FERLITA MACARONI COMPANY

Ferlita Macaroni Factory is the only photo the family has discovered of the building.

As a young man, Giuseppe R. Ferlita dreamed of immigrating to America and becoming successful. In 1905, Giuseppe, with only a third-grade education, arrived at Ellis Island as a teenager. Emigrating from Santo Stefano Quisquina, Sicily, with his family, he joined relatives who had previously settled in Tampa. Giuseppe first worked as a cigar maker until his father purchased a bakery in West Tampa. During this period, he married his childhood sweetheart, Maria Paola Ficarrotta.

​With a loan from his brother-in-law, James Ficarrotta, and assistance from good friends like Angelo Mortellaro, a local businessman and an active member of the Italian Club, Giuseppe realized his dream of owning a business in America. His first macaroni factory was in West Tampa on Main Street in a building owned by his in-laws. As the macaroni factory grew, Giuseppe anticipated the need to expand within a few years. Consequently, he purchased land in Ybor City in 1918. This land was the site of the factory building standing today. 
 
Giuseppe and Maria Paola had four children. Sadly, when their youngest son Paul was just six weeks old, Maria Paola died during the Spanish Influenza of 1918. With a growing macaroni business and four children, Giuseppe later married Maria Paola's sister, Vincenta. 
 
The business continued to grow as Giuseppe predicted. By 1921, the mortgage on the land in Ybor City was paid, and he constructed the brick factory building that housed his family on one side and the operation of his business on the other. The family moved into their new home by 1924. Giuseppe and Vincenta had four children. Three of these were born while they lived in the house on 22nd Street.
 
The macaroni factory operated at the north end of the building adjacent to the railroad tracks where flour, farina, and semolina were delivered. The family lived on the south end. The entrance to the residence was raised, with two large, grand white columns facing 22nd Street. The residence had a parlor, dining room, kitchen, bath in the rear, and three bedrooms. The girls shared a bedroom; the three older brothers shared another bedroom, and the two youngest slept in Giuseppe and Vincenta's bedroom.

Giuseppe R. Ferlita

The factory was at street level, a few steps from the residence. Giuseppe employed his adult children and other family members at the Ybor City location that operated for over a decade. Family gatherings demonstrated Giuseppe's camaraderie as he was known to feed extended family members, employees, and anyone who came to the door hungry. Giuseppe's children recalled that Angelo Mortellaro came to "noon dinner every Saturday." He would exclaim, "La carne e per le tigri," (meat is for the tigers) as if to say only tigers should eat meat, but then he would eat all the meat he was served.

Giuseppe and Angelo were great friends. This was exemplified by the many hours he spent at the macaroni factory–a family–run business. Vincenta kept the books, with his brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters all working in some area of the business: the factory, sales, deliveries, or collections.
 
Before Giuseppe purchased his first delivery trucks, he delivered the macaroni by horse and wagon in West Tampa. When he moved the factory to Ybor City, macaroni was sold and delivered from Miami as far north as Atlanta. The factory packaged its own pasta brands and sold wholesale to grocery stores. One brand they produced, called Tampa Maid, was sold and distributed throughout the southeast to stores that later became Winn-Dixie.
 
The factory building was sold to Pedro Perez in 1946. His family used the factory to produce cigars until the mid-1960s. However, a decade later, the building was sold again.

Paul Ferlita was the fourth of eight children.

The eighty-five-year-old Ferlita Macaroni Company factory was being threatened with demolition. The building's brick facade with cast stone columns has been listed as a contributing architectural structure in the National Historic Landmark District. One of the few Italian-owned and operated factories in the "deep South," the factory represents the rich multi-cultural community that has made Tampa a unique American city.
 
During the summer of 2008, the City of Tampa cited the property owner for roof removal and documented code violations. As a result of these citations, the owner, 1609 22nd St. LLC, presented options to the City of Tampa either to repair the historic structure or to locate a charitable organization that would accept the factory as a donation and address the code repairs as part of the offer. Unfortunately, the owner was initially unsuccessful in locating an organization capable of accepting this donation offer. As a result, the owner petitioned the Barrio Latino Commission for demolition.

Learning about the potential demolition, I (Kenneth Ferlita, grandson of Giuseppe R. Ferlita, the original factory owner) contacted the City of Tampa to discuss options for saving the building, and the city reviewed them. As I learned about the opportunity to donate the factory, I wondered if, within my professional contacts and friends in the Ybor community, an organization might benefit from this offer. I called my friend, Joe Capitano, past President of the Italian Club and staunch supporter of many worthy causes in the community. I hoped for advice from Joe, but I also saw the potential for the community and took an active role in finding a non-profit organization that could meet the terms of the donation. 

Vincenta and Giuseppe Ferlita with macaroni truck.

Time Report lists all the products sold at the Ybor Factory.

To mitigate the initial restoration costs, I secured my firm's donation of architectural fees and successfully contacted engineers who donated their fees. In addition, donations and discounts for materials and other construction costs through local trade associations appeared possible. Joe began working on the project's feasibility for the Italian Club Building & Cultural Trust Fund to meet the requirements for donation. Currently, the Italian Club is working to address the possibility of assuming this project, including a mandate requiring additional land for parking. The desire to save the factory exists. However, within the next month, if the Italian Club cannot secure other land and financial support, this building may be demolished, and a significant showpiece of Tampa's and Ybor City's history will be lost forever.
 
We are hopeful that community interest and funding can be found to preserve this building as a tribute to all immigrants, especially our Italian ancestors who left their birth country and their families and traveled thousands of miles to an unknown land where they knew nothing of the language or customs. They believed. They pursued the American dream. We are their legacy. Their struggle and sacrifice must be remembered in this building: The Ferlita Macaroni Factory.

We are hopeful that community interest and funding can be found to preserve this building as a tribute to all immigrants, especially our Italian ancestors who left their birth country and their families and traveled thousands of miles to an unknown land where they knew nothing of the language or customs. They believed. They pursued the American dream. We are their legacy. Their struggle and sacrifice must be remembered in this building: The Ferlita Macaroni Factory.

Casa Santo Stefano, located in Ybor City at 1607 N. 22nd St. Tampa, FL 33605

Note: Richard Gonzmart bought the Ferlita Macaroni Factory and transformed this historic building into a one-of-a-kind Sicilian restaurant called Casa Santo Stefano in Ybor City.

​CIGAR CITY MAGAZINE- SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009
Art & Photography Contributors: Hillsborough County Public Library, Tampa Bay History Center, The Florida State Archives, The Tampa Tribune/Tampa Bay Times, University of South Florida Department of Special Collections, Ybor City Museum Society, private collections and/or writer.

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KENNETH FERLITA AND MARY LU KILEY

Kenneth Ferlita is the youngest grandson of Giuseppe Ferlita. Mr. Ferlita is a registered architect and involved in many local non-profits and community activities. He has served as chairman of the Barrio Latino Commission, President of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce, President of the Tampa Sports Club and was appointed by the late Governor Lawton Chiles to the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority.  

Mary Lu Kiley, one of Giuseppe Ferlita's eight grandchildren. Mary Lu is a Certified Public Accountant and has served on several community boards including United Way of Greater Lakeland and Florida Council for Community Mental Health and is a graduate of Leadership Lakeland XXIII.

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