Vincente Martinez-Ybor, a wealthy Spanishcigar manufacturer from New York andKey West, began development of Ybor Cityin 1885. On April 12,1886, 500 Cuban cigarmakersboarded the sidewheeler Hutchinson inKey West and sailed for Tampa. Over 3,000workers arrived by the end of 1886. Cigarfactories and home construction flourishedand businesses thrived. Ybor City becameknown as the "Cigar Capitol of the World."
The Ybor City Historic District includes more than 1,300 building, nearly a thousandof which are historic.The buildings includethe largest collection of cigar factories andrelated industrial structures in the UnitedStates; a major collection of commercial andcommercial-residential structures; a groupof ethnic clubhouses; and historic workerhousing. Many structures, built between1886 and World War I, display Spanish and Cuban influences, such as wrought-ironbalconies, even though many architects in the area were "Anglos."
The Ybor City Historic District was listedin the National Register of Historic Placesin 1974. For its importance in the nation'simmigration movement, the National ParkService declared Ybor City a National Historic Landmark District in 1990.
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