Artist Christopher Still’s The King of Florida, a 14-by-17-inch
oil on linen 2017 portrait of Henry B. Plant, appeared on
our September/October 2017 cover of Tampa Bay Magazine.
Chris’ masterpiece will hang in the library of the Belleview
Inn, which Mike Cheezem and his JMC Communities are
creating from the roughly 75 percent of the original historic
Belleview Biltmore Hotel.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 141
extended his railroad into the wilderness
on the western side of Tampa Bay
with 300 acres on a 35-foot high bluff
overlooking what is now Clearwater
Bay. He commissioned Tampa architects
Michael Miller and Francis Kennard
to design a grand Queen Anne-style
Victorian hotel that was constructed in
1896 using heart pine wood. The hotel was
to be the focal point of its surroundings,
which Plant envisioned as a planned
community he called Belleair. Although
the new Belleview Hotel was
purposely less elegant than
its Tampa predecessor, it was
resplendent with the ornate
gingerbread-like details such
as peaked gables, overhanging
roofs and wide verandas that
were not only popular at the
time, but also practical.
The new hotel’s furnishings
w e r e c o m f o r t a b l e , n o t
ostentatious; the exterior
plantings, including palm and
cypress trees, were native,
rather than exotic; and the
overall ambience was purposely
serene and relaxing. Even so,
the hotel was equipped with
the very latest amenities, such
as steam-generated electricity
and an almost unheard of three
electric lights in each of its 145
guest rooms. There was a large
dining room and a kitchen,
accessed through tunnel-like
hidden corridors. The spacious,
inviting public rooms included
a lobby equipped with reading
materials, a telegraph and often
music by the resident orchestra.
Guests also had access to a bake
shop and a billiard room.
There were 12 large, Victorianstyle
“cottages” scattered
around the Belleview’s
property, which could be
rented for the entire season
with full access to the hotel
and its activities.
The Belleview Hotel was
reached by crossing Corkscrew Creek over
an ornate two-story arched bridge that had
shops on the lower level where sweets and
souvenirs could be purchased. Of course,
the hotel could also be reached by rail over
an adjacent bridge that guided the tracks
to a spur that ended close to the hotel.
The hotel’s grounds were landscaped
with winding, crisscrossing paths and
roadways for strolling and cycling. There
was also a boardwalk along the creek. A
long pier from which fish could be caught
and boats could be boarded extended
beyond the shallow waters of the saltwater
bay to a springhouse, which supplied fresh
drinking water for the hotel. However,
probably its most popular and publicized
outdoor sport was golfing on Florida’s first
hotel golf course. The 1898 six-hole course
was designed by Launcelot Cressy Servos
with crushed shell greens and thatched
roof shelters.
Henry Plant’s highly advertised
Belleview Hotel, which opened in 1897,
attracted wealthy sportsmen, socialites
and celebrities, who arrived by the Plant
rail system for extended winter stays,
accompanied by their servants, trunks
and finery.
Plant’s advertisements and personal
endorsements of Florida and the Tampa
Bay area, combined with the rail and
waterway accessibility he provided, gave
him the credentials to be called “King of
Florida.” His royal title was penned in
an 1898 Success magazine article, which
recognized him as the first person to
dedicate his time, money and energy to
the advancement of Florida.
Although some people feel that the
better known Henry Flagler should be
considered our state’s “king,” the facts
are that Henry Plant came to Florida first
in 1853 because of his wife’s health, while
his friendly competitor Henry Flagler first
arrived here in 1878, also due to his wife’s
health.
Henry Plant, a railroad and steamship
magnate who built his
hotels as a destination
for his passengers,
began building railroads
throughout Florida in
1882.
Henry Flagler, a hotelier
who built his railroads
to bring guests to his
hotels, began building
his first Florida hotel in
St. Augustine in 1885.
Hail to Florida’s King
Henry Plant. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Henry
Plant’s Moorish-style
Tampa Bay Hotel in Tampa,
which was acquired by the
University of Tampa in 1931,
is a signature portion of the
school and home to the Plant
Museum. Plant’s originally
brown Belleview Hotel in
Belleair became known as
“The White Queen of the
Gulf” when Henry’s son
Morton painted it white
after he inherited it in
1900. It changed hands and
underwent additions over
the years, becoming known
as the Belleview Biltmore
in 1919. After sitting
vacant for several years,
the original Belleview Hotel
will become the Belleview
Inn, the centerpiece of JMC
Communities’ Belleview
Place community of mid-rise
residences and carriage houses on the Belleview
Hotel’s original bluff in Belleair.
If you have any questions about the people,
places or things in the Tampa Bay area, please
send them to “Ask Margaret” at Tampa Bay
Magazine, 2531 Landmark Drive, Suite 101,
Clearwater, Florida, 33761. We regret that not
all questions can be answered.