Tampa, FL

Ybor City
DESCRIPTION: Step back in time in a Latin Quarter once called "The Cigar Capital of the World," where 12,000 master tabaqueros once hand-rolled 700 million cigars a year; the cigar industry created a cultural collage where Spaniards, Italians, Jews, Germans, African Americans, Afro-Cubans and Spanish Cubans worked and socialized together prior to laws in 1904; many of the Ybor City social clubs still stand; the buildings were elegant testaments to the prosperity of the era with brick and stone edifices, marble columns, wrought iron balconies and grand stairways; today Ybor City attracts artists-in-residence, creating Bohemian atmosphere in this National Historic Landmark District

ADDRESS: bounded by Nuccio Parkway, I-4 Freeway, North 26th Street and Adamo Drive  MAP

WEBSITE: http://www.ybor.org

La Union Marti-Maceo Building
DESCRIPTION: A modest white stucco building first opened to serve Afro-Cubans who were excluded from Cuban mutual aid societies when a Florida law passed in 1904; Cut off from the Spanish Cubans by state law and local customs Afro-Cubans formed La Union Marti-Maceo and built a two-story clubhouse with a theatre, dance hall, meeting rooms and steel-girded porch in 1908. In 1965 the Afro-Cuban club was demolished in the misguided name of Urban Renewal, but in the 1980s the club was relocated to a warehouse on 7th Ave and 14th Street in Ybor City National Historic District

ADDRESS: 1226 East 7th Ave  MAP

WEBSITE:  link

St. Peter Claver School
DESCRIPTION: Opened 1894 as a school for Black children; it is the oldest still functioning school of its type in the region

ADDRESS: 1401 Governor Street  MAP

PHONE: 813-224-0865

WEBSITE: http://home.catholicweb.com/StPeterClaverTampa

St. Petersburg, FL

22nd Street Business District
DESCRIPTION: ThoughBlack life in the region began earlier, the 1920s are when buildings in this historic represented the hub of Black life in St. Petersburg during the Segregation Era; among its landmarks included Jordan Elementary School, Mercy Hospital, Manhattan Casino and Royal Theater; the theater was renovated in 2003 to become a popular Boys & Girls Club and Cultural Center serving the community

ADDRESS: 22nd Street between Central Ave and 18th Avenue South  MAP

WEBSITE: http://www.discover22ndst.com