The history of the cigar can also be read in buildings, neighbourhoods and movements of workers. Ybor City, in Tampa, offers a way into that relationship between factory and city.

In its 2023 commemoration, J.C. Newman dates the first cigar made by Sánchez y Haya in Tampa to 13 April 1886. The manufacturer explains that this company opened before Vicente Martínez Ybor’s factory was finished. It is a concrete milestone in the industrial beginnings of the area.

The difference between planning a factory and being the first to open one’s doors is a detail that makes industrial history concrete. It also shows why it is worth studying dates and companies individually. The birth of the neighbourhood is better understood by following those establishments and the activity they gradually gathered around them.