Busch Gardens Tampa Bay began in 1959 as a landscaped public attraction beside Anheuser-Busch’s new Tampa brewery and grew from a 15-acre garden with lagoons, flowers, bird shows, and animal displays into a 335-acre African-themed animal park. Rapid expansion in the 1960s and 1970s added larger zoological habitats, a monorail, new animal areas, and themed villages that established its long-term character. Created in part to strengthen Anheuser-Busch’s place in Florida’s competitive tourism market, it evolved from a free brewery garden into one of the company’s most visited parks, known today for combining major thrill rides with animal exhibits and family attractions.