THE CIGAR THAT SPARKED A REVOLUTION

The most famous cigar ever rolled in Tampa went out not as a Corona or a Presidente, but as a liberator to spark the Cuban Revolution of 1895. This cigar cost thousands of lives, but eventually won the independence of Cuba from Spain.

 

The story of the cigar that went to war starts Jan. 29, 1895, at the residence of Gonzalo De Quesada, secretary of the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York City. Jose Marti, the leader of the Cuban crusade for freedom, called a secret meeting of the revolutionary junta at the Quesada home.

Present were General Jose Mayia Rodriguez, representing Generalisimo Maximo Gomez, and General Enrique Collazo, representing the Revolutionary Junta of Havana. Among the Cuban patriots taking part in the historic junta was Emilio Cordero, who in later years would become a prominent leader in the cigar industry of America marketing his popular brand Mi Hogar.

       Gonzalo de Quesada          Jose Marti


Jose Marti with supporters of the Cuban revolution, on the steps of the Ybor-Manrara cigar factory, 1893.
This building is now home to a restaurant, "The Spaghetti Warehouse" and offices for scientology.

 

Emilio Cordero was late arriving at the meeting, and found the junta was stalemated on the decision of whether or not to launch a revolt on the island. Cordero was faced with the most serious decision of his life. After much soul searching he broke the tie vote by voting for war and gained immortality.

Gonzalo de Quesada and wife, with Jose Marti (seated)

Gen. Maximo Gomez (seated) with Gen. Enrique Collazo behind him

Gen. Enrique Collazo
 

Gen. Maximo Gomez
 

 

 

"In view of the propitious situation and the clamoring of the islanders to take the field," Marti, Rodriguez and Collazo signed the long awaited order for the uprising. With the momentous decision made, the dangerous mission of delivering the order to the Cuban leaders was the next task at hand. The historic document was written in longhand on a single piece of white paper. Quesada, with the message in his pocket, booked passage on the first train for Ybor City, the center of Cuban revolutionary activities.

On the train, Quesada met Horatio Rubens, an American attorney serving as advisor to the Cuban Revolutionary Party who, principally in the U.S. organized, and provided arms to the Cuban insurgents before and during the 1895-1898 Cuban War of Independence.  Quesada confided with him: "I am sleeping on dynamite! I have the orders for the uprising! They will go by messenger to Havana." 

At the Ybor city railroad station, Quesada was met by Fernando Figueredo, the chief of the partido (party) in Ybor City (and first mayor of West Tampa), Theodore Perez, Martin Herrera, the brothers Blas and Estanislaus O’Halloran and other Cuban patriots.

Fernando Figueredo

The O'Halloran brothers, Blas, Estanislaus & Ignacio

The O'Halloran brothers, Blas, Estanislaus & Ignacio, were sons of Cuban-born cigar maker Rafael O'Halloran and his wife, Francesca.


 


 


West Tampa was originally called Pino City which was founded by brothers Manuel and Fernando J. del Pino. They built their first cigar factory here on this site in June of 1892. Because of lack of housing, transportation and convenient access, it closed in 1893. Later that year, the O'Halloran Cigar Company moved into the vacant del Pino brothers building.


O'Halloran family on the 1880 Census of Monroe County, Key West, Florida

In 1880, the O'Hallorans were living at 506 Petrona Street in Key West.  On line 9, Rafael O'Halloran was age 56 (born circa 1824) and worked as a cigar maker.  His wife, line 10, Francesca was 50 (b. c1830).  Blas O'Halloran, their oldest son, was listed erroneously as Blas Fernandez** on line 15, married and living in the next dwelling.  Blas and his wife, Clemencia (enumerator omitted the "C", listing her as "Lemencia", verified as Clemencia on later censuses) were both age 20 (born circa 1860.)  Children of Rafael and Francesca begin on line 11 with Estanislaus, age 18 (b. c1862), Ignacio age 17 (b. c1863), Rafaela age 16 (b. c1864) and Maria age 14 (b. c1866).  All members of the family were born in Cuba, with Rafael and Francesca both stating that their parents were born in Cuba.  Later censuses of the O'Halloran brothers indicate that the family came to the U.S. in 1872 or 1875. 

 

On the 1900 Census in West Tampa, Rafael and Francesca O'Halloran were living at 287 Oak Street and indicate they had come to the US in 1870.  Francesca was the mother of 13 children, with only 6 living by 1900.

