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Who's ready for some history? Cool! Today, we're going to discuss the history of Ybor City.

Vicente Martinez-Ybor was a Spaniard who, at the age of 14, moved to Cuba to avoid Spain's mandatory military service. During his time in Spain, young Ybor took on a lot of odd jobs until he ended at a grocery store as a bag boy. While there, an elderly gentleman offers to teach Ybor the ways of cigar rolling. Ybor learns the trade and opens a factory in Cuba which becomes WILDLY successful among the locals. He named his company El Principe de Gales (The Prince of Wales). Ybor's factory was known to produce 20,000 cigars a day. All was good for Ybor in Cuba, until...

The Ten Year War broke out in 1868. Cubans demanded their independence from Spain which led to a massive war. Ybor was caught funding the Cuban resistance by the Spaniards and word came back to Ybor that they intended to prosecute. He and his family fled to Key West, Fl. While there, he continued to produce his cigars and brought workers in from Cuba to fill his factories. Tensions rose between the Cubans and the Spaniards and Ybor found Key West to not be the best location for his factory to begin with...

Gavino Gutierrez was a Spaniard living in New York who ran a fruit packing plant. He sold fruit from Spain, Cuba, and Mexico. He had heard rumor that wild guava grew in Florida so he took a trip down and spent some time searching for the tropical fruit. He never did find the fruit (duh!), but he did like the idea of opening a plant in Tampa so he didn't have to import some of his products. Gutierrez decided a trip back to New York by boat was the best idea, so away he sailed, making a stop in Key West where he met a man by the name of Ybor who was looking to relocate his cigar factory elsewhere. Gutierrez informed Ybor that Tampa had the perfect climate for him to keep his tobacco and that it was a very small town, so land should be cheap. And then there was the small advantage of...

Henry Plant built many train stations and steam boats around the southern United States. If your city had a stop on one of his rail lines, you were a very big deal. Plant made his way south and had put a stop in Sanford and continued his trip south. Henry Plant built a railroad stop in Tampa, acquired the Hotel Punta Gorda and the Tampa Bay Hotel, and established a steamboat ride out of Tampa to Havana. This was very intriguing to other businesses.

Ybor had originally planned to move his factory to Texas, however his new friend Gutierrez convinced him otherwise. In 1885, Ybor made a trek to Tampa to take a look around and Ybor instantly fell in love with the city. After a battle over the price of the land (which ultimately almost had Ybor relocate elsehwere), Ybor purchased 40 acres just north of the actual city of Tampa.

By the next year, 1886, Ybor was becoming the greatest cigar manufacturing city in the world. Gutierrez, who also studied architecture, was brought in to design the new town while Ybor and rival cigar manufacturer Ignacio Haya built their respective factories. Ybor's cigar factory encompassed one full city block and was the largest cigar factory in the world at that point.

In 1886, a fire broke out in Key West and destroyed most of the town. This brought a lot of the cigar workers to Tampa looking for employment in one of Tampa's 200 cigar factories. In an attempt to prevent the Cuban-Spanish problems experienced in Key West, Ybor provided good wages and his company built houses in Ybor city which were sold at cost to the workers in the town. This also gave Cubans a reason to stay in Tampa instead of traveling back and forth to Cuba which was common at the time. With people now living in Ybor, there had to be more than just cigar factories.

Before his death, Ybor had established a brewery, an insurance company, a brick factory, gas compay, and an ice factory. He also established Tampa's first streetcar line. The city took a little time to grow, but once it did, Ybor City was producing tens of millions of cigars a year. Ybor also had one of the most educated work forces in the U.S. thanks to the lectors, whose sole job was to read to the workers as they worked in the factories. They were read newspaper articles and stories alike, which helped to keep their spirits up while working.

On December 14, 1896, Ybor died. The newspapers of the time made it front page news, and businesses around Tampa shut their doors in his honor for his funeral. Ybor's family and business partners made an attempt to sell off his holdings, but deemed that there wasn't enough money in Tampa to do so. It took nearly ten years.

Ybor continued to thrive for decades after Ybor's death. Up until the Great Depression swept through the United States. Consumers of cigars cut costs by switched to less expensive forms of tobacco and the cigar trade in Ybor took a massive blow. Many factories either laid workers off, or shut down entirely. The factories that did chose to remain open had switched to mechanical rolling methods, thus eliminating even more jobs. By the time World War II had ended, the jobs in Ybor City were gone, and many returning veterans made the choice to leave.

In the 1950's and 60's, the Urban Renewal Project set out to destroy as much of the history of Ybor as possible in exchange for new housing. The destruction took place, but a lack of funds prevented them from rebuilding Ybor. The construction of I4 through Ybor also destroyed most of the north/south routes through the city. By the 70's, very few businesses remained.

In the 1980's, artists seeking cheap studio space came in to Ybor City and started the slow transformation from cigar capital of the world to what we know today. Slowly, the vacant cigar factories and empty store fronts turned into bars, restaurants, and night clubs. The city, which was built before cars were commonplace, now needed to build parking garages in the city. New housing was built, new uses for older social clubs were implemented, and a new core to the city was built in the way of Centro Ybor. For the first time in decades, people were moving back into the city.

That's all for this installment of Tampa History. If you’re looking for more information about Tampa, visit us at youtube.com/exploringtampa

[exploringtampa-blog]

Welcome to Channelside! Prior to becoming the downtown location it is today, it was a local favorite spot to shop for the men who worked at the Port of Tampa. In the 1970′s, the area changed. During the 1980′s, the area struggled to keep up with other areas of Tampa that were expanding drastically. In the early 1990′s, a plan was set in place for Channelside’s future. 

Channelside Bay Plaza opened in 2001, secluded from both the street and the water. Channelside’s future was in doubt from the start as there was no local community to support it and because nearby Ybor City had just opened it’s entertainment district. The economic struggles in the U.S. as well as the defeated light rail bill marked the death nail for Channelside. 

Today, Channelside sits mostly empty. There are touristy bars and clubs, an abandoned movie theater, and a bowling alley keeping the plaza afloat. After a long stint in bankruptcy hell, Jeff Vinik, owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning (hockey) acquired the land that Channelside sits on. 

The future of Channelside now looks bright. Vinik has put $1 billion into his project and now holds over three million square feet. What does he plan to do with it? The USF Medical School and Heart Institute has already been announced, and we can look forward to seeing 500 new residential spaces, 5,000 new parking spaces, three new office and hotel towers, and a new name. 

What does this do for Tampa as a city? There will be an estimated 6,700 jobs and $35 million dollars in tax revenue... Annually. We can also reasonably believe that the trolley system will play a major role in the redevelopment, as will the Garrison Channel. The project began this summer and is expected to take between five and seven years. 

For events going on in Tampa, and for our commentary on the developments in the city, be sure to check out our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/c/exploringtampa

References:

http://www.tampagov.net/economic-and-urban-development/programs/community-redevelopment-areas/channel-district/history

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/economicdevelopment/vision-for-tampas-future-connects-downtown-channelside/1261047

http://www.813area.com/tampa/channelside/

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/channelside-settlement-approved-ending-legal-battle-for-tampa-mall/2189355

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/jeff-viniks-1-billion-plan-for-downtown-tampa-finally-revealed/2210519

http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/2014/12/17/jeff-vinik-channelside-redevelopment-tampa/20549559/

[exploringtampa-blog]

Enjoying a beer from Cigar City! What are you guys drinking?

http://www.youtube.com/c/exploringtampa

[exploringtampa-blog]

Hey, what’s going on interwebz? My name is Mark and, in January, I started a new YouTube project I like to call, “Exploring Tampa.” So, who am I? Where is Tampa? How does this help you and what exactly is this project? And Why do you care?  Great questions! Lets get started.

-My name is Mark Livingston and I am a native of Florida having lived in the Tampa Bay Area the entirety of my 27 years. I attended Gaither High School in the suburb of Carrollwood and am now a student at Hillsborough Community College. 

-Tampa is a city on the western coast of Central Florida. On Tampa Bay and near the Gulf of Mexico. Tampa, as of 2014, has a population of  335,709. (https://suburbanstats.org/population/florida/how-many-people-live-in-tampa)

-When my friends and I were in high school, we would all gather around, pondering what we would do that weekend. We live in a big city, and yet, we can never think of anything to do. Do you find yourself in the same situation? If so, I’m here to help. It’s my job to find you restaurants that are unique to Tampa, events that are going on in the city of Tampa, landmarks that can only be found in Tampa, and some of the coolest, quirkiest adventures you can have in Tampa. As I do this blog, I also want to be as accurate as possible. If I write something, I will cite it. While your professors may not take Tumblr as a source, they will take the links that I post. This also ensures that you have the most accurate information possible to you history buffs out there. 

-You care because you live here, you have friends/family that live here, you live nearby, you’re planning a vacation, or you just happened to think about Tampa and want some more information on it. 

I am doing this project 100% free of charge. I use my own time, my own money, etc to ensure that this project takes off. All I ask in return is that you watch my YouTube channel after reading the blog. I will link it at the end of every post. Thank you. http://www.youtube.com/c/exploringtampa