Ybor's Cigars Drifted To Polk

(TheLedger.com) Gavino Gutierrez was looking for guava when he first visited Tampa in 1884. He hoped to build a factory preserving the tropical fruit, but there weren't enough guavas in the area to support the industry. He quickly gave up on the idea.
Traveling next to Key West, the Spanish-born entrepreneur visited friends who had opened Cuban cigar factories on the island. His friends were having labor problems and wondered whether they should move their factories elsewhere. Gutierrez told them they should look at Tampa.
And so it was that Cuban exiles Vicente Martinez Ybor and Ignacio Haya came to Tampa in 1885 and founded the community known as Ybor City. The Cuban cigar industry they brought would affect not only Tampa, but also parts of Polk County, for decades to come. Continued

Photo: Gonzalez Habano Cigar Company