Tampa history

Tampa, FL US – History: City of Cigars 

Tampa, a city in the Hillsborough County of the state of Florida, US, has a population of around 382,060 people according to the 2007 census.

The city has the largest media market in Florida and was ranked as the eighth cleanest city by Yahoo in America. The name of the city “Tampa” means “stick of fire” and it was given by the Calsua, a North American tribe, who used to live in the south of Tampa Bay.

 Historians believe the name suggests the many lightning strikes, which are received by the city during summer. Due to the unavailability of written records before the European contact of the Tampa Bay, little has been known before them.

 It was only in the 1520s, when the Spanish explorers came to this place and discovered a ring of Tocobaga villages situated in the northern half of the Tampa Bay. These villages included the Calsua village in the south and the Pinellas County. Hernando de Soto and Panfilo de narcaez led their expeditions and landed in Tampa for starting a colony in search of gold. The area was very rich in shellfish and fishes found in the waters of the bay.  

During the period of 1700, it was the Cuban fisherman who began to stay temporarily on the shore of the Tampa Bay (now known as the Hyde Park). In 1845, the territory of Florida grew to become the 27th state. Tampa was officially incorporated as Village of Tampa on January 18, 1849 and became home to 185 inhabitants.

Later it was again reincorporated as a town on December 15 1885. The first mayor of Tampa elected in 1856 was Judge Joseph B. Lancaster. After the end of the Civil War, Tampa faced some difficult problems.

There were very little industry left and the city lacked land transportation links, which were only limited to bumpy wagon roads. It was during this time when the yellow fever epidemic spread killing many people. In 1869, residents made a telling decision when they voted to abolish the Tampa government. The cigar making industry was the backbone of the economy of Tampa during the beginning of the 20th century.

There were numerous factories located in the West Tampa and Ybor City, which produced enormous number of cigars. Historians say that over 500,000,000 cigars were produced in the peak year of 1929.