Cigar City Magazine

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🚨🚨🚨𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒🚨🚨🚨

𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐖𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐄 𝐀 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑'𝐒 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 Ybor City Cigar Festival 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒, 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐛𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤!

𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟒!

𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞! 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄, 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄, 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘!©

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝘁 https://www.yborcigarfestival.com

Check out Scott M. Deitche - Author as he gives you on a sneak peek on the Tampa Mafia Tours! The dark side of history!

Tampa author leads walking tour that details city's past with the mafia The city's notorious past is on full display with the Tampa Mafia Tours, which is led by acclaimed author Scott M. Deitche.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐆𝐑𝐎 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐈𝐗 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟕 & 𝟏𝟗𝟓𝟑.

𝗠𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗟𝗕 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮 𝗕𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁. 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗴 𝗣𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘀, 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝟵 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗮 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄.

𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/stories/tampa-rockets-and-the-florida-state-negro-leagues

𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 • 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 • 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 ©
Tampa Tribune Building on the northwest corner of Twiggs and Tampa Streets. The photo was taken in 1925 by the Burgert Brothers.

𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 • 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 • 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 ©

This building was on the corner of Florida Avenue and Cass Street. Includes Hav-A-Tampa, Crystal Lunch, Floridian Pharmacy, and Lafayette Insurance Company, 1932.

𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐂𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐑 𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐒
From the book Patriotic Cigar-Label Art by Major Siles Bass & Edwin D. Barnes

The Independente cigar label courtesy of the USF Special Library Collection

Roy Rogers and his horse, Trigger, next to a horse trailer advertising the Florida State Fair, 1959.

On May 15, 1947, Florida State College for Women, which held its first classes in 1857, was reorganized and renamed Florida State University. It also became a co-educational institution.

On June 14, 1826, Captain Joseph Fry, called the “Cuban Martyr,” was born in Tampa. Fry was executed in 1873 by Spanish authorities for carrying Cuban rebels aboard his ship.

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄: 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚’𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭
On Sunday, July 18, 1920, officers Tranquilino Martinez and Juan Nales stopped and questioned a “suspicious character” near the Tampa-Cuba cigar factory on the corner of Armenia Avenue and Pine Street in West Tampa. Nales arrested the man and escorted the suspect to the West Tampa jail on the corner of Main and Albany. That’s when Martinez, following a short distance behind Nales, heard the shots.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/thin-blue-line-honoring-one-of-west-tampas-finest

𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐀 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍
In West Tampa, Cuban cigar workers and political organizers plotted and planned their uprising against the Spanish colonial government in Cuba. The first mayor of West Tampa, Fernando Figueredo, worked as the head bookkeeper for the O'Halloran Cigar Factory on the corner of Howard and Albany.

In 1895, as the Cuban revolutionary effort gained momentum, Figueredo was named treasurer of the Cuban Revolutionary Party in Tampa.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄

https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/west-tampa-and-the-cigar-that-sparked-a-revolution

𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐘𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐘: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟕 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬
In the midst of major league baseball's final tilt that autumn, a subway series nonetheless, and as students prepared to report for classes in Tallahassee, word came that the newly organized Florida State University would field a football team that season, and within only six weeks! It wasn't possible, believed some. Who cares, thought others.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/birth-of-a-college-football-dynasty-the-1947-florida-state-football-seminoles

𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐘
As a young man, Giuseppe R. Ferlita dreamed of immigrating to America and becoming successful. In 1905, Giuseppe, with only a third-grade education, arrived at Ellis Island as a teenager.

Emigrating from Santo Stefano Quisquina, Sicily, with his family, he joined relatives who had previously settled in Tampa. Giuseppe first worked as a cigar maker until his father purchased a bakery in West Tampa. During this period, he married his childhood sweetheart, Maria Paola Ficarrotta.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/ferlita-macaroni-company

𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐀
Boxing in Tampa has a rich and storied history. When cigar makers Vicente Martinez Ybor and Ignacio Haya first moved their cigar factories from Key West to Tampa, Italian, Cuban, and Spanish workers followed. The closeness of the cultures helped breed a passion for the sport, and before long, boxing matches became as common and popular as the local bolita number game.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/fight-night-in-tampa

𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄: 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝
"Flagler's Folly" is what they called it: A railroad across the Florida Keys. More than a few people thought that the financier and developer, at age 71, had stepped over the line to senility when he proposed the project.

Skepticism was enormous despite Henry Flagler's reputation as the man whose railway, steamship, and hotel ventures had brought much of Florida from backwoods to modernity in a few busy decades. Flagler's rail network in the Sunshine State–the Florida East Coast Railway–was his most celebrated work, laying hundreds of miles of track and linking Florida's eastern and southern parts with the civilized world.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/postcards-from-the-edge-key-west-and-the-building-of-the-over-sea-railroad

𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐀 '𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒'
In 1897, writer, social commentator, and beisbolero (baseball player) Wenceslao Gálvez y del Monte ("Wen Gálvez") published a small, first-person narrative entitled Tampa: Impresiones de Emigrado. The work critically observes Tampa and its residents. It is one of several turn-of-the-century, Spanish-language publications giving an account of Old Tampa–from its dusty roads to its marble facades.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/tampa-impressions

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐂𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐒
In the early days of Tampa, you could stand on the banks of the Hillsborough River, and if the wind was blowing just right, you might smell the thick aroma of cedar permeating the air. As cigar factories from Palmetto Beach to West Tampa hummed with workers, several ancillary businesses sprouted to support the booming industry. Restaurants and boarding houses kept workers fed and housed. At the same time, other companies manufactured the equipment and tools necessary to produce quality hand-rolled ci**rs.

