The Museum and Museum Store
The brick building where the Ferlita family opened their bakery in 1896 contains permanent exhibitions on Vicente Martinez Ybor, the founding of Ybor City and its early history, the cigar industry, the social clubs and the bakery itself.The self-guided exhibits trace the cultural history of Ybor City from its beginning in 1886 with written and audio information and a video presentation. We found the exhibits well presented and interesting. If you were to listen to all the recordings and read all the displays you could easily spend a morning or afternoon in the museum and touring the casita.
Interestingly, the Ferlita Bakery building where the museum is housed still contains the brick ovens that baked Cuban bread for the immigrants. The bread would be delivered fresh each morning and hung on a single nail by the front door of the worker's casita, unwrapped. It would still be warm as it made its way to the breakfast table.
Next door to the museum itself, within the East Garden Casita, is a charming museum store that offers memorabilia, books, vintage toys and jewelry, hand-rolled cigars, and much more. Sales from these items support the Ybor City Museum State Park and the Ybor City Museum Society.
La Casita
Small cottages, called casitas, were some of the earliest structures built in Ybor City. They were originally built for cigar workers' families in 1895. A handful of the carefully restored cottages have been re-situated along 9th Avenue and 18th Street as part of the Ybor City Museum State Park, with one open for guided tours to museum guests.The cottages were built very close together and the porches served as gathering spots for neighbors to socialize. The diverse ethnic community made up of Spanish, Cuban, Jewish, German and Italians distinguished Ybor City as one of the country's greatest immigrant communities.
The immigrants paid $1.50 to $2.50 per week toward the purchase of their new homes. The simple cedar-shingled cottages lacked indoor plumbing, were modestly furnished and heated by wood burning stoves, and the only light was provided by kerosene lamps. Of course, there was no refrigeration, so ice was purchased in large blocks as often as necessary. There were no ice factories in Tampa, so the commodity was shipped in by rail, which added to its cost. It is said that the immigrants spent more on ice than they did on wood or kerosene.
If you visit the museum, the guided casita tour is a must. The restored casita is fully furnished down to every small detail and the narration was interesting, informative, and certainly brought to life how the cigar workers really lived.
The Garden and Fountain
A fountain and statue of Vicente Martinez Ybor are the centerpieces of a lush garden, reminiscent of patios seen in Cuba during the late 19th century. While larger than the average home garden, it certainly captures the ambiance of a typical Latin garden.The garden has become a popular place to host parties and weddings. It can be rented for events after regular park hours.
Information and Directions
Ybor City Museum State Park is located at 1818 Ninth Avenue in Tampa's historic Ybor City. The museum is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day.Admission is just $3.00 per person. La Casita guided tours are available, several times a day, Monday through Saturday. Nearby parallel street parking is available.
From I-4 - Take Exit 1 and turn south onto 21st Street, turn right onto Palm Avenue. Turn left onto 19th Street and right onto 9th Avenue. The museum is the second building on the right.
From I-75 or I-275 - Take either North or South to I-4 and follow the above directions.