 

**Numerous passport applications from 1884 through 1920 of Blas and Estanislau O'Halloran indicate they were born in Havana and that their names were Blas Fernandez O'Halloran and Estanislau Fernandez O'Halloran.  Both brothers also used the middle initial "F." in their signatures or wrote out their middle names.  At age 59 in 1884, their father Rafael received a passport and indicated his name was Rafael Fernandez O'Halloran, born in Havana, and that he "was about to travel abroad accompanied by my wife and four minor children."  It is apparent that his sons continued to use their father's full surname.  The use of Fernandez in the middle names of the brothers and their father indicate that Fernandez may have been Rafael's mother's surname.  Normally, a Cuban would express their surname as "O'Halloran y Fernandez" (if their father's name was O'Halloran and their mother's name was Fernandez).  In the US, sometimes this would result in instances of a person's surname appearing as their mother's surname, instead of their father's (as was the case with Blas' 1880 census.)  The lack of the "y" (and) in between the two names could be an indication of reversal of traditional naming sequence.

 


Cigar factory workers in Tampa, 1892

At the time, Ybor City had become a nest of insurgents as well as a cigar production center. The cigar makers were red hot rebels ardently supporting the cause of the Cuban independence. Each week they contributed one day’s pay Dia de La Patria for the purchase of war material. Many guerilla-fighters were outfitted and sneaked into Cuba from here.  Sixty revolutionary clubs in Tampa, the largest Cuban political emigrant community in the United States, worked hard for Cuba Libre for more than six years. The delicate alliance formed during that period bridged ideologies, ethnicity, race and class – for the revolutionary moment. Fernando Figueredo, general agent of the Cuban Revolutionary Party in Tampa and mayor of West Tampa, estimated that the Cuban cigar workers of Key West and Tampa (including Ybor City and West Tampa) were collecting around $50,000 a month for the revolution.


Blas F. O'Halloran

Quesada conferred with local leaders in West Tampa on a means of smuggling the message into Cuba, and upon a suggestion by Fernando Figueredo, they decided to conceal it in a cigar. Late one night, a few members of the local revolutionary junta met at the O’Halloran Cigar Factory at Howard Ave. and Union St., and Blas O’Halloran rolled five Panetela cigars-all identical. The one concealing the message, the historic "Cigar of Liberty," was distinguishable by two tiny yellow specks on the tobacco wrapper. Days later, Quesada, with the five cigars in his pocket, sailed to Key West. There he was met by Miguel Angel Duque De Estrada, the man chosen to deliver the message to Juan Gualberto Gomez, the insurgent chief of the island of Cuba.


Miguel Angel Duque de Estrada

 

The chaveta used to roll the historic cigar, and Jose Marti's pistol given to him for protection by General Maximo Gomez, were in the possession of Rosario O'Halloran Soriano in 1980.  Marti, who disliked carrying firearms, had given the gun, along with a gold ring and a pocketknife, to his close friend Estanislao O'Halloran in Tampa.  The items then passed to Rosario Soriano, Estanislao's daughter.  According to Albert Soriano, a son of Rosario Soriano, the items then passed to his older brother, and then to that brother's son.  In this 2013 article by Paul Guzzo, "Marti's historic pistol just out of history's reach", attempts to contact Albert' Soriano's nephew were to no avail.  More recently, it has been learned that the nephew said he loaned the items to someone and can't remember who.
 

See related story concerning Eduardo R. Chibas at Cuscaden Park, Ybor City.

 

 

On the moonlit night of Thursday February 21, 1895, Estrada, with the cigars in his pocket, boarded the Mascotte for the seething island of Cuba. Arriving at the port of Havana, the courier calmly proceeded through routine customs inspection and passed out four cigars to the authorities of the port. At all times Estrada was holding the "loaded cigar" in his mouth as a prevention. Then he picked up his luggage and walked away into history. That night, the very valuable cigar was safely delivered to Gomez in Havana. He loses no time in his role in the conspiracy, and called a meeting at the residence of Antonio Lopez Coloma, 74 Trocadero in Havana.

The order for the uprising called for a date to be set not earlier than the second fortnight in February. Gomez and his fellow conspirators, which included Antonio 

The Mascotte was one of H. B. Plant's steamers with frequent scheduled trips between Havana, Key West and Tampa.

Lopez Coloma, Dr. Pedro Betancourt, Julio Sanguily, and Jose Maria Aguirre,agree on February 24th as the date for the uprising-"el grito de Guerra!" This date fell on a Sunday, and was the beginning of the traditional carnival celebrations. During this time of fiesta, the Spanish authorities would be engaged in high revelry. Gomez sent a wire to Gonzalo de Quesada in New York On the morning of February 24, 1895, the rebel war-cry "Viva la, Independencia!" "Viva Cuba Libre!" electrified the island, and the Cuban people embarked on their final struggle against Spanish domination.

Julio Sanguily

Dr. Pedro Betancourt

 

 


Juan Gualberto Gomez


Gen. Antonio Maceo
"The Bronze Titan"

The five "gritos" (yells) were heard at Ibarra, Jaguey Grande, Bayate, Guantanamo and Baire. The uprising at Ibarra was lead by Juan Gualberto Gomez and Antonio Lopez Coloma.

The Ibarra revolt failed and Gomez and Coloma were captured by the Spanish. Gomez was banished to Ceuta, the Spanish penal colony in Africa, and Coloma, facing death with valor, was executed before a firing squad at the Fortaleza de la Cabana.

 

A few months later, Jose Marti, the soul of the revolution, was killed at Dos Rios. General Antonio Maceo, the dashing mulatto chieftain who was 2nd in command, died before the gates of Havana.  


See and read about the Marti-Maceo Society in Ybor City

 

 

"Rough Rider" Teddy Roosevelt in Tampa, 1898

General en Jefe Máximo Gómez

In 1898 the battleship Maine exploded while anchored in Havana harbor, and the United States declared war on Spain. Tampa again played a major role as the base of operations. "Teddy" Roosevelt, his Rough Riders, and General Maximo Gomez, with his gallant Mambises went on to victory and immortality.

The Cubans finally attained their Cuba Libre in 1902. For years the celebration of the "Carnavales" were also the celebration of the independence. The Cubans continued to celebrate Los Carnavales on February 24th, recalling the Tampa cigar which broke the chain of oppression. Fidel Castro suspended the festivities, but Cubans still celebrate "Los Carnavales."  When purchasing a cigar, the sentimental cigar smokers of Ybor City, with a penchant for the sobriquet, would ask for  ".Message to Gomez", honoring the cigar of liberty.

 

Jose Marti and Fernando Figueredo are two of five persons honored on a mural by Edward Sanchez Cumbas and Guillermo Portieles named "Kaleidoscope" Heritage of Color, 2007" displayed on the side of the racquetball courts at Macfarlane Park in West Tampa.

See the entire mural at Tampapix

See "Friends of Jose Marti Park" in Ybor City

See related article:
"Marti's historic pistol is just out of history's reach"
by Paul Guzzo

Jose Marti

 

Fernando Figueredo

 

Fernando Figueredo y Socarrás, The First Mayor of West Tampa

 

Fernando Figueredo

 

Fernando Figueredo y Socarrás was born on February 9, 1846, in Puerto Príncipe, Cuba, the son of Bernardo Figueredo y Tellez and Tomasa Socarras y Varona.  Fernando grew up in Bayamo, but was sent to school in Havana in 1862, then to the Troy Academy of Civil Engineering in Hudson, New York, in 1864.  In Cuba, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and others were plotting revolution and Fernando, through letters from his father and discussions with other students, followed the events in Cuba with great interest. In 1868, he left Troy and joined the rebels in Bayamo, eight days after the start of the Ten Years’ War.

In 1871, while he was with Céspedes in the midst of the Sierra Maestra mountains, he met Juana Antunez y Antunez, the daughter of Joaquin Antunez and María Caridad Antunez, and in November 1874, they were married by a notary public attached to del Ejército Libertador de Cuba (the Cuban Liberation Army). Shortly afterwards they had their first son, who spent the first three years of his life in the jungles and mountains of Oriente, while his father fought the Spanish.

 

Fernando Figueredo y Socarrás held several positions of importance in the revolutionary cause, including secretary to the President of the Republic in Arms, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. When Céspedes was deposed in 1873, Figueredo became Jefe del Estado Mayor de la Primera División del Primer Cuerpo del Ejército de Oriente (Chief of Staff of the 1st Division of the 1st Corps of the Army of Oriente), under Mayor General (Major General) Manuel de Jesús Calvar. He was, next, Secretary to the Cabinet of the Third Presidente de la República de Cuba en Armas, Juán Bautista Spotorno until 1876, when he, Figueredo, was elected a member of the Cámara de Representatives (House of Representatives) por Oriente. By the end of the war he had risen to the rank of colonel.

Figueredo was Secretario del Gobierno Revolucionario (Secretary of the Revolutionary Government) and miembro del Provisional (?) después de la protesta de Baraguá (after the Protest of Baragua) el 14 de Mayo de 1878, and following La Guerra Chiquita (the Tiny War) in 1878, went with his family into exile, first to the Dominican Republic, and in 1881, to Key West.

 

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes

In the Dominican Republic, in the town of Puerto Plata, Fernando's son, who had survived three years of war in Cuba, died. Soon after, on July 1, 1878, Juana gave birth to their second son, Bernardo Figueredo y Antunez, and Fernando asked his friend, the Monsignor Merino, Archbishop of Santo Domingo, to baptize the new baby. Merino agreed, but then it was discovered that the church wouldn’t recognize the marriage of Fernando and Juana that had taken place four years earlier in the Cuban manigua. The solution, said Merino, was that he should remarry them and that, for good measure, they should also be married by a Dominican civil judge. This was done and Fernando wrote about it in his biography many years later as "mis tres bodas" (my three weddings).

After the demise of a rebellion in Cuba in 1880, many rebels went to Key West, and during the next five years the Cuban population there increased significantly; this migration was attributable mainly to the recovering cigar industry. Among the political exiles who arrived, giving the local leadership additional prestige, was Fernando Figueredo, who with Maceo and others, had rejected the Zanjón Pact and had continued fighting until surrender became inevitable.

 

State Representative Fernando Figueredo, 1885

In 1881, Fernando, Juana, and Bernardo sailed for Key West, and in 1884, Fernando became a US citizen and was soon working as a clerk for the US Customs Service.   Along with Lamadriz and Poyo, Figueredo became an influential leader in the community.

Amazingly, that same year he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives from Monroe County. He became active in Key West community affairs and was elected superintendent of public instruction for Monroe County, but “consistently worked on behalf of Cuba Libre.” In January, 1892, José Martí and others visited Fernando’s home in Key West and there founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party.

In Key West, there was not a single member of the Cuban community who did not look forward to a new revolutionary movement against Spain, and an organization was maintained for that purpose. Messrs. Lamadriz, Poyo and Figueredo were accepted as the leaders of this idea. They organized themselves into political groups called clubs, which were given patriotic names. Every Cuban was expected to belong to one of these clubs, and men, women and children were enrolled in this singular organization. All the clubs sprang from the central committee of Messrs. Lamadriz, Poyo and Figueredo. Even the manufacturers were organized into a political club. Some of the most noted leaders of the former revolution were ever ready to land an expedition in Cuba and start a new revolution.

 
   

 

Figueredo presented a series of lectures at San Carlos describing his experience during the Ten Years War. These were subsequently published as "La Revolución de Yara", and provide one of the classic accounts of that struggle. He also founded a short-lived newspaper, "La Voz de Hatuey", whose militancy prompted complaints from the Spanish ambassador in Washington, and criticism from the local Anglo press that condemned what it considered the weekly’s advocacy of violence against loyal Spaniards in Key West. Figueredo’s activities were clearly calculated to keep the issue of Cuban independence in the public arena.

In 1893, Fernando took a position as a bookkeeper with the O’Halloran Cigar Company in Key West and the next year moved with the firm to West Tampa. Soon, his home at 404 Main Street became the meeting place and office of the Cuban Revolutionary Party.  In Tampa, Fernando was "subdelegado del Partido Revolucionario Cubano y agente de la República de Cuba" (subdelegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and agent of the Republic of Cuba).

On January 6, 1895, when the Cuban Junta in New York decided to start active hostilities against the Spanish authorities on the island, the instructions were delivered to Fernando in West Tampa for transmission to Cuba. Fernando arranged for the message to be concealed inside a special panatela cigar which was delivered by courier to the leaders in Cuba. On February 24, 1895, the Cuban Revolution began.

 

The successful development of the area of West Tampa attracted the attention of the city of Tampa, which had incorporated Ybor City in 1887. Although the City of Tampa made several efforts to annex West Tampa, Hugh Macfarlane led opposition to a merger and West Tampa chose to remain independent. On May 18, 1895, a bill passed the state legislature creating West Tampa as a separate municipality. At that time the city already had a population of 2,815.


Main Street in West Tampa, circa 1891

In June 1895, Fernando Figueredo was elected as the first mayor of West Tampa and later that same month, when Tampa became headquarters for the Cuban expeditionary forces under General Emilio Nuñez, he was named second in command with the rank of colonel. Fernando tirelessly recruited men and money, leading numerous collections for the Cuban cause in West Tampa factories.  Volunteers started pouring into Tampa from all over the US.  In 1896 Figueredo and Cuban patriot leader Martin Herrera spoke at a benefit ball for Cuban refugees in Cespedes Hall in Tampa. The Cuban population in Tampa’s Ybor City and West Tampa were strong supporters of “Cuba Libre” and when, in April 1898, the US declared war on Spain, Tampa served as the launching point for the invasion fleet.  Four months later, with the US victorious over Spain, many of Tampa’s Cubans returned to their homeland but Fernando remained in West Tampa as chairman of the West Tampa City Council.


Main Street in West Tampa, 1895

 


West Tampa houses, 1895

 

 

Fernando Figueredo, around the time he was Chairman of West Tampa's City Council

A view of West Tampa's municipal center under construction, "Cespedes Hall", from the Fleitas Cigar Factory on Fremont Ave., 1895.  On January 26,1895, work began on Cespedes Hall, a Cuban opera and clubhouse. It was built on the corner of Main Street and Francis Ave. (later renamed Albany Ave.) in West Tampa. The city of West Tampa bought Cespedes Hall in November 1895, when the society was unable to finish it. After completion it was used principally as a public school.

 

 

Fernando finally went back to Cuba on December 27, 1898, as deputy collector of customs at Cienfuegos. In March 1899, his family, who had remained in Tampa, joined him in Cienfuegos, and in early 1900, he was appointed sub-secretary of the interior, and moved to Havana. His "La Revolución de Yara", a history of the Ten Years’ War, was published in Havana in 1902, and in May of that year, he was appointed director-general of communications by new Cuban president, Estrada Palma.
Cespedes Hall in 1897.  In 1898, the building was used as headquarters for the cigar maker Cuban volunteers of the Spanish American War.  Figueredo would march the troops to Cespedes Hall daily, where General Lacret was in charge.  

 

This 1895 fire insurance map of West Tampa shows buildings on Main St. in the area between Howard Ave. and Francis Ave. (Now Albany Ave.)  The O'Halloran cigar factory sat in a square in the middle of Howard Ave, which continued northward on the other side of the factory.  The small circle next to the factory is a water tank, and the notation on the building states: "2 dozen buckets, 5,000 gal. tank in rear, no lights, man sleeps in b'ld'g.  In 1899, West Tampa City Hall and fire station was built on the corner of Main St. and Francis Ave.

Click here to see enlarged images of the factory and Cespedes Hall.  You can view this interactive map at the Univ. of Florida digital images.

By 1899, Cespedes Hall had been demolished and West Tampa City Hall was being built in its place, it was the first brick building in West Tampa.  This 1899 Sanborn map shows city hall was being built at the time.

                   
                        Close up of City Hall on 1899 map

 


A view looking west on Main Street, circa 1900, with City Hall on the right.
Photo from University of Florida Digital Collection where the photo is dated as 1894.
Sanborn map evidence shows that this photo cannot be from before 1899.

In 1901, a massive fire destroyed the O'Halloran cigar factory and the buildings from Howard Avenue to Francis Avenue (Albany), as a result of arson during a workers strike.  In 1902 the Fernandez Brothers opened a factory here. This closed in 1909, and it burned down in May of that year. In 1913, this became the site of the West Tampa Public Library.

Next time you drive up Howard Ave. from Main St. to Union St., remember, you're driving right through the middle of where the O'Halloran cigar factory stood, and where the "cigar that sparked a revolution" was rolled.  The West Tampa branch library on the left and the buildings across the street were built on this historic site.

On April 4, 1904 Robert Mugge's West Tampa saloon caught on fire. The building, located on Pine Street near Howard Avenue, was quickly devoured by the hungry flames, and before volunteer firemen arrived with their hoses reels, the blaze had spread to nearby homes and businesses. Authorities say the fire could have been contained to the initial area, but high winds from the northeast fanned the flames southwestward across Howard Avenue and west down to Armenia Avenue, consuming everything in their path, including the A. Santaella cigar factory at 1906 N. Armenia. The Leopold Powell Company on the northeast corner was spared due to the wind direction, but over 100 homes and 5 factories to the southwest were destroyed.  All were constructed of highly flammable wood except for one factory, which was of brick.  The high winds, lack of available water sources, and West Tampa's inadequate fire fighting capability were all blamed for the extensive damage.  Losses were estimated to be $300,000.  Read about this fire in detail from a fire insurance newspaper article from April 20, 1904.

 

 

 

Estanislao F. O'Halloran built this one and one-half story frame home in 1904, at the present address of 2530 Main St., between Armenia and Tampania.  It was the residence of his brother, Blas F. O'Halloran and is now the property of a member of the Maseda family. 

 

 

Visit West Tampa at Tampapix, "A Tour of Howard Avenue" and nearby sights

 

 
In 1919, at age 73, Fernando Figueredo posed with Blas Clemente Fernandez O'Halloran, the current mayor of West Tampa.  Mayor O'Halloran was a son of Blas Fernandez O'Halloran who rolled the "cigar that sparked a revolution."  This photo was likely taken in Cuba.  On Feb. 4, 1919, Blas obtained a passport to travel to Cuba.
See images of his application.
 


At noon on May 20th, 1902, the U.S. Military Governor of Cuba, Gen. Leonard Wood, personally read President Theodore Roosevelt's letter declaring that the U.S. occupation of Cuba was over.  At the same time, M.C. Fosnes, Dir. General of Posts for the U.S. administration, turned over all the postal affairs to Col. Fernando Figueredo, first Postmaster General of Cuba.  The U.S. flag was lowered in Havana and the Cuban flag was raised.

In 1904, Estrada Palma appointed Fernando Figueredo as Comptroller-General of the Republic of Cuba, and in 1906, during the second intervention of the U.S. Government in Cuba, the American governor- general, Charles A. Magoon, named Fernando Treasurer-General of Cuba following the death of Carlos Roloff. He remained Treasurer-General until the 24th of June, 1924, when he retired.

After his retirement, he wrote historical articles for newspapers and for the Academy of History in Havana, until he died in Havana on April 13, 1929. Fernando and Juana had nine children,  Fernando, Pedro, Bernardo, María de la Concepción, Tomasa, María de la Luz, Evangelina, Carmen, and Leonor. On March 17, 1951, the Cuban government issued three postage stamps bearing his portrait.
 

 

Fernando Figueredo y Socarrás was the first cousin, once removed, of Perucho Figueredo.  that is, his grandfather and Perucho's father were brothers.  Fernando also had a brother named Felix Figueredo who was another major figure in the Ten Years' War.

Perucho Figueredo, Lawyer, landowner, poet and musician, was born in 1818, in Bayamo.  In the 1860s, he was active in the planning of the uprising against the Spanish which became known as the Ten Years' War. In 1867, he wrote La Bayamesa, which, today, is the national anthem of Cuba. He fought in the Ten Years' War as a general under the command of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, but in 1870, was captured by the Spanish and was executed in Santiago de Cuba on August 17, of that year.

Information Sources

The Cigar That Sparked a Revolution by Tony Pizzo

Gonzalo de Quesada

History of Cuba

Cuban Newspapers, "Key West - The Old and the New"

The Heroes

Cuba's Freedom Figher, Antonio Maceo

The Petrucho Figueredo Page

Tampa Cubanos:  race, class and identities

Florida Historical Society

In Darkest Cuba by N. G. Gonzales

Centros de Hoja, stamp collection of Robert Littrell

 

MORE West Tampa pages at Tampapix:
Albany Avenue
- See the orignal "Academy of the Holy Names" and cigar factories on Albany Ave.
Columbus Drive Bridge - The Gateway to West Tampa, Hillsborough River & Rivercrest Park
Fire Station No. 9 at Tampania and Chestnut St.
Fort Homer Hesterly Armory has showcased everything from NWA wrestling to JFK, Pink Floyd and Elvis.
George Guida house at Macfarlane Park - Once the home of "Mr. West Tampa"
Howard Avenue - Travel along Howard Ave. from Main St. to St. Louis St.
La Ideal Cafeteria at Tampa Bay Blvd. and Gomez Ave., a popular West Tampa landmark
La Teresita Grocery Store at Columbus Drive and Lincoln Ave.
Macfarlane Park - A favorite of West Tampans, named for the father of West Tampa
Raymond James Stadium - Home of the 2002 NFL Champions Tampa Bay Bucs and Super Bowl 43
Tampa Bay Blvd. Elementary School - Built in 1926 to educate cigar workers' children
West Tampa Little League Ball Park - Home of the 1970 Senior Little League World Champs

West Tampa History - The cigar that sparked a revolution, and Fernando Figueredo, West Tampa's first mayor.
 

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