Ybor Factory Building, building in Florida, United States
The Ybor Factory Building is a large brick structure built in 1886 with three stories in Tampa that was originally designed for cigar manufacturing. It spans a city block and contains spacious, sunlit rooms where hundreds of workers once sat at wooden benches rolling cigars.
The building was founded in 1886 by Vicente Martinez-Ybor, who moved his cigar business from Key West to Tampa and triggered the creation of Ybor City as a cigar industry center. After Ybor's death in 1896, the operation continued under different owners but declined after World War II as the cigar industry weakened.
The name comes from Vicente Martinez-Ybor, who founded this area as a cigar-making hub. The factory was home to workers from different backgrounds who shared a common craft and built a tight-knit community around their shared work.
The building is located on North 13th Street in the heart of Ybor City and is easily accessible on foot, with plenty of nearby historical sites and shops to explore. It is a large structure that is hard to miss, and visitors can view the historic architecture from outside and walk around the surrounding area.
The building was the first brick structure in Ybor City and at the same time the largest cigar factory in the world. Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti delivered speeches there, and the outside steps were later named the Jose Marti Steps in his honor.
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