Company History...

...The West Tampa Cigar Company is owned and operated by the Alvarez family in West Tampa. We decided to form a Cigar company for two reasons. The first was to promote and teach about the history of West Tampa. Much is known about the history of Ybor City but not many know about the great history of West Tampa. The second reason was to provide an authentic hand rolled (Hecho A Mano) Tampa Cigar.

...On our first line of cigars we have used the City Seal for the City of West Tampa. Tampa is known as the Cigar Capital of the world (Cigar City), while Ybor City gets alot of the credit for this, West Tampa actually out produced Ybor City in its hay day.  Read up on some of the West Tampa history we have provided below and keep an eye out for our next line of cigars that will comemorate another piece of West Tampa history.

...West Tampa saw its begining on November 27th, 1886 when Hugh C Macfarlane purchased 120 acres of swampland located west of the Hillsborough River. West Tampa was known as Cuba Town for the number of Cubans that moved here with the cigar industry. The first cigar factory was opened in June of 1892 by the Del Pino brothers which was taken over by the O'Halloran Cigar Company the following year. By the end of 1893 Ybor City boasted 18 cigar factories, while West Tampa had 25. On May 18th, 1895 West Tampa became an independent city. That year, the most famous cigar in history was rolled in the O'Halloran Cigar Factory on the corner of Howard Ave and Union Street. Jose Marti wanted to smuggle a message into Cuba to let the Generals know that it was time for the uprising to begin (the Cuban Revolution). So it was decided that the best way to accomplish this was to roll the note into a cigar and send the cigar to Cuba. With the "Loaded Cigar" West Tampa took its place in history. To learn more about West Tampa and its rich history, please see our Links section and remember to celebrate the past and savor the present with a fine West Tampa cigar.

West Tampa Cigar Company