Along with leading the nation in producing "Clear" or "Puro Havana" ci**rs, Tampa was also a leading producer of cedar cigar boxes and was home to one the world's largest box manufacturers, Tampa Box Company.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
cigarcitymagazine.com/home/from-cedar-to-ci**rs

**rs **rs

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋: 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐛𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭

Tommy Stephens sat on the patio by his house, watching the first of many nightly visitors to arrive in Ybor City. Leaning back in his chair and nursing a beer, he points to a couple of tourists as they watch a chicken try to fly up a tree next to their car.

Stephens chuckles. "The chicken's life span is short. If it's not dogs or cars, it's the hawks," he says. "People love the chickens, though. They never seem to get enough of them."

𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/the-rooster-funeral-giving-ybor-something-to-crow-about

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐍
Over 162 years ago, Florida’s secession occurred from the United States. Florida followed South Carolina and Mississippi and was the third state to leave the Union. The Civil War began three months later when Southern forces fired on Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

The opening shots of the war were almost directed at Fort Pickens in Pensacola Harbor, but President Abraham Lincoln decided to resupply the South Carolina fort instead.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/when-florida-left-the-union

𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎 𝐕𝐒. 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐍𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐈𝐎
Long before Mayor Dick Greco was attempting to become the oldest Mayor in the history of Tampa, he was the youngest. Before he boasted of the experience he would bring to the mayoral position, he was the mayor with little experience. Before he was a political legend with his own statue, he had to defeat a political legend that was posthumously honored with a statue.

Before he became Mayor Dick Greco, he had to defeat Mayor Nick Nuccio in the 1967 mayoral election, one of the hottest elections the city of Tampa has ever seen, an election that billed the young, handsome upstart against the old political legend. It was a heavyweight battle that changed the history of the city of Tampa forever. And it was a battle that started in 1963 when Mayor Dick Greco was known as City Councilman Dick Greco.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/dick-greco-vs-nick-nuccio

𝐂𝐔𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊: 𝐘𝐛𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲'𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬
If Ybor City's backbone was its cigar factories, Cuscaden Park was its heart. The park still exists today, though it is a faint shadow of its former self. Its 500-seat capacity grandstand was demolished, and its baseball fields gave way to soccer fields. To drive past the park today, some would never know that this field was once Ybor City's Field of Dreams.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/cuscaden-park-ybor-citys-field-of-dreams

𝐁𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐀
Bolita, meaning little ball, was a game of chance imported from Cuba around the turn of the 20th century. Numbers were sold throughout the week at various Ybor City and West Tampa locations. You could buy a ticket at corner grocery stores, local restaurants, or barbershops, while bolita peddlers often visited cigar factories on paydays to sell numbers to the workers.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/bolita

𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐁𝐎𝐑 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘?!
Before city leaders envisioned Ybor City as a residential and shopping district, they boasted about bullfights.

"It was how we were going to save Ybor City," explained former Mayor Dick Greco.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/bullfighting-in-ybor-city

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐀 𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒
From 1946-1953, Tampa residents were elated by the Florida International League’s Class B baseball club, the Tampa Smokers. They hit their peak during the post-war boom.

The Smokers packed Plant Field–today’s Pepin/Rood Stadium on North Boulevard–when the Havana Cubans came to the Cigar City to play before boisterous, stogie-chomping fans. The Havana Cubans had a Tampa contingent of supporters with broad-brimmed straw hats to cheer them on.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/the-tampa-smokers

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑-𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐆𝐔𝐄
Tampa and Baseball are like café and leche: one strong, pungent, hot, steady, ageless, fresh; neither quite as good apart as they are together. It is hardly possible to find a moment in the city's history when the game was not being played, when it didn't matter, particularly to Tampa's Latin working class.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/inter-social-league

𝐄𝐋 𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑: 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐑
Billy Sunday has been downtown preaching for the past couple of days, as I’m sure you’ve all noticed,” I began, pausing for the dismissive mumbling and laughter to clear the room. “Indeed, the aptly named Mr. Sunday has come to town to save your wretched souls…at least that’s what he says. Mr. Sunday has a bit of what you might call a colored past.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/el-lector-billy-sunday-and-the-river-of-beer

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐒𝐁𝐎𝐋: 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀'𝐒 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐀
Before spring training became the Florida mainstay it is today, baseball began taking root in the Tampa Bay area late in the 19th century. A.M. de Quesada's book, Baseball in Tampa Bay, notes how Union and Confederate soldiers brought the game to the Sunshine State when they returned home from the Civil War. Tampa had a team in the first short-lived Florida State League in 1892.

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/from-baseball-to-beisbol-americas-pastime-in-tampa

𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊

This theater, located in downtown Tampa, was demolished in the early 2000s. Built in the Spanish Colonial style in 1917 and opened in 1918, it remained a working theater and movie house into the late 1940s.

What can guess this Lost Landmark?

𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒: 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐉𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐏𝐎𝐏 𝐂𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀
Pop Cuesta is standing in the middle of Jefferson High School's baseball field, just like he has for the past 37 years, watching about 20 first–and second-year students practice the hook slide, wondering what happened to the fundamentals. He shakes his head as one kid runs toward an imaginary second base and plows into the ground like a sleepy water buffalo. Pop shakes his head. He sends the young junior varsity players on a run around the outfield perimeter. "Let's go, son! Get moving," he shouts calmly. He gathers them around first base and asks, "Does anyone know what a one-way lead is?" He shakes his head again as only a few kids raise their hands. They listen closely as Pop–Coach Cuesta to them–goes over the fundamentals of base running. "Fundamentals," he will repeat repeatedly during the two-hour practice, "base running, bunting, sliding. Nobody taught them to you, so I'll have to teach you all."

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄
https://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/home/back-to-basics-learning-the-fundamentals-with-jefferson-high-school-baseball-coach-pop-cuesta