Ybor City, Tampa, Florida

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Centro Ybor complex with a TECO Line car passing in front

Ybor City (IPA: [ˈi.bɔɹ]) is a historic district in Tampa, Florida. Located near downtown Tampa, the district's many nightclubs and bars makes it a popular evening and weekend hotspot in the Tampa Bay area. It is one of three National Historic Landmark Districts in Florida.

1 History
2 Museums
3 Annual events
4 Public transit
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

The same complex at nighttime.

The district is named for cigar factory owner Vincente M. Ybor, as it was built to house his factories and their workers. His factory was moved to the location of present-day Ybor City in 1886, when it moved there from Key West. Other manufacturers of hand-rolled cigars soon followed, and by the end of the 19th century Ybor City and Tampa was the largest such manufacturer in the world, and a major source of revenue for the federal government due to high import duties on tobacco and excise taxes on cigars. In the late 1800s and early 1900s Ybor City was home to many Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants, most of whom were brought there (or to West Tampa) to work in the area's many cigar factories. Today, the J.C. Newman Cigar Company is the largest cigar factory still remaining in Ybor City. J.C. Newman's is headquarted out of the landmark, red brick, clocktower cigar factory just north of Interstate 4.

Ybor cigar factory, c1902.

Illegal bolita lotteries, popular in the mid-20th century, were run by organized criminals in the area. Mafioso Santo Trafficante, Sr. consolidated control of area gangs in 1950, which passed to his son, Santo Trafficante, Jr. upon his death in 1954. The younger Trafficante was reputedly also powerful in pre-Castro Cuba. With the advent of mechanization, the cigar factories closed, and the area became another victim of urban renewal.

In recent years, neighborhoods have improved and small businesses have been attracted to Ybor.

[edit] Museums

Street festival in Ybor City

Cigar Museum And Visitor Center
Ybor City Museum State Park
TECO Line Streetcar Museum

[edit] Annual events

Gasparilla Night Parade
Guavaween - various daytime events and nighttime parade in October
Rough Rider's St. Patrick's Night Parade - illuminated nighttime parade that takes place a Saturday night in March. The 2005 parade date was Saturday, March 12.
Sant'Yago Knight Parade - illuminated nighttime parade that takes place a Saturday night in February. The 2005 parade date was Saturday, February 12.
Tampa Cigar Heritage Festival, November 18, 2006

[edit] Public transit

The TECO Line Streetcar System, which links Ybor City, the Channel District and downtown Tampa, began operating on Saturday, 19 October 2002. The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HARTline) operates the streetcars as well as the bus system.