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70-410: The neighborhood had features unusual among contemporary communities in the south, most notably its multiethnic and multiracial population and their many mutual aid societies . The cigar industry employed thousands of well-paid workers, helping Tampa grow from an economically depressed village to a bustling city in about 20 years and giving it the nickname "Cigar City". Ybor City grew and flourished from

140-483: A board similarly elected. Fraternal benefit societies provide insurance benefits to their members including life insurance and endowments, annuities, disability, hospital, medical and nursing benefits, and such other benefits authorized for life insurers that are not inconsistent with the general fraternal laws. In the 21st century, fraternal benefit societies remain active in the United States. In addition to

210-584: A community that combined Cuban, Spanish, Italian, and Jewish culture. "Ybor City is Tampa's Spanish India," observed a visitor to the area, "What a colorful, screaming, shrill, and turbulent world." An aspect of life were the mutual aid societies built and sustained mainly by ordinary citizens. These clubs were founded in Ybor's early days (the first was the Centro Español , established in 1891) and were run on dues collected from their members, usually 5% of

280-424: A lack of funds, the redevelopment did not happen. The primary legacy of the program was blocks of vacant lots which remained empty for decades. The construction of Interstate 4 through the center of the neighborhood during this period also resulted in the destruction of many buildings and cut most of the north–south routes through the area. By the early 1970s, very few businesses and residents remained, most notably

350-516: A large part of the working population. With the introduction in the early twentieth century of state social welfare programs, and industrial, health and welfare regulation, the influence and membership of benefit societies have declined in importance but remain significant. Nevertheless, in many countries, for example in Europe, mutual benefit societies continue to provide statutory and supplementary healthcare coverage. Peter Kropotkin posited early in

420-534: A legacy which garnered the Centro Español building recognition as a U.S. National Historic Landmark (NHL) on June 3, 1988. El Centro Español de Tampa is one of two individual structures within Hillsborough County to be so designated. The historic and cultural significance of El Centro Español de Tampa was noted well before the announcement of its NHL status. As early as 1974, the building

490-407: A member's salary. In exchange, members and their whole family received services including free libraries, educational programs, sports teams, restaurants, numerous social functions like dances and picnics, and free medical services. Beyond the services, these clubs served as extended families and communal gathering places for generations of Ybor's citizens. There were clubs for each ethnic division in

560-498: A morally uplifting and ethical manner. Conviviality and benevolence are important principles. Fraternal societies differed from public and private hierarchical aid organizations by employing an "ethical principle of reciprocity." This removed the stigma of charity. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries benefit societies in the form of friendly societies and trade unions were essential in providing social assistance for sickness and unemployment, and improving social conditions for

630-499: A party destination, Ybor City is referenced extensively in the lyrics of Brooklyn-based rock band The Hold Steady . The song "Killer Parties", for instance, contains the line "Ybor City is très speedy , but they throw such killer parties." In May 2009 Swedish super-retailer IKEA opened its long-awaited Tampa location in the southern edge of Ybor City. The local museum is the Ybor City Museum State Park in

700-448: A result of the fraternal desire of men to cooperate for their mutual welfare and happiness, and that the benefit plan they introduced followed an innate prompting to protect their dependents.” The Model Fraternal Code which has been adopted in some form by most states defines fraternals as follows: Section 1. FRATERNAL BENEFIT SOCIETIES. Any incorporated society, order, or supreme lodge, without capital stock, including one exempted under

770-639: A shared ethnic background, religion, occupation, geographical region, or other basis. Benefits may include financial security or assistance for education, unemployment, birth of a baby, sickness and medical expenses, retirement, and funerals. Often benefit societies provide a social or educational framework for members and their families to support each other and contribute to the wider community. Examples of benefit societies include trade unions , burial societies , friendly societies , cooperatives , credit unions , self-help groups , landsmanshaftn , immigrant hometown societies , fraternal organizations built upon

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840-531: Is Florida's oldest restaurant, was named a "Top 50 All-American icon" by Nation's Restaurant News magazine. In the early 1880s, Tampa was an isolated village with a population of less than 1000 and a struggling economy. However, its combination of a good port, Henry Plant's new railroad line, and humid climate attracted the attention of Vicente Martinez Ybor , a prominent Spanish cigar manufacturer. Ybor had moved his cigar-making operation from Cuba to Key West, Florida , in 1869, due to political turmoil in

910-807: Is a voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid , benefit, for instance insurance for relief from sundry difficulties. Such organizations may be formally organized with charters and established customs or may arise ad hoc to meet the unique needs of a particular time and place. Many major financial institutions existing today, particularly some insurance companies, mutual savings banks , and credit unions , trace their origins back to benefit societies, as can many modern fraternal organizations and fraternal orders which are now viewed as being primarily social. The modern legal system essentially requires all such organizations of appreciable size to incorporate one of these forms or another to continue to exist on an ongoing basis. Benefit societies may be organized around

