Tampa Cigar Industry

Armando Mendez in his book Ciudad de Cigars: West Tampa states that the Tampa cigar history dates back to

“...1838, when Count Odet Philippe settled in the Tampa Bay area and brought with him a female slave who had learned the art in Cuba. Although the unnamed slave’s principal job was to produce cigars for his personal use, Philippe, who operated an oyster shop near Fort Brooke, sold the soldiers of the fort the excess cigars.”

In the early 1830s, French immigrant from Lyon, Odet Philippe (1787-1869) is reported to have operated a small cigar factory in Key West where the industry had been established for little less than a decade. J. Allison DeFoor II, a descendant of Philippe, states in this July 15, 2014 edition of the South Tampa Magazine that the Second Seminole War brought Philippe to the Tampa Bay Area. DeFoor also state Philippe's noble status and other rumors surrounding his life are mostly unfounded. Regarding Philippe's cigar making, DeFoor says he found records that credit Philippe with bringing cigar making to Tampa. DeFoor states, "he was able to make a considerable profit producing and selling cigars in Charleston and Key West, so he continued that trade in Tampa."

However, Tampa did not become an attractive location for cigar manufacturing until some fifty years after Philippe's arrival in Tampa. By that time, the industry was already well established in Key West, New York and other cities of the northeast and the midwest. In 1886, Manhattan was home to one thousand nine hundred sixty cigar factories of which 3.9% employed one hundred plus rollers and California was home to three hundred eighty five cigar factories of which 3.8% employed one hundred plus rollers. In contrast, Florida had the the highest percentage of large factories with 30.5% of the factories employing one hundred plus rollers rollers, though home to only one hundred fifty four cigar factories. Of other states, Illinois ranked third in number of cigar factories with one thousand one hundred ninety seven but only 3 (⅕ of 1%) employed one hundred plus rollers rollers.

Vicente Martinez Ybor (1818-1896) and Ignacio Haya (1842-1906) are considered the fathers of Tampa's cigar industry and the major players in the development of Ybor City. As story goes, Tampa's cigar industry began in earnest as the result of guava, not tobacco. In 1884, Gavino Gutierrez, a New York broker and importer of Spanish and American goods and Bernardino Gargol, of Cuban origin resident in New York who imported jellies and preserves made from the guava fruit, came to Tampa where they had heard rumors guava trees grew in abundance. During their visit they found that was not the case, but were impressed with the area's vast undeveloped land and economic potential. On their return voyage to New York, they stopped in Key West where they met with Vicente Martinez Ybor and his friend from NY Ignacio Haya who happened to be visiting with Martinez Ybor at the time. Timing was perfect as due to labor problems, both Martinez Ybor and Haya were considering relocating their factories from Key West and New York respectively.

Martinez Ybor and Haya were already veterans of the cigar industry when they met with Gutierrez and Gargol in 1884. Born in Valencia, Spain, Martinez Ybor emigrated to Cuba at the young age of fourteen in 1836. In 1856 he opened the El Principe de Gales cigar factory in Cuba which was an immediate success. The Ten Years War, Cuba's first war for independence, began in 1868 and in 1869 Martinez Ybor left Cuba for Key West where he soon opened a new El Principe de Gales factory. Haya, born in Escalante, Cantabria, Spain, emigrated to New York at the age of eighteen in 1860. In 1867, when he was twenty five, he started there the Sanchez & Haya Cigar Co. in partnership with also Spanish immigrant Serafin Sanchez.

In October 1885, Vicente Martinez Ybor bought forty acres of land northeast of Tampa and Ignacio Haya followed by purchasing additional land adjacent to Martinez Ybor. On April 1, 1886 a fire destroyed Martinez Ybor's factory in Key West and rather than rebuilding, he decided to relocate his factory to Tampa. Both Martinez Ybor and Haya not only established the first cigar factories in what would become Ybor City, but they also planned a Real Estate business and a company town modeled after the successful example of Pullman, IL which induced other manufacturers to move. Sanchez & Haya Real Estate Co. building constructed in 1910 is pictured below. As of June 2023 renovations of this building, now owned by J. C. Newman Cigar Co ., are under way for it to be a hotel, cigar bar and café at the heart of a revitalization project creating the El Reloj District in Ybor City.

On Tuesday April 13, 1886, Haya's factory produced the first cigar in Ybor City. This began a new industrial town made predominantly of immigrants and was the foundation for the development of modern day Tampa. In chronological order, the first factories to start operation in Tampa were (1) Sanchez & Haya, (2) V. Martinez Ybor, (3) Lozano-Pendaz and (4) R. Monne. In the last twenty years or so that followed, many cigar companies relocated to Tampa and tens of thousand of Cuban, Italian and Spaniard workers followed.

Following is a list of the cigar companies that either established or relocated their factories to Tampa between 1886 and 1915. The list only includes factory buildings listed on the Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. maps published in April 1889, March 1892, June 1895, June 1899, 1903 and 1915. This list may not include all the cigar factories that operated during those years, it only includes cigar factories listed on the Sanborn maps.

Tampa’s cigar industry thrived into the 1910s and 1920s, but just like it happened in Key West, the Tampa cigar industry was not free of labor unrest. During its early life, the 1899 strike known as "The Weight Strike" was the first of several, it marked the transition between the informal system where owners imparted their personality and management style to their business and a new corporate organization ran at boardrooms. Four other major strikes in 1901, 1910, 1920 and 1931 affected the industry and resulted in some firms consolidating their operations and others closing down. The 2005 Thesis by Brian Koepnick and a University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research study of September 1939 titled The Cigar Industry of Tampa, Florida are both good readings about the industry's beginning and development.

After the success of Ybor City, West Tampa became the "second" cigar city in Tampa. West Tampa was the idea of Scottish immigrant and attorney Hugh C. Macfarlane (1851-1935), whose family emigrated to Massachussets in 1865. He moved to Tampa in 1884 and in 1886 acquired some two hundred acres of land on the west side of the Hillsborough River. He proceeded to survey and platt industrial sites and residential lots, streets, and public areas and six years later started marketing the land as a cigar factory town. Mendez states that the first cigar factory in West Tampa was established by the Del Pino brothers in June 1892. This factory was built on a square city block that interrupted through traffic on Howard Ave. between Main St. & Oak. St., originally intended as the town's plaza or main square. However, by early 1893 the Del Pino brothers factory had shut down because of their inability to recruit workers due to lack of access, transportation and housing for workers.

The second cigar factory to be established in West Tampa and the first successful one was the O'Halloran Cigar Co., opened in 1893 at the building left vacant by the Del Pino brothers. O'Halloran Cigar Co. success was attributed in great part to the completion of the Fortune Street Bridge in early 1893. The bridge was built with private funds by Macfarlane and others including George N. Benjamin (1856-1926) and his father-in-law Dr. Phillip H. Collins, John H. Drew ( -1938) and banker Alonzo C. Clewis (1864-1944). Easy access to workers from Ybor City allowed West Tampa to quickly grow its number of cigar factories, which were twenty five by 1894 compared to eighteen in Ybor City.

The wooden bridge built by Macfarlane connected Fortune St. on the east side of the Hillsborough River with Arch St. on the west. The first picture in the gallery below is of the Fortune St. Bridge ca. 1910. This was an improved bridge from the original one, its road surface was wooden plank with steel rail tracks. It was further improved between 1912 and 1913 and was replaced in 1927 with the Laurel St. Bridge, shown in the second and third photographs in the gallery below taken in July 2023.

The above information regarding the Del Pino brothers cigar factory being the first one in West Tampa is generally accepted by West Tampa historians, however, is not consistent with the 1983 registration document of the West Tampa Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places. The registration document states that the first company to establish a cigar factory in the district was the Julius Ellinger Cigar Co. who relocated from Key West in the early months of 1893. The document indicates that the O'Halloran Cigar Co. was the second company to establish a factory in the district when it relocated also from Key West in 1894.

The Tampa Tribune on October 4, 1901 published an article notifying that the O'Halloran & Co. cigar factory building and adjacent buildings were destroyed the night before by a blaze which was thought to be of incendiary origin. The Tampapix website has valuable information regarding the early years and development of West Tampa including the events surrounding the fire that destroyed the O'Halloran & Co. factory in 1901 and the West Tampa great fire of April 1904.

Ybor City and West Tampa were annexed to the City of Tampa in 1887 and 1925 respectively. Previous to annexation, West Tampa had been an incorporated city since 1895 with its own municipal government but Ybor City was not. The growth of both areas was fueled by the newly established cigar factories and the development of the cigar industry in the area. Both were instrumental in the development of the City of Tampa and gave it the character and personality it still enjoys to this day. As an example, before the first cigar factory was established in 1886, Tampa's population was estimated at 750, by 1889 population had increased to over 10,000 mostly immigrant cigar workers and their families.

According to the book Tampa and the New Urban South: The Weight Strike of 1899 by Gary R. Mormino, in 1866 customs receipts at the port of Tampa totalled $2,508, by 1900, duties mainly tobacco related, approached $1 million a year. Mormino states that "...by the turn of the century, 111 million cigars were being produced annually in Tampa's factories, a staggering amount since the cigars were individually handrolled". He also states that "...in 1900 Tampa received 1,180 tons of Cuban tobacco valued at nearly $3 million which was transformed into $10 million worth of cigar exports." In 1900, cigar workers earned $2 million in wages and Tampa emerged as the leading industrial city in Florida. In an 1896 article, the Tampa Tribune compared what the cigar industry was to Tampa to what the iron industry was to Pittsburgh or the cotton mill industry to Manchester, England.

The invention of the cigar roller, frequent worker strikes, and the increased popularity of the cigarette led to the industry's slow decline. The Great Depression and World War II expedited the cigar industry’s downfall, and today only one company, the J. C. Newman Cigar Co., still produces cigars in Tampa.

The typical cigar factory buildings were ornate, three story, initially wooden and the brick structures. The rectangular buildings were built lengthwise from east to west at the corner of a city block with many windows to capture the prevailing breezes and allow in fresh air and natural light. The setups were generally the same for all; a basement to store tobacco, a first floor for offices and where tobacco leaves were brought in and finished cigars sent out, a second floor where cigars were rolled, and a top floor where tobacco leaves were prepared and graded.

Today there are still a number of cigar factory buildings remaining, most of which were built towards the the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. In all, we identified and photographed twenty seven remaining cigar factory buildings and the rubble of the V. Guerra, Diaz building which burned to the ground in July 2015 just before we started this project. The factory buildings photographed are all in Ybor City, Palmetto Beach and West Tampa, their location can be found on this Google Map.

Below are pictures of some demolished cigar factory buildings reproduced from the Burgert Bros. photography collection and made available courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System. Photographs in these pages were taken at different times between 2014 and 2020.

As with the other pages on this site, the purpose is not to tell the history of the cigar industry in Tampa which is already well documented, but to actualize in pictures the current status of the cigar factory buildings still standing. A brief description of each structure is made for a better understanding of what they represent.

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10th Ave. = Palm Ave.

Michigan Ave. = Columbus Dr.

Armina Ave. = Arminia Ave. = Armenia Ave.

Beech St. = Ponce de Leon = Beach St.

Frances Ave. = Francis Ave. = Albany Ave.

Cleveland Ave. = Tampania Ave.

Oak St = Union St.

Orange = State St.

Greene St. = Green St.

9th Ave. = Garcia Ave.

10th Ave. = N Blvd.

13th Ave. = Delaware Ave.

15th Ave. = Willow Ave.

17th Ave. = Oregon Ave.

19th Ave. = Rome Ave.

20th Ave. = Fremont Ave.

Spring & Constant was in the general area of today's intersection of W. Laurel St. and Doyle Carlton Dr.

Ave B = Clark St.

