Much of this photo speaks to the old ways of Ybor City. Shot looking west down Broadway (now Seventh Ave) from 18th Street in 1953, it’s a nice peek at history. The building on the right housed Cuervo’s Café serving Spanish food at 1734 Broadway with Garcia Bros Clothing and Jewelry at 1730. A poster advertising wrestling, a scale that told your weight and fortune for a penny, and even a Ballentine Ale sign speak to the vintage aspect of this period in the Latin Quarter. Further west, the Little Katz fabric store, Dayan’s Kiddie Shop, a neon Modern Home Furnishings store sign, and even the Broadway Theater marque across the street fronting the Italian Club tell how retail and living used to be.

All of that is now gone. From the late 1940s to the 1970s, the failing cigar industry collapsed. The workers, the factories, the money, and some would say the identity of Ybor City left. It was a dark time. Several efforts have been made to revive the district and breathe new life and meaning here. Some of the abandoned factories and buildings have been restored. Efforts have been made to preserve and honor the way of life that nearly 20,000 Ybor residents created in its heyday, and some locals question that success.  Cuervo’s made it until the mid-1970s, and that building is now a parking lot. The Little Katz building now houses a pizza parlor and cigar store, and the Dayan’s Building, now called the Aguilar Building, is the Coyote Ugly bar. The Broadway Theater in the Italian Club is long gone.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved