Beyond the Process

At Plant City Photo Archives we go beyond normal catologing, using advanced methods we are able to scan at high resolutions and restore past and present photos. Once the photo has been digitally recorded it is reviewed and researched for names, places, dates, and the story behind the photo.

Along with that information the photo is stored on our centralized servers and can be accessed across all terminals within our facility. Using technology we are able to look up personal names, streets, building within seconds as opposed to older methods which would have taken hours or days to find. As you can imagine with over 60, 000 photos and counting we have built a vast knowledge what could have been lost forever.

Our goals are to educate and create a pool of knowledge and history for our community; below is an example of our operation.

Viewing Galleries at Our Facility

We have a collection of over 100,000 pictures, slides and negatives and we invite you to please visit our facility to view our photos and speak with us. Please use the contact link at the top of the page for our museum hours and location.

Among others, our collections and displays include:

• Model ships from the Plant Steamship Line, the “Mascotte” and the “H. B. Plant”, constructed by Louis Rodriguez.
• An 11’x4’ photo of the tracks and the old depot circa 1954.
• Charles and Mamie Barnes – Five Certificates of Appointment as Postmaster, signed by four different Presidents.
• Heritage Award recipients, D. E. Bailey, Jr., Jim Redman, and Robert Trinkle (May, 2006).
• “The Way We Were” a collection of wedding or sweetheart photos of couples in years past.
• Wilbur Fisk Burts and the Tropical Hotel / Roselawn Hotel.
• The Ellis/Methvin tribute.
• A selection from the 2003, 2004, 2005, and the 2006 PCPA Soirees.
• “A Salute to Veterans” a collection of over 500 photos of WWII Veterans.
• The Veterans Collection (all eras).
• The Stanley and Susan Kolker family.
• Florida Strawberry Festival Queens.
• “When We Were Kids” a collection of photos of Plant City area residents years ago, when they were much younger.
• “Our Town”, a collection of sights and scenes of Old Plant City (in process)

The beautiful piano in our Exhibit Gallery is a 1928 Mason & Hamlin grand piano restored in 2005 to its pristine condition. It is on loan from Mr. Ed Verner. The Exhibit Gallery is available for private parties, club events, musical performances, class reunion receptions, etc.