V. Martinez Ybor & Co. - relocated from Key West in 1886 to the southwest corner of 14th St. & 9th Ave.
Sanchez & Haya - relocated from NY in 1886 to the southwest corner of 7th Ave. & 15th St., by 1895 had a second factory building on the corner of 15th St, & 12th Ave., in 1915 operated a cigar factory at the southwest corner of 17th St. & 14th Ave.
Lozano, Pendaz & Co. - relocated from NY prior to April 1889 to the northwest corner of 15th St. & 10th Ave.
R. Monne & Bros. - relocated from NY prior to April 1889 to the southwest corner of 19th St. & 10th Ave.
Fernandez & Saxby - relocated from Chicago between 1889 and 1892 to the corner of 19th St. & 10th Ave. sharing the building with R. Monne & Bros.
Emilio Pons & Co. - established prior to April 1889 at the east side of 17th St. between 5th & 6th Ave.
Luis Barreto & Co. - prior to 1892 small cigar factory building located on the south side of the 8th Ave. block between 13th St. & 14th St.
The C. A. Joyce Cigar Co. - between 1892 and 1895 on 3rd Ave & Maryland Ave.
Spencer & Co. - between 1892 and 1895 on north side of 9th Ave.
F Ahedo - between 1892 and 1895 on 5th Ave between 15th St. & 16th St.
Lopez & Co. - being built in 1895 on 21st St.
Seidenberg & Co. - relocated from Key West between 1892 and 1895 to 20th Street between 11th Ave. & 12th Ave. In 1903 was identified as the Seidenberg Branch of Havana-American Co.
Gonzalez Mora & Co. - relocated from NY between 1892 and 1895 to the southwest corner of 18th St. & 13th Ave., its manager was Jose Lovera.
Trujillo & Benemelis/Blas Trujillo & Co. - relocated from NY between in 1893 temporarily to West Tampa, relocated in September 1894 to the southeast corner of 17th St. & 14th Ave.
Amo. Ortiz & Co. - relocated from NY between 1892 and 1895 to the southeast corner of 21st St. & 14th Ave.
M. Perez & Co. - relocated from Key West between 1892 and 1895 to the southeast corner of 19th St. & 14th Ave.
Castro Fernandez & Co. - between 1892 and 1895 on the southeast corner of 15th Ave & 16th St.
Caras & Baker - between 1892 and 1895 at the second floor of the southwest corner of 12th Ave. & 19th St.
Creagh, Gudknecht & Co. - was the merger of John B. Creagh & Co. of Philadelphia established in West Tampa since September 1895 and the Gudknecht Cigar Co., between 1895 and 1899 at the southeast corner of 17th St. & 6th Ave., went out of business in 1901.
Manuel Chavez - between 1895 and 1899 located on the souththeast corner of 8th Ave. & 13th St.
A. B. Ballard & Co./Ballard-Fernandez & Co. - between 1895 and 1899 at the southeast corner of 21st St. & 10th Ave.
Villamil & Co. - between 1895 and 1899 at the southwest corner of 20th St & 10th Ave.
Cuban American Mfg. Co. (La Rosa Factory) - established between 1895 and 1899 at the corner of 19th St. & 10th Ave. vacated by R. Monne & Bros., between 1899 and 1903 relocated one block east to the southwest corner of 20th St. and 10th Ave. and was identified as La Rosa de Cuba branch of the Cuban American Mfg. Co.