980-547: Is a basic rectangle, exposed on all but the west side, consisting of a 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -story-tall main block, with an attached rear wing of 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 stories. The building's south facade along 7th Avenue features an arched main entrance in Moorish style with cast-iron trim. The long, east facade resembles a palazzo , an effect commonly utilized in Renaissance Revival designs, and also incorporates

1050-472: Is a historic building in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa , in the U.S. state of Florida. Built as an ethnic and cultural clubhouse in 1912, the red brick structure situated at 1526–1536 East 7th Avenue is today part of a shopping and entertainment complex. It remains one of the few surviving structures specific to Spanish immigration to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries,

1120-465: Is at the same time of a beneficial and fraternal character because they aim to improve the condition of a class of persons who are engaged in a common pursuit and to unite them by a stronger bond of sympathy and interest. As indicated in this case, a fraternal benefit society is required to have a "common bond" among its members. Further, a society is required to specify in its laws the eligibility standards for membership, as well as classes of membership,

1190-427: Is considered to be the leading judicial pronouncement of what constitutes a fraternal society. A fraternal-beneficial society would be one whose members have adopted the same, or a very similar calling, avocation, or profession, or who are working in unison to accomplish some worthy object, and who for that reason have banded themselves together as an association or society to aid and assist one another, and to promote

1260-488: Is one of the oldest sections of Tampa and is almost entirely an urban, built-up area. Commercial property comprises almost 50% of the land, institutional use (including the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Operations Center and a satellite campus of Hillsborough Community College ) 16%, residential use about 23%, and industrial use about 7% According to a 2003 survey, the top five business types in

1330-506: The Columbia Restaurant and a few other businesses along 7th Avenue. In the early 1980s, an influx of artists seeking interesting and inexpensive studio quarters started a slow recovery, followed by a period of commercial gentrification . By the early 1990s, many of the old long-empty brick buildings on 7th Avenue had been converted into bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other nightlife attractions. Traffic grew so much that

1400-637: The United States each year around age-old models of ad hoc mutual aid. Benefit societies, fraternal benefit societies or "fraternals" are not-for-profit membership organizations that have a representative form of government and are organized through a lodge system, commonly represented in the societies of North America . to carry out social, intellectual, educational, charitable, benevolent, moral, fraternal, patriotic or religious purposes. "Fraternals" provide members with life insurance and other financial protection benefits following state law and use

1470-486: The 1890s until the Great Depression of the 1930s, when a drop in demand for fine cigars reduced the number of cigar factories and mechanization in the cigar industry greatly reduced employment opportunities in the neighborhood. This process accelerated after World War II , and a steady exodus of residents and businesses continued until large areas of the formerly vibrant neighborhood were virtually abandoned by

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1540-431: The 1930s as the remaining cigar factories gradually switched from traditional hand-rolled manufacturing to cheaper mechanized methods, further reducing the number of jobs and the salaries paid to workers. After World War II , many returning veterans chose to leave Ybor City due to a lack of well-paying jobs and a US Veterans Administration home loan program that was only applicable to new homes, of which there were few in

1610-414: The 20th century that mutual aid affiliations predate human culture and are as much a factor in evolution as is the " survival of the fittest " concept. Oaths, secret signs and knowledge, and regalia were historically an important part of many benefit societies but declined in use in most benefit societies during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Conversely, signs and ceremonies have become

1680-595: The Deutsch Amerikanischer Verein. The club building is still standing on Nebraska and 11th Avenue . It contained a restaurant open to the public that served German food. In 1919, because of anti-German feelings from World War I, they sold the building to the Young Men's Hebrew Association. The building is now used as offices for the City of Tampa. In 1887, Tampa annexed the neighborhood. By 1900,

1750-659: The Free African Society was established in 1787 by two African American former slaves , Absalom Jones and Richard Allen. These two men were Methodist converts from evangelical masters, who permitted these men to purchase their freedom in the early 1780s. Mutual aid was a foundation of social welfare in the United States until the early 20th Century. Early societies not only shared material resources but often advanced social values related to self-reliance and moral character. Many fraternal organizations were first organized as mutual aid societies when government at

1820-489: The Historic Ybor neighborhood are I-4 to the north, 22nd Street to the east, Adamo Drive to the south, and Nebraska Avenue to the west. The area of this district is about 1 square mile (about 2.6 km). Though modern Ybor City also includes some of the surrounding area, its exact dimensions are loosely defined and subject to debate. At the height of its life as a thriving immigrant community, Ybor City's population

1890-457: The Italian women worked as cigar strippers in 1900, an undesirable position mainly held by women who could find nothing else. However, eventually many of them became skilled cigar makers, earning more than the male Italian cigar makers. Other Italian immigrants started small businesses built around the cigar industry, such as cafés, food stores, restaurants, and boardinghouses. The least known of

1960-410: The area were professional services (22.8%), retail (18.4%), manufacturing (14.0%), wholesale/distribution (13.2%), and restaurants & bars (11.4%). For the most part, Ybor City still uses the gridded street system laid out by Gavino Guiterrez in 1885. Many roadways are now paved with modern materials, though a few brick streets remain. Because 21st and 22nