the Henry B. Plant Museumin Tampa. Below is Tampa Bay Hotel Hunting Guide ArthurSchleman with dogs (c. 1893).The Tampa Bay Hotel may have been one of the very firstin the country to be dog-friendly, but not in the sense that wemean today. The hotel had kennels, some of which were stockedwith hunting dogs for guests to use on hunting expeditions.Many hunters traveled to the hotel with their own exquisitehunting dogs. Arthur Schleman was the hotels Hunting Guidefor the expeditions. Hunting was a sport for the gentry, ratherthan the working class. Part of the reason sport hunting wasconsideredapastimeforthewealthywasthesheerspacerequired to conduct a successful hunt. If one did not have themeans to own or maintain a country estate, their next best hopewas to be invited to join a shooting party. Until the mid 1800s, the sport of hunting remained purelyfor the men. Ladies were advised to ride to the meet and homeagain to work up an appetite.(Continued on following page.) gwww.TheNewBarker.com Winter 2016 THE NEW BARKER 25'