O'Halloran & Co. - relocated from Key West in early 1894 on a square that interrupted the flow of Howard Ave. between Main St. & Oak St.
Julius Ellinger & Co. - between 1892 & 1895 at the southwest corner of 9th Ave, & Greene St., was demolished to make way for the construction of I-275.
Armina Cigar Co. - in 1894 a start-up venture of Hugh Macfarlane and N. B. K. Pettingill and two Philadelphia cigar manufacturers; Howard Smeal and Augustus Linncamp at the corner of Armina Ave. & Walnut St., when a tornado destroyed the building on April 2, 1895 they relocated to a new building at the corner of Armina Ave. & Pine St., before the company was dissolved in 1897 they relocated one more time to the corner of 20th Ave. & Greene St.
Severo de Armas Co./E. A. Kline & Co. - relocated from Key West between 1889 and 1892 to the southwest corner of Armina Ave. & Oak St., by 1895 had relocated to 9th Ave. & Greene St. In 1897 Juan La Paz who managed the company bought out de Armas, changed the name eof the company to Juan La Paz & Co. and relocated to the old Armina factory building. The cigar factory building on 9th Ave. & Greene St. was occupied in 1903 by E. A. Kline & Co.
S. & F. Fleitas & Co. - relocated from Key West between 1889 and 1892 to the southwest corner of 20th Ave. & Greene St., in May 1897 the company relocated back to Key West.
L. J. Napoles - between 1889 and 1892 at the southwest corner of 20th Ave & Laurel St.
Havana & Tampa Cigar Co. - between 1899 and 1892 at the southwest corner of 19th Ave. and La Salle St.
Teodoro Perez & Co. - relocated from Key West between 1889 and 1892 to the northwest corner of 17th Ave. & Lasalle St.
Havana & Key West Cigar Co. - being built in 1895 at the southwest corner of Howard Ave. & Beech St.
Barranco, Rico & Guerra - being built in 1895 at the northeast corner of Howard Ave. & St. John St. Shown in 1903 at same location not in operation.
Lozano Pendas & Co. - being built in 1895
Cardeza, Gilliams & Co. - owner of La Hilda cigar factory between 1892 and 1895 at the southwest corner of 9th Ave. & Arch St.
F. Garcia & Bros. - relocated from NY between 1895 and 1899 to the southwest corner of 9th Ave. & Arch St., one block from the Fortune St. Bridge.
Juan La Paz & Co. - after acquiring Severo de Armas Co. in 1894, relocated between 1895 and 1899 to the old Armina factory at the northwest corner of Armina Ave. & Pine St., after several mergers La Paz sold his interets to his partners but retained ownership of the factory building which he leased to Sam Caro & Co. ca. 1903 and returned to Cuba.
Bustillo Bros. & Diaz Inc. - relocated from Key West between 1895 and 1899 to the southwest corner of 13th St. & Grace St., between 1899 and 1903 relocated to the southeast corner of Francis Ave. & Pine St. and had a second cigar factory at the northwest corner of Gomez Ave. & Abdella St.
Cuesta Rey & Co. - at the southwest corner of Howard Ave. & Beech St.
A. Benitez - between 1895 and 1899 at the southwest corner of 19th St. & Las Salle St. In 1903 shown at the corner of 12th St. and North F St. not in operation.
The Monroe Cigar Co. - was the merger of the firms of Teodoro Perez and L. J. Napolis in 1896, at the northwest corner of 17th St. & La Salle St., was sold to Juan Ebra & Co. on November 29, 1902.

Arguelles, Lopez & Bro. - relocated from NY between 1895 and 1899 to the southeast corner of 24th St & 15th Ave. Relocated between 1899 and 1903 to the southeast corner of 21st St. and 15th Ave. where they were still located in 1915.
Salvador Rodriguez - being built in June 1903 at the southwest corner of 22nd St. & 3rd Ave. to relocate from Palmetto Beach.
M. Lorente & Co. - between 1899 and 1903 at the northwest corner of 15th St & 25th Ave.
Theobald & Oppenheimer Co. - between 1899 and 1903 at the southeast corner of 17th St. & 6th Ave.
José Lovera Co. - established between 1899 and 1903 on the southwest corner of 19th St. and 10th Ave. at the building originally bult by R. Monne & Bros., left vacant by the Cuban American Mfg. Co.
V. Guerra, Diaz & Co. - relocated from NY between 1899 and 1903 to the southwest corner of 7th Ave. & 21st St.
M. Stachelberg & Co. - relocated from NY briefly to West Tampa in 1902, between 1899 and 1903 moved to the northeast corner of 17th St. & 14th Ave., in 1915 had moved as tenants to the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Stemmery Building on 13th St. & 8th Ave.
V. M. Ybor Sons Co. - between 1899 and 1903 at the northwest corner of 15th Ave and 16th St.
M. A. Gunst Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the west side of 19th St. between 2nd Ave. & 3rd Ave.
El Moro Cigar Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the southwest corner of 22nd St. & 5th Ave.
F. Lozano, Son & Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the southwest corner 21st St. & 4th Ave.
Havana Cigar Co. - between 1903 and 1915 on the north side of 1st Ave between 22nd St & 23rd St.
Charles C. Cotton - between 1903 and 1915 at the southwest corner of Blanche Ave. & 6th Ave., a block north where Booker T. Washington Elementary School is today.
A. Fernandez & Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the southeast corner of 17th St & 6th Ave.
Jose Llaneza & Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the northwest corner of 14th St. & 12th Ave., precursor to Villazón & Cia.
Ramon Rey & Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the southwest corner of 15th St. & 12th Ave.
Quiros Villazon & Cia. - between 1903 and 1915 at the southwest corner of 15th St. & 11th Ave.
Berriman Bros. - between 1903 and 1915 at the southeast corner of 18th St. & 13th Ave.
Gonzalez Fisher Co. - between 1903 and 1915 on the south side of 13th Ave. between 18th St. & 19th St., owned and operated by Berriman Bros.
M. Valle y Cia. - between 1903 and 1915 occupied the whole block on 20th St. between 11th Ave. & 12th Ave., owned by American Cigar Co.
Manuel Fernandez & Bro. - between 1903 and 1915 at the southeast corner of Banza St. & 18th Ave.
E. Regensburg & Sons - between 1903 and 1915 at the northeast corner of 16th St. & E. Michigan Ave.
Ortiz & Caras - between 1903 and 1915 at the southeast corner of 21st St. & 14th Ave., was not in operation in 1915.
Perfecto Garcia & Bros. between 1903 and 1915 at the southwest corner of 16th St. & 18th Ave.
Corral, Wodiska & Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the southwest corner of 14th St. & E. Michigan Ave.

A. Santaella & Co. - relocated from NY between 1899 and 1903 to the northeast corner of Howard Ave. & Pine St. In 1904 relocated to the southwest corner of Arminia Ave. & Spruce St.
W. E. Parsons & Co. - between 1899 and 1903 at the northeast corner of Armina Ave. & Pine St., was acquired by O'Halloran & Co. in 1903.
L. Sanchez & Co. - between 1899 and 1903 at the northeast corner of Armina Ave. & Walnut St.
Leopold Powel & Co. - between 1899 and 1903 at the southwest corner of Armina Ave. & Walnut St., relocated in 1904 to the factory building vacated by A. Santaella & Co. at Howard Ave. & Pine St., ceased operations in 1906 and in 1913 was acquired by San Martin & Leon Cigar Co.
La Compañia Dominguez - relocated from Bartow in October 1900 to the northwest corner of Armina Ave. & Spruce St., building was destroyed by the West Tampa great fire of April 1904 and the company went out of business.
Fernandez Hermanos & Cia. - between 1899 and 1903 at the southwest corner of Howard Ave. & Oak St. in the area where the O'Halloran cigar factory building had burned down in 1901, by 1903 the square that interrupted Howard Ave. occupied by the O'Halloran factory had been eliminated, by 1915 the Public Library had been built on this location.
Jose de Armas - between 1899 and 1903 at the southwest corner of Armina Ave. & Oak St.
Juan Ebra & Co. - resulted from the acquisition on November 29, 1902 of the Monroe Cigar Co. factory at the northwest corner of 17th St. & Lasalle St., was acquired by O'Halloran Cigar Co. in August 1903 when Ebra returned to Key West, Teodoro Perez, Estanislau O'Halloran, Blas O'Halloran and Enrique Henriquez continued to manufacture cigars at this location under the style of O'Halloran Cigar Co.
The Benjamin Co. - between 1899 and 1903 at the southwest corner of W 19th St and Lasalle St.
Andres Diaz & Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the northwest corner of Habana Ave. & Alvaro St.
Garcia & Vega - between 1903 and 1915 at the northwest corner of Arminia Ave & Alvaro St.
Celestino Vega & Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the northwest corner of Arminia Ave. & Cordelia St., destroyed by fire in the 1940s.
Erlich Mfg. Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the northeast corner of Cleveland Ave. & Spruce St.
J. M. Martinez & Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the nothwest corner of Arminia Ave. & Spruce St. at the building previously occupied by La Compañia Dominguez when it was rebuilt after the West Tampa great fire of 1904.
San Martin & Leon Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the northwest corner of Howard Ave. & Pine St.
Boltz-Clymer & Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the northwest corner of Habana Ave. & Oak St.
J. W. Roberts & Son - between 1903 and 1915 at the souyhwest corner of Garcia Ave. & Green St.
Morgan Cigar Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the northeast corner of Howard Ave. & La Salle St.
Tampa Cuba Cigar Co. (Elisardo Cigar Factory) - between 1903 and 1915 at the northwest corner of Howard Ave. & Nassau St.
Samuel I. Davis & Co. - built in 1909 at the northwest corner of Howard Ave. & Orange St.

