Every Map Tells a Story

Join docent Jim Dinsmore for a 30-minute guided tour at the gallery entrance on the second floor and learn how maps document the people, movement and conflicts that shaped Florida. Jim connects individual maps on topics such as Indigenous communities, European explorers, settlers, U.S. troops and Seminoles, showing how geography influenced encounters, transportation routes and the growth of communities across the state. On this gallery tour, Jim discusses concepts such as Indigenous groups and foreign explorers, competition for territory during the 1800s and the military roads that connected Florida communities. Jim previously worked in communications for local nonprofits. After moving to Tampa and spending time at the History Center, he developed a broader understanding of Florida history and an appreciation for maps as more than tools for finding a route. His tour presents them as graphic records of how people moved across the land, interacted and shaped the places Floridians know to