Establishment and Early History
West Tampa was founded in 1892 by Scottish immigrant and local attorney Hugh Macfarlane, who bought 200 acres of forested land with the intention of starting a new development by luring some of the cigar factories and cigar workers from Ybor City, a very successful new immigrant community on the northeast side of Tampa.
Initially, West Tampa's growth was stunted by transportation problems. The first cigar factory built in the area was forced to close temporarily because workers refused to ride a ferry across the Hillsborough River to the "wilds" of West Tampa.
But after Macfarlane built a bridge and then a streetcar line, his development experienced a period of tremendous growth. Many of these new residents had not come over from Ybor City; most were Cuban immigrants who settled in West Tampa soon after arriving in the United States. Accordingly, the community was almost exclusivity Cuban during the first several years of its existence. A gradual influx of Italians and Spaniards, mainly from Ybor City, gradually made the cultural mix of the two communities more similar over time.
West Tampa was incorporated as a city in 1895 with a population of 2,335, making it the 2nd largest Hispanic community in the state. By 1900, it had more inhabitants than Florida's capital city of Tallahassee and was the second largest city in Hillsborough County, behind only Tampa. The neighboring communities combined to produce more hand-rolled cigars than any other locale in the world during the early 20th century, earning Tampa the nickname "Cigar City".
The first public library in Hillsborough County opened on Howard Avenue in 1914. Construction of the Neo-classical revivalist style brick building was funded with a $17,500 grant from Andrew Carnegie The West Tampa Library was restored and expanded in 2004 and is still in use.
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