El Circulo Cubano

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Cuban immigration to the United States brought notable craft talent, and alongside their Spanish counterparts, skilled Cuban cigarmakers helped make Tampa's hand-rolled cigars world-famous. As early as 1899, Cuban immigrants formed recreational societies with varying degrees of success, and in 1902 Cuban workers founded El Circulo Cubano as a mutual aid society to bind all Cuban residents of Tampa into a fraternal group and offer assistance to the sick. After fire destroyed the first clubhouse in 1916, members began plans for a replacement on the original site. The present four-story yellow brick building, constructed in 1917 with Neoclassical design elements, included a theater, pharmacy, library, ballroom, and cantina, and was decorated with imported tile, stained glass windows, elaborately carved scraffito spandrells, and elaborate ballroom ceiling murals. The clubhouse served as a gathering place for members and as a unifying force in the Cuban community, and the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Tampa, Florida · United States