History

European Culture on the Banks of the Hillsborough River

Dancing in the Centro Austriano

As Ybor City developed, it attracted a rich population from many ethnic backgrounds. Spaniards came from Galicia and Asturias to run the factories and Cubans, both white and African were the cigar workers. Germans designed the elaborate lithographic labels that adorned the cigar boxes. Italians from Sicily developed vegetable farms and dairies and opened grocery stores, and Jews from Romania established banks and stores up and down Seventh Avenue. What was wonderful about this "cultural soup" was that people of all backgrounds worked side-by-side in the factories and mingled on the streets of Ybor City.

The German-American Club

The clubs provided many benefits for their members. They featured libraries, educational programs and athletic and dining facilities and were centers for weekly Saturday night balls and Sunday matinee dances. Most notable, however, were the medical services which the clubs provided. Each club member paid twenty-five cents to belong to the organization. When he or a member of his family needed health care, he was ensured care at the club's clinic and at the organization's private hospital if that was warranted.

Thus these immigrant peoples created a community which combined characteristics of the old world with innovations in the new world.

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The Ferlita Bakery