The Brief
- “Mapping the 14th Colony” is on view at the Touchton Map Library inside the Tampa Bay History Center.
- The exhibit explores Florida’s role during the American Revolution, when British East Florida and British West Florida remained loyal to the Crown.
- The Bay Area’s Revolutionary-era story is told largely through British surveyors who charted Gulf Coast waters for navigation, settlement, trade and defense.
- Several familiar local place names, including Egmont Key and Hillsborough Bay, trace back to Florida’s British period.
TAMPA, Fla. – Florida has long had a reputation for independence. But during the American Revolution, the land that is part of the modern-day Tampa Bay area was not fighting for freedom from Britain.
It was part of British East Florida, a colony loyal to King George III.
That overlooked chapter of history is at the center of “Mapping the 14th Colony,” a new exhibit at the Tampa Bay History Center that runs July 3 through Oct. 11, 2026. Through British maps, charts and Revolutionary-era records, the exhibit shows how Florida’s path through the Revolution looked very different from the story told in the original 13 colonies.
Florida Revolutionary-era history
Timeline:…