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  • TOUR DATES: July 13 & Aug. 3

    Scott M. Deitche, author of 5 books on the mob including, Cigar City Mafia and The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jr., will take this group on a two hour long jaunt through Tampa’s Mafia history. The tour will take you to old gambling palaces, street corners and alleys where some mobsters met their demise, and restaurants where wise guys like famed boss Santo Trafficante Jr. held court. Join us for this one-of-a-kind walk through Tampa’s most storied neighborhood. We guarantee you’ll never look at Ybor City the same way again.

    FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO PURCHASE TICKETS READ MORE HERE

  • corona cigarsCigar City Magazine picks Corona Cigar Lounge in Downtown Orlando, "The Best Cigar Lounge in The United States!"

    Read why we picked it and why we have a love affair with this cigar lounge in the Summer 2013 issue of Cigar City Magazine!

Tampa History, News and Events

Cuscaden Park: Ybor City’s Field of Dreams

Posted in History on Wednesday, May 29, 2013. Written by Mark Panuthos

Cuscaden Park: Ybor City’s Field of Dreams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If Ybor City’s backbone was its cigar factories, Cuscaden Park was its heart. The park still exists today, though a faint shadow of its former self. Its 500 seat capacity grandstand was demolished and its baseball fields gave way to soccer fields. To drive past the park today, some would never know that this field was once Ybor City’s Field of Dreams.  

Cigar City Magazine's Special Mafia Edition!

Posted in People on Saturday, May 18, 2013.

Cigar City Magazine's Special Mafia Edition!

This 40-page magazine style special edition comes packed with rare mafia photos and articles of the Mafia era in Tampa. Released in previous back issues of Cigar City Magazine, we included all of our historical mafia stories and photo's in just one special issue.

READ MORE

Tampa Gangster Jimmy Velasco’s “The List” exposed!

Posted in People on Monday, April 15, 2013. Written by Paul Guzzo

Tampa Gangster Jimmy Velasco’s “The List” exposed!

During the investigation of Velasco’s murder, a “payoff list” was discovered that named elected officials, law enforcement officers and others who allegedly took money from Velasco in return for protection and favors. This list thrust Tampa’s crooked ways into the national spotlight.

However, in February 1949, a grand jury declared the payoff list to be a fraud, made up to tarnish the good names of public officials. The names on the list were never exposed to the public and the list was then locked away so that no one would ever see it…until now. READ MORE

When Florida Left The Union

Posted in History on Monday, April 15, 2013.

When Florida Left The Union

January 10, 2011 marked the 150th anniversary of Florida’s secession from the United States. Florida followed South Carolina and Mississippi and was the third state to leave the Union. The Civil War began three months later when Southern forces fired on Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The opening shots of the war were almost directed at Fort Pickens in Pensacola Harbor, but President Abraham Lincoln decided to resupply the South Carolina fort instead.

Postcards of Tampa/Ybor City of the 1900s

Posted in History on Monday, April 15, 2013. Written by Lisa M. Figueredo

Check out this amazing collection of hand-drawn painted postcards of Tampa and Ybor City from 1910-1950. SEE THE COLECTION HERE

La Gitana

Posted in People on Thursday, April 04, 2013. Written by Lisa M. Figueredo

A Conversation with Luisita Pacheco

La Gitana

Luisita Pacheco, the wife of Ferdie Pacheco, is herself a captivating woman. A professional Flamenco dancer born Karen Louise Maestas in Denver, Colorado, she moved to Seville, Spain at the age of 14 to pursue her dream.

La Septima -1940

  • La Septima-1940

    La Septima-1940

    Jack Fernandez

    What does a ten-year-old do on a Saturday morning in early November 1940? Author Jack Fernandez talks about Ybor City and his adventures on La Septima (7th Avenue) as a child. This whimsical story will make you smile and offer you a glimpse into life in Tampa during the pre-World War II period.

Crossroads of a Revolution

Playing the Latin Name Game

  • Playing the Latin Name Game

    Collectively, we’re Latins. Ybor City Latins. West Tampa Latins. The Latin Community. We were here first. That’s the deal. There are newer immigrants–Dominicans, Mexicans, South and Central Americans–arriving here every day, making Tampa one of the most diverse cities in the United States. Only, we don’t call new immigrants Latins. In Tampa, that title is reserved. The Spaniards, Cubans, and Italians who “Founded Ybor City” are the real Latins.

A Culinary Crawl Down Boliche Blvd.

  • A Culinary Crawl Down Boliche Boulevard

    A Culinary Crawl Down Boliche Boulevard

    Andrew Huse

    For many years, Columbus Drive has been fondly known as “Boliche Boulevard” because so many Latin restaurants could be found there. The namesake dish is an accurate mascot for Tampa’s Latin comfort food.

A Communist and a Grandfather

  • A Communist and a Grandfather

    A Communist and a Grandfather

    Mark A. Trainor

    Alexander Trainor was born in 1895 in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and grew up in Schenectady. In 1911 his father helped him get his first job at General Electric Company as an office boy. It was here that he was first introduced to socialist politics and, soon after, to the Communist Party.

El Lector: Billy Sunday & The River of Beer

The Sevilla Olive Company

  • The Sevilla Olive Company in Tampa

    The Sevilla Olive Company in Tampa

    Lisa M. Figueredo

    Olives have been around for thousands of years. If you are a fan of these tiny green fruits, you may not know that some of Spain’s best olives were bottled right here in Tampa.

The Rooster Funeral In Ybor City

  • The Rooster Funeral in Ybor City

    The Rooster Funeral in Ybor City

    Joe Harless

    The Rooster Funeral in Ybor City and the story about how it started has become a modern legend. See why hundreds of people show up to this Rooster Party and why more keep coming!