Ybor City Museum State Park

Last updated
Ybor City Museum State Park
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Ybor City Museum State Park, Tampa, Florida.jpg
Front of the museum
USA Florida location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Hillsborough County, Florida, USA
Nearest city Tampa, Florida
Coordinates 27°57′40″N82°26′17″W / 27.96111°N 82.43806°W / 27.96111; -82.43806 Coordinates: 27°57′40″N82°26′17″W / 27.96111°N 82.43806°W / 27.96111; -82.43806
Arealess than one acre
Governing body National Park Service / Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Ybor City Museum State Park is a Florida State Park in Tampa, Florida's Ybor City. The museum occupies the former Ferlita Bakery (originally La Joven Francesca) building at 1818 9th Avenue in the Ybor City Historic District. The bakery was known for producing cuban bread and its ovens are part of the museum displays covering the history of the cigar industry and the Latin community from the 1880s through the 1930s. There is also an ornamental garden in the building (available for rental after regular hours).

Contents

Tours of the gardens and the "casitas" (small homes of cigar company workers) are provided by a ranger. Exhibits, period photos and a video cover the founding of Ybor City and the cigar making industry. [1]

History

A detail of the museum's building Tampa Ybor City Museum03.jpg
A detail of the museum's building

The Museum is housed on the site of what is likely the earliest U.S. bakery to produce Cuban bread, La Joven Francesca bakery. [2] Established in 1896 by the Sicilian-born Francisco Ferlita, of Cuban-Spanish-Italian descent, bread sold for 3 to 5 cents a loaf, mainly to the Ybor City market. [3]

Historic display at the museum Historic display, Ybor City Museum State Park, Tampa, Florida.jpg
Historic display at the museum

The bakery was destroyed by a fire in 1922, leaving only the brick bread oven standing. However, Francisco rebuilt the bakery even larger than before and added a second oven, turning it into a major supplier of bread for the Tampa/Ybor area. The bakery itself became a place to congregate, offering coffee and snacks. [4] till the building was converted into a museum in 1973. [5]

In Ybor City, bread (like milk) used to be delivered every morning. Houses had a sturdy nail driven into the doorframe next to the door on which deliveryman would impale the fresh loaf of bread. [6] La Joven closed in 1973 [3] and was renovated and converted shortly after into a main part of the museum complex at the Ybor City State Museum. The original ovens where the original Cuban bread was baked are still viewable inside. [7]

La Segunda Bakery ('The Second' as La Primera, 'The First,' burned down long ago) is currently the major producer of Cuban Bread for the Tampa area. It was founded by Juan Morè, and opened La Primera Bakery in 1915. [8]

Related Research Articles

Tampa, Florida City in Florida, United States

Tampa is a major city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County. With a population of 384,959 according to the 2020 census, Tampa is the third-most populated city in Florida after Jacksonville and Miami and is the 52nd most populated city in the United States.

Baguette Long French bread

A baguette is a long, thin type of bread of French origin that is commonly made from basic lean dough. It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust.

Cuban sandwich Cuban-American ham and cheese sandwich

A Cuban sandwich is a variation of a ham and cheese sandwich that likely originated in cafes catering to Cuban workers in Tampa or Key West, two early Cuban immigrant communities in Florida centered on the cigar industry. Later on, Cuban exiles and expatriates brought it to Miami, where it is also very popular. The sandwich is made with ham, (mojo) roasted pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard, and sometimes salami on Cuban bread. Salami is included in Tampa, where there is a large Italian population, but is not usually included in South Florida.

Cuban cuisine Blend of African, Spanish and other Caribbean cuisine

Cuban cuisine is largely based on Spanish cuisine with influence from African and other Caribbean cuisines. Some Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish, African and Taino cooking, with some Caribbean influence in spice and flavor. This results in a blend of the several different cultural influences. A small but noteworthy Chinese influence can also be accounted for, mainly in the Havana area. There is also some Italian influence. During colonial times, Cuba was an important port for trade, and the Spanish ancestros of Cubans brought with them the culinary traditions of different parts of Spain.

Al López American baseball player and manager

Alfonso Ramón López was a Spanish-American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn Robins / Dodgers, Boston Bees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cleveland Indians between 1928 and 1947, and was the manager for the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox from 1951 to 1965 and during portions of the 1968 and 1969 seasons. Due to his Spanish ancestry and "gentlemanly" nature, he was nicknamed "El Señor".

Ybor City Neighborhood in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States

Ybor City is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, Spain, and Italy. For the next 50 years, workers in Ybor City's cigar factories rolled hundreds of millions of cigars annually.

West Tampa District in Florida, United States

West Tampa is one of the oldest neighborhoods within the city limits of Tampa, Florida, United States. It was an independently incorporated city from 1895 until 1925, when it was annexed by Tampa.

Cuban bread

Cuban bread is a fairly simple white bread, similar to French bread and Italian bread, but has a slightly different baking method and ingredient list ; it is usually made in long, baguette-like loaves. It is a staple of Cuban-American cuisine and is traditionally the bread of choice when making an authentic Cuban sandwich.

The modern history of Tampa, Florida, can be traced to the founding of Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in today's downtown in 1824, soon after the United States had taken possession of Florida from Spain. The outpost brought a small population of civilians to the area, and the town of Tampa was first incorporated in 1855.

Ybor City Historic District Historic district in Florida, United States

The Ybor City Historic District is a U.S. National Historic Landmark District located in Tampa, Florida. The district is bounded by 6th Avenue, 13th Street, 10th Avenue and 22nd Street, East Broadway between 13th and 22nd Streets. Ybor City contains a total of 956 historic buildings, including an unparalleled collection of architecture with Spanish-Cuban influence, as well as historic cigar factory buildings and associated infrastructure. The area was developed by businessman Vicente Martinez Ybor beginning in 1886, and was for a time the world's leading supplier of cigars.

El Centro Español de Tampa United States historic place

For the similarly named building in West Tampa see El Centro Español of West Tampa

El Pasaje United States historic place

The El Pasaje is a historic site in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida. It was originally built in 1886 to house the offices for Vicente Martinez Ybor's companies as he planned Ybor City and then ran his cigar factory and other businesses. El Pasaje has been home to many establishments since: a hotel, several restaurants, several bars and speakeasies, a military recruiting station, and newspaper offices, among others.

Vicente Martinez Ybor

Vicente Martinez Ybor, was a Spanish entrepreneur who first became a noted industrialist and cigar manufacturer in Cuba, then Key West, and finally Tampa, Florida.

History of Ybor City Neighborhood in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States

Ybor City is a historic neighborhood that includes the Ybor City Historic District in Tampa, Florida. It is located just northeast of downtown Tampa and north of Port Tampa Bay. The neighborhood has distinct architectural, culinary, cultural, and historical legacy that reflects its multi-ethnic composition. It was unique in the American South as a prosperous manufacturing community built and populated almost entirely by immigrants.

Deviled crab

Deviled crab is a crab meat croquette. Deviled crab croquettes originated in Tampa, Florida, where they were developed in the Spanish, Cuban and Italian immigrant community of Ybor City. It is typically served for lunch or as a snack, and it is meant to be eaten with one hand.

Bimbo Bakeries USA is the American corporate north-of-the-border arm of the Mexican multinational bakery product manufacturing company Grupo Bimbo. It is the largest bakery company in the United States. The company, headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, owns many fresh bread and sweet baked goods brands in the United States, including Entenmann's, Sara Lee, and Thomas'. It is also a top advertising sponsor for many major soccer teams around the globe.

La Segunda Central Bakery Bakeries of the United States

La Segunda Central Bakery is a historic purveyor of Cuban bread, pastries, and other baked goods in the Ybor City section of Tampa, Florida. Founded in 1915, it was one of three bakeries begun in a co-op: La Primera, La Segunda and La Tercera. The other two folded and La Segunda was purchased by Juan Moré, whose family has continued its operation for four generations.

Gavino Gutierrez American businessman and civil engineer

Gavino Gutierrez, a Spanish immigrant to the United States, was an importer, architect, civil engineer, and surveyor. He was responsible for bringing Vincente M. Ybor to Tampa, Florida and for designing Ybor City.

Tony Pizzo American historian

Anthony P. Pizzo (1912-1994) was a well-respected local historian and businessman, and was internationally recognized for his attempts to preserve the Italian American and Cuban American heritage and history of Tampa, Florida, and in particular that of his home neighborhood of Ybor City. From 1982 until his death in 1994, Pizzo was the official historian of Hillsborough County, and is author of several histories, most of which celebrate the unusual multicultural makeup of early Tampa. Pizzo also served as chairman of the Hillsborough County Historical Commission from 1968 to 1980, where he oversaw and was responsible for over eighty historical markers in Tampa and Ybor City.

Herculaneum loaf is a stamped sourdough loaf of bread that has been partially preserved due to being carbonised. It was baked on 24 August 79 AD at Herculaneum, and later rediscovered from the archaeological site in 1930.

References

  1. Visit the Museum
  2. "That Cuban beat presses on". Herald Tribune. 2009-10-21. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
  3. 1 2 "Historical Marker". Waymarking.com. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
  4. "Citytimes: For 65 years, he sold Cuban bread all over town baked using the same brick ovens,". Sptimes.com. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
  5. "Ferlita Bakery in Ybor City". Florida State Parks. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  6. "Cuban Is Ours, Any Way You Try To Slice It". Tbo.com. October 24, 2007. Archived from the original on May 7, 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
  7. "Museum | Ybor City Museum". Ybormuseum.org. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
  8. "Cuban Food and Latin Food Restaurants: La Segunda Central Bakery, Tampa, FL". Cuban-food-usa.com. Retrieved 2008-12-22.