Ybor City Museum State Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ybor City Museum State Park |
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IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
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Front of the museum
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 Ybor City Museum State Park
Location in Florida
Ybor City Museum State Park
Location in the United States
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| Location | Hillsborough County, Florida, USA |
| Nearest city | Tampa, Florida |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Governing body | National Park Service / Florida Department of Environmental Protection |
Ybor City Museum State Park is a cool place to visit in Tampa, Florida! It's a Florida State Park located in the historic Ybor City neighborhood. The museum is inside an old building that used to be a famous bakery called Ferlita Bakery. This bakery, originally named La Joven Francesca, was known for making delicious Cuban bread.
Inside the museum, you can see the original ovens where the bread was baked. The exhibits tell the story of the cigar industry and the Latin community in Ybor City from the 1880s to the 1930s. There's also a beautiful garden you can explore. Park rangers offer tours of the gardens and the "casitas," which were small homes where cigar factory workers lived. You can also watch videos and see old photos that show how Ybor City started and how cigars were made.
Contents
Exploring Ybor City's Past: A Museum Adventure
The Story of La Joven Francesca Bakery
The museum stands on the site of what might be the very first bakery in the United States to make Cuban bread. This bakery was called La Joven Francesca. It was started in 1896 by Francisco Ferlita, who was from Sicily. He had Cuban, Spanish, and Italian family roots.
Back then, a loaf of bread cost only 3 to 5 cents! Most of the bread was sold to people living in Ybor City.
From Fire to Flour Power: Rebuilding the Bakery
In 1922, a big fire destroyed the bakery. Only the strong brick bread oven was left standing. But Francisco didn't give up! He rebuilt the bakery even bigger than before. He added a second oven, making it a major supplier of bread for the entire Tampa and Ybor area.
The bakery became more than just a place to buy bread. It was a spot where people gathered to enjoy coffee and snacks. This continued until 1973, when the building was turned into the museum you see today.
Bread Delivery in Old Ybor City
In the past, bread was delivered every morning in Ybor City, just like milk. Houses had a strong nail hammered into the doorframe next to the door. The delivery person would simply hang a fresh loaf of bread on this nail!
La Joven Francesca bakery closed in 1973. Soon after, it was renovated and became a main part of the Ybor City State Museum complex. You can still see the original ovens inside, where the first Cuban bread was baked.
Today's Cuban Bread: La Segunda Bakery
Today, La Segunda Bakery is the main producer of Cuban Bread for the Tampa area. Its name means "The Second" because "La Primera" (The First) bakery burned down a long time ago. La Primera Bakery was founded by Juan Morè and opened in 1915.
