The Boltz, Clymer & Co. was a cigar company establish in Philadelphia, PA. where it operated two factories.  They started their Florida operations manufacturing cigars in a small factory at Tampania Ave. & Union St. and in 1911 they built this cigar factory at the corner of Habana Ave. & Union St. where they could accommodate some four hundred fifty workers.  They produced the Flor de Americanos, El Pallencia, El Merito and Enterprise brand cigars.  Boltz, Clymer & Co. ceased to operate and shut down its Tampa operation in March 1916 when the firm decided to move all its equipment and operations to Philadelphia.

The Manuel Alvarez Cigar Co. was established and started operation in 1916 in a small factory on Pine St. and Cleveland Ave. in West Tampa. In June 1918, the Manuel Alvarez Cigar Co. relocated to the existing building at this location which had been vacant since Boltz, Clymer & Co. moved out two years earlier.  In 1921 the New York-Tampa Cigar Co. a newly incorporated subsidiary of the Porto Rican-American Tobacco Co. (PRATCO) with a capital of $2 million, acquired the Manuel Alvarez Cigar Co. and began producing the Recollection and Personality cigar brands here. Officers of the New York-Tampa Cigar Co. were Luis Toro Pasarell who was also president of PRATCO, President and Fred J. Davis Vice President. After the Tampa cigar workers strike of 1921 operations expanded with the acquisition of Francisco Arango & Co. in 1922, maker of the very popular Pancho Arango brand which had not survived the effects of the strike. After Arango left the firm, Jaime M. Pendás previously with Y. Pendás & Alvarez took over the day to day operations of the firm.

The New York-Tampa Cigar Co. never met the expectations of the parent company. As a result financial support ceased, in 1923 Pandas returned to work at PRATCO and in 1924 Davis resigned as head of the manufacturing department but remained as a director. In 1925 the factory building, machinery and trademarks except the Recollection brand were sold for approximately $250,000 to the newly incorporated Schwab, Davis Co. whose ownership included Fred J. Davis and Leon Schwab.  The Schwab-Davis Co. remained here until it moved to Ybor City in 1930. In 1935 Schwab, Davis & Co. was acquired by Gradiaz, Annis & Co.

The Antonio Cigar Co., established by Karl Cuesta, the son of Angel Cuesta of Cuesta Rey fame, entered the cigar industry at this location in 1936.  Here, they produced the Rey del Mundo, Charles the Great and Tuval brands as well as several private brands. According to Armando Mendez in his book Ciudad de Cigars: West Tampa, the firm prospered until a suspicious fire destroyed the factory on Christmas morning 1943.  In 1945 Karl Cuesta moved his Antonio Cigar Co. across the Hillsborough River to 1316 Spring St. but in 1954 moved back to West Tampa to the old Preferred Cigar factory at Albany Ave. and Pine St. where it stayed until it was acquired by Villazón & Co. in 1967 and closed down.

The restored Burgert Bros. vintage photo in the gallery below is a 1925 image of the Schwab Davis cigar factory on Habana Ave.  It is identified as such by the University of South Florida Digital Commons website as a picture from the Burgett Brothers collection of Tampa photographs and by this 1915 Sanborn Fire Insurance map that clearly shows the Boltz-Clymer & Co. cigar factory at the northwest corner of Habana Ave. & Oak St. (today Union St.).  The map identifies the structure as a basement used for storage and three stories above grade the first used by the shipping and packing department, the second used by  the cigar making department and the third used by the filler department.  As such, this factory layout conformed with the typical cigar factories in West Tampa and Ybor City at the time. 

It appears that the damage to the building caused by the 1943 fire was substantial and may be the reason why the original three story building is now substantially altered and only one story high.  However, the current photos below show traits from the building pictured in 1925. For example, the entrance stairway, the four columns on the front, the front fenestration and cornice above the windows on the building front left and left side, the basement windows on the left side, the location of the loading dock and the columns to its right and left, they all seem to coincide.  Parts of what remains from the original building has been covered with stucco and the still exposed bricks have been painted white, but there is a small area where the original bricks can still be seen.

Since 1949 the building has been occupied by its current owner Speedline Team Sports, Inc. The Speedline Athletic Wear website states that it was founded in New Jersey in 1936 as Malzone Sports and in 1949 the company moved to this building.  Acording to Hillsborough County Property Appraiser, the current structure was built in 1961, probably the year the building was rebuilt to its current format.  

The only history available in public records is that on July 30, 1971 Jenny Monteleone Gibbs, a single person, transferred title to Speedline Athletic Wear, Inc.  No information was found on how or when Monteleone acquired title or if she was associated with Speedline in any way.  On February 1, 2013, Speedline Athletic Wear, Inc. transferred title to Speedline Team Sports, Inc., its current owner.