Y. Pendas & Alvarez - established between 1895 and 1899 at the southwest corner of Spring & Constant. Between 1903 and 1915 relocated to the northeast corner of Francis Ave. & Cherry St.
El Nacional Cigar Co. - between 1899 and 1903 at the northwest corner of Scott St. and Pierce St.
El Burello - between 1899 and 1903 at northeast corner of Scott St. & Jefferson St.
Val M. Antuono - established between 1903 and 1915 at the southwest corner of Spring & Constant, building previously occupied by Y. Pendas & Alvarez.

Cuban American Mfg. Co. (Corina Factory) - between 1895 and 1899 on the east side of Livingston Ave. between Harper St. & Park St. In 1915 was identified as Jose Escalante & Co. Corina Factory
Salvador Rodriguez - relocated from NY between 1895 and 1899 on the east side of Livingston Ave. & Linsey, identified in 1915 on the southeast corner of 22nd St. (Livingston Ave.) & Linsey as the Fernando Rodriguez Cigar Factory.
Cuban American Mfg. Co. (El Modelo Factory)/V. Guerra, Diaz & Co. (La Mega Factory) - in 1897 El Modelo CIgar Co. relocated from Jacksonville to the corner of Garcia Ave. & Arch St. in West Tampa, in 1899 a new factory was being built at the northeast corner of Ave. B and Clark St., was absorbed by the Cuban American Cigar Co. and in 1903 the map shows the factory as not in operation, in 1915 the factory is identified as belonging to V. Guerra, Diaz & Co. at the northeast corner of 26th St. & Clark St.
La Noticia Cigar Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the southwest corner of 28th St. (Avenue C) & Long.

José Morales & Co. - relocated from Key West between 1895 and 1899 to Hoadley St. between Trask & Bradley. Shown in 1903 as not occupied formerly of Jose Morales & Co.
Bonifacio Garcia & Co. - relocated from Chicago between 1895 and 1899 to Hoadley St. between Trask and Richardson.
Castro Fernandez - between 1895 and 1899 at Germer St. between Trask & Richardson.
Prescot & Fitzgerald - between 1895 and 1899 at the west side of Elliott St. just south of Richardson. Shown in 1903 as Del Rey cigar factory not running and building owned by Prescot & Fitzgerald.

Tierra del Lago Cigar Co. - between 1903 and 1915 at the southwest corner of 36th St. & 9th Ave.
Antonio Lavattiata - between 1903 and 1915 at the northwest corner of 35th St. & 8th Ave.

Ybor City

West Tampa

Downtown

Palmetto Beach

Port Tampa

Gary

Antonio Company 1937, established by Karl Cuesta, son of Angel L. Cuesta. Previously the Bolts Clymer, New York-Tampa and Schwab Davis Cigar Co. at 1804 N Habana Avenue. Courtesy of Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System.

Antonio Co. 1955, 1316 Spring Street. Courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.

Arango & Co. 1933, 2502 12th Avenue. Courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.

Julius Ellinger & Co. 1900, 1322 West 9th Avenue. Courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.

Cuesta, Rey & Co., began operations at this Howard & Ponce de Leon (Beech) St. in 1896. Courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

Diaz, Raphael & Co. 1921, 12th Street & 15th Avenue. Courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

G. & M. Cigar Co. 1927, 2001 N Tampania Ave. Courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

Gonzalez & Sanchez Co. 1915, Ybor City. Courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

M. Perez Co. 1901, 2411 19th Street. Courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

S. Fernande & Co. 1921, 3101 Gomez Avenue. Courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

Serrano Bros. 1933, Previously occupied by Celestino Vega, 3302 Armenia Ave. & Cordelia St. Courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

F. Garcia & Bros., Inc. 1923, 1114 Garcia Ave. & Arch St. Courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System