04/21/2022
To know CasitaYbor is to know the history of Ybor City because CasitaYbor is a contributing structure to Ybor City’s designation as a National Historic District and a National Landmark.
CasitaYbor was built in 1918 as company housing for cigar workers. In fact, Ybor City itself was established in 1885 as a cigar-manufacturing town. By the “Roaring Twenties”, Ybor City was known as the “Cigar Capital of the World” producing the highest-quality, hand-rolled ci**rs in the world and with a reputation even surpassing that of ci**rs made in Havana. Ybor City was also unique in the South: It was a prosperous and diverse community built almost entirely by Cuban immigrants, but also settled by Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, and Romanian Jews.
Sadly, Ybor City began to decline during the Great Depression, deteriorating greatly by the middle of the 20th Century. Fortunately, heritage preservation efforts began around 1965 followed by economic development efforts in the 1980’s when Ybor City began its comeback as a historic neighborhood.
Today, Ybor City is again a diverse and friendly urban community within the City of Tampa. It has a distinct architectural, cultural and historical legacy, restaurants, art galleries, bars, clubs, museums, music venues, festivals, parks, parades, vintage stores, cigar bars and stores, markets, hotels, a college campus and many historically preserved buildings. We even have a streetcar line that takes passengers to the Channelside District and Downtown Tampa.
In 2013, Ybor City resident and visionary, Jose Cayon, purchased CasitaYbor for $8,800.00. It had long been unoccupied and boarded-up when he began a years-long labor of love to rehabilitate CasitaYbor consistent with its historic character. The renovation of the kitchen and the bathroom reflect a more modern approach as those areas were added in 1956. Prior to 1956, any cooking was done outside. The bathroom was an outhouse.
When Mr. Cayon completed CasitaYbor, he did not offer it in the open market. Instead, he turned to a person who had shared his vision. She still owns CasitaYbor and welcomes amazing people like you from the United States and around the world to Ybor City and CasitaYbor.