Centennial Park is a city park like many others: it has statues, benches, pedestrians, and skateboarders. But one group of guests is somewhat unique: the famed chickens of Ybor City. The close proximity of the trolley stop makes for a great location…

The Regensburg Factor, aslo known as “El Reloj” (the Clock), sits on the outskirts of Ybor city. The factory was one of many when it was built in 1910. The Regensburg Cigar Company chose a site outside of the city center for their new modern…

Tampa political fixer and bolita ‘dean’ Charlie Wall built the Yellow House in the 1920s, using it as a headquarters for his bolita operation. Over the course of two decades, Wall lost his control of the bolita rackets to the Trafficante crime…

In 1897, the Florida Brewing Company opened for business, becoming Florida’s first brewery. It remained the state’s only brewery until 1913. Vincente Martinez Ybor and his partner Edward Manara founded the brewery and built it on the local…

Juan More came to Tampa after fighting with the Spanish army in the revolution of 1875 in Cuba. When More arrived in Tampa he had a piece of paper tucked in his pocket that contained his Cuban bread recipe. That recipe would change the face of…

Long before the first cigar factories were established in Ybor city, a long-lasting oral tradition had cemented itself as a part of the cigar factory culture -- the tradition of the factory reader, or lector. Lectors read from variety of printed…

Young Manuel Quintero made his boxing debut on July 25, 1924 when he defeated Young Dobber. Throughout the latter part of the 1920s Quintero took boxing by storm, going 19-1-4 in 1926 and winning the southern lightweight title in 1928. One of the…

Guavaween was an annual Halloween festival in Ybor City that was extraordinarily popular for more than a decade. The first Guavaween was held in 1985. It was started by the Ybor City chamber of Commerce as a fundraiser to help the Tampa Playmakers,…

The jewel of Ybor City and Vicente Martinez Ybor’s passion project, the Ybor Cigar Factory was a massive 3-story structure. The factory was believed to be the largest in the world at the time and was renowned for its beauty. On its front entrance…

The statue of Ybor shows the man himself, dressed in a three-piece suit with an umbrella and his hat. The surrounding area is much more of a tourist area than anything now, with fast food restaurants, convenience stores, and bars providing the…