The Centro Asturiano de Tampa, located in the historic Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, was created in 1902 as a social and civic club for immigrants, mostly from Havana, who worked in the cigar factories of Tampa. The club built a wooden clubhouse in 1908, and when this burned down, a new masonry building was completed at the present location on North Nebraska Avenue, which was dedicated on May 15, 1914. It was designed in a style combining Neo-Classical and Beaux-Arts elements by the distinguished local architect F. Leo Elliot. Members paid a monthly fee for health insurance, use of the club facilities and guaranteed burial in the club cemetery. The organization also operated a sanitarium in Spain, raised funds for needy families and ran a school for English instruction. The club began to decline when its hospital, built in 1927 and located at 21st Avenue in Tampa, closed down in the early 1990s. Today, the building survives mostly to preserve the history of the club and to provide its upper floors as rental space for weddings, business meetings, etc. It was officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
The Cuban Club began in the late 19th century as a social club for Tampa's huge population of Cuban immigrants, but the building that stands today was actually built at the dawn of the 20th century. It was once the heart of Ybor City, Tampa's thriving Cuban neighborhood, and it still serves the area, though this time as a rental facility for weddings, corporate meetings, and other events.
Tampa's Oldest Restaurant, this marker sits on Los Novedades final location of it's almost century long career. This historic Cuban restaurant was an institution for Tampa's Cuban Community and prime stop for tourists, celebrities and politicians as it brought to American tastebuds Cuban cuisine. The restaurant even served Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders before they shipped to Cuba for Spanish-American War, seen as liberators for the Cuban exiles of Florida. This restaurant that was established in 1890 as a corner cafe, was torn down in the 1980s and currently the spot is vacant.
This is the site where once stood the Hotel de la Havana. The famed Hotel de la Havana was located in Ybor City in the pioneer days. The Hotel de la Havana was the first hotel constructed in the Latin Quarter of the city. This famed hotel was in operation for four years (1887-1891) until a fire destroyed it.
This large and beautiful redbrick structure is one of the few remaining buildings in Tampa still standing associated with Spanish migration (largely from Spain and Cuba) to Florida during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known as the El Centro Español de Tampa, the building was erected in 1912 to replace the smaller one built in 1891. It served the new arrivals and Ybor City residents as a mutual aid society, a clubhouse and cultural center. In more recent years it served as a home for a restaurant and school programs. For its This was one of two such structures in Tampa; the other is El Centro Español of West Tampa.
The Ybor City Museum State Park is an urban park and historical museum in the heart of Tampa’s Ybor City National Historic Landmark District. The park consists of a main exhibit space housed in the historic Ferlita Bakery building, as well as a lush Mediterranean-style garden and a recreated cigar worker’s house. Visitors can take a guided tour through the park with one a park ranger or volunteers, or embark on a walking tour in the district. However you decide to explore the park, you will experience an urban oasis and learn about the immigrants who settled, lived in and built the thriving community of Ybor City.
Located in the historic home of Al Lopez, the first Tampa native to play in the Major Leagues, the Tampa Baseball Museum preserves the history of Florida baseball, from sandlots to the Major Leagues and from spring training to the World Series. The museum, which opened in 2021, features many exhibits about the history of Tampa's several baseball leagues, including the Minor, Major, and former Negro Leagues. It covers about one hundred twenty-five years of baseball history.
The Columbia Restaurant, the oldest continually operating restaurant in the city of Tampa, can be found in Tampa's historic Ybor City neighborhood. The beautiful old restaurant is famous for serving traditional Cuban dishes in an environment inspired by Spanish and Cuban architecture. The mosaic tiles on the walls, the brick archways, the many palm trees, and the antique-styled fountain in the center of the courtyard all evoke the look of an upscale Cuban restaurant. In addition to serving food, the restaurant also offers flamenco dance shows.
Also known as the Cherokee Club, this 1886 building is believed to be the first commercial building constructed in Ybor City. It was originally used to house the offices of Vicente Martinez Ybor, the founder and namesake of the cigar-manufacturing town, as he planned out companies beyond the cigar business for the town. During the 20th century the building was also used as a hotel, several bars and restaurants, speakeasies, a military recruiting station, newspaper offices, and most prominently, the Cherokee Club.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This tour starts at the first commercial building in the city, which once held the office cigar manufacturer Vicente Martinez Ybor. The tour includes historic buildings and businesses, a baseball museum, several institutions built by Cuban immigrants, and historic sites related to Ybor City's early history as a cigar-manufacturing center.
