TAMPA AREA HISTORY Jan 15-17, 2014

Since it was too windy and cold for bike rides or afternoons at the beach we spent two days seeing some of the history around Tampa Bay.  We've been wanting to visit one of the iconic buildings in the city located on the campus of the University of Tampa.  It's the former home of Henry Plant, a major developer of the railroads in this part of Florida at the turn of the century. 

We started with a walking tour of the original 1891 Tampa Bay Hotel with a wonderful woman who knew so much about the property and history of Tampa. It was a magnificent hotel in its day and is filled with treasures from around the world.  Its Moorish architecture can be seen as part of the Tampa skyline.

Across from the Hotel and Museum is Plant Park which looks out onto the modern city of Tampa.

We met up with Emily later that afternoon for sunset at the Olde Bay Cafe in Dunedin, chilly but a beautiful sunset once again.

Friday we had made reservations for a walking tour of Ybor City, a historic neighborhood in Tampa. It was founded in the 1880s by cigar manufacturers and was populated by thousands of immigrants from Cuba, Spain and Italy. A local resident, Lonnie, was our guide with 2 hours to show us his town. It all began with one man, Vicente Ybor, when he  moved his cigar making operation from Key West to the tiny Tampa area in 1885 beginning with the purchase of 40 acres of land.  To attract employees, Ybor built hundreds of small houses for the Cuban and Spanish cigar workers, many of whom followed him from Key West and Cuba.  Soon other cigar manufactures also moved in, making Tampa a major cigar production center.

One of the buildings we visited was the beautifully restored Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Hotel once the Ybor Land and Improvement Company, it is said to have its own resident ghost.

The main lobby

We walked so many of the city blocks and stood near the original Ybor Cigar Company building.  One tradition that the workers brought with them from cigar factories in Cuba was that of "El Lector" (The Reader).  Because the job of rolling cigar after cigar could become monotonous, the workers wanted something to occupy and stimulate the mind. Thus began the tradition of lectors, who sat perched on an elevated platform in the cigar factory reading to the workers. The lector typically would begin with Spanish newspapers and some fiction, such as an adventure novel then move on to political writings about the current events in Cuba or Spain.  Because of the lector system, even cigar workers who could not read were exposed to classic literature and were aware of political philosophy and current events in Ybor City and around the world…pretty amazing system!!!

 Though the city declined during the Depression and was left without funds for Urban Renewal in the 60s it is now regaining a new reputation for great restaurants and night life.

One of the most unusual places we visited was the Friends of Jose Marti Park, the only piece of "free Cuban soil" in the world. Over a hundred years ago, Jose Marti, the Apostle of Cuban Liberty, visited Tampa to raise awareness and collect money for Cuba Libre, the effort to rid Cuba of Spanish rule. He stayed at the home of Paulina Pedroso.  The Pedrosos eventually moved back to Cuba and the property passed through several hands until is was eventually donated to the Cuban government as a tribute to their national hero. In 1956 Cuba took possession of the deed, the American consul in Havana approved the transaction and now it stands behind locked gates, opened by request on the weekends. 

We ended our tour at the statue of Vicente Ybor in the center of town.

Next it was time for a lunch at the wonderful Cuban Columbia Restaurant down the street. We were able to get seats at the bar and enjoy their original Cuban sandwich with sangria, a perfect day's outing!