Florida Memory is administered by the Florida Department of State, Division of Library and Information Services, Bureau of Archives and Records Management. The digitized records on Florida Memory come from the collections of the State Archives of Florida and the special collections of the State Library of Florida.
State Archives of Florida
- ArchivesFlorida.com
- State Archives Online Catalog
- ArchivesFlorida.com
- ArchivesFlorida.com
State Library of Florida
Related Sites
Listen: The World ProgramDescription of previous item
Description of next item
Research Starter: The Cigar Industry of Key West and Ybor City
Research Starter
Commercial cigar rolling in Florida began with small-scale operations started by Cuban immigrants in the 1830s. Vicente Martinez Ybor, one of the most significant figures in the history of cigar making in Florida, established a cigar factory in Key West in 1869. In 1885, he moved his cigar making operation from Key West to Tampa. Immigrants came not just from Cuba, but from Italy, Spain, and throughout Eastern Europe and Latin America in search of work.
Tampa cigar industry
Florida Memory
- The Cigar Industry Changes Florida, Classroom
- Cigar, Florida Photographic Collection
- Ybor City, Floridiana Article
State Library of Florida
- Cuban Heritage, Bibliographies
Published Sources
- Tinajero, Araceli. El Lector: A History of the Cigar Factory Reader. Trans. Judith E. Grasberg. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, 2010.