Cuban Cigar Business Spread to Bartow in Early 1900s

 

(The Ledger) The Bartow [Florida] community, including city commissioners, is striving to save the historic Thompson Cigar Factory, but the future of the nearly 90-year-old structure remains a question.
Cigar makers began hand-rolling cigars there around 1925 as an extension of the Cuban-based cigar business that became a cornerstone to Tampa's Ybor City community. Workers continued to produce the hand-rolled cigars in Bartow until the early 1960s. Continued