The Plant City History & Photo Archives, the Tampa Bay History Center and Preserving Brandon, came together this past April for their History Talks program. The topic of the talk was the founding families.
“This latest installment of our History Talks series focused on the families that helped build Brandon, Tampa and Plant City,” said the Plant City History & Photo Archives’ director, Libby Hopkins.
Rodney Kite-Powell is the historian for The Tampa Bay History Center, and he spoke about the family that helped to develop Tampa Bay.
“The history center’s mission is to preserve and promote the history of Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay area,” Rodney said. “Programs like History Talks allow us to go out into the community and bring our resources to the public. Additionally, being able to partner with the Plant City History & Photo Archives and Preserving Brandon gives us a great opportunity to team up with other experts in the county to create even better programs.”
“I decided to talk about the McKay family because of their importance in shaping the county’s history, the many historical events and activities that they played a part in and the lasting legacy that the family and those that married into it have on the county today,” Rodney said.
Captain James McKay came to Tampa in 1846 with his wife, Matilda Cail McKay, and Matilda’s mother, Sarah Cail.
“They began to acquire land in and around the village of Tampa, and McKay soon became involved in the shipping business,” Rodney said. “He took an interest in the fledgling cattle industry and the early 1850s began shipping cattle to Cuba. His children and grandchildren, including the seven Lykes brothers, were eventually involved in banking, insurance and law, as well as owning huge cattle herds and operating a very important shipping business. They also have a long legacy of local philanthropy.”
All three organizations love coming together and sharing local history with the community.
“We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with our friends in Plant City and Brandon and offering more History Talks programs,” Rodney said. “We want to continue this particular outreach effort to ensure that the Tampa Bay History Center provides top-quality history content within the museum as well as throughout the community.”
The next installment of the History Talks program will take place in July. The Tampa Bay History Center, the Plant City History & Photo Archives and Preserving Brandon are currently working together to determine a location and topic for the next session.
