Cuban Club- Circulo Cubano Club
Ybor City’s Cuban Club at 2010 14th Street. 1926. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, University of South Florida Digital Collections
The Cuban Club, 2010 14th Street, Tampa, FL. 2020. © Chip Weiner
Following a fire in 1916, members of the Cuban Club built this 4-story neoclassical structure as a meeting place and mutual aid society for Cuban cigar factory workers. It included a theater, bowling alley, and swimming pool. While many of those features are gone, it still serves as an event space. The bust of Jose Marti, Cuban revolutionary (see below), writer, and poet, is seen in this photograph and was erected in 1947. Some accounts say there was an assassination attempt on his life at the club. Marti survived the encounter. Over the
From Burgert Brothers: Look Again Vol. 2
[Caballeros de la Luz at the Cuban Club] (1942). Robertson and Fresh. Courtesy of the USF Digital Collection
Caballeros De La Luz Meeting at the Cuban Club Theater (1947). Robertson and Fresh. Courtesy of the USF Digital Collection
A Circulo Cubano Club banquet] (1940). Robertson and Fresh Collection. Courtesy of the USF Digital Collection
This bust outside of the Cuban Club is inscribed with Jose Marti 1883- 1885 Orden Caballero de la Luz, Inc., Agosto 7, 1949. © Chip Weiner
The cornerstone of the Cuban Club reads Circulo Cubano 1907 - 1917. Construido Bajo La Presidencia Del Dr. Alfredo J. Kohly. © Chip Weiner
This plaque in front of the Cuban Club describes the attempt on Jose Marti’s life in 1893 and its aftermath. © Chip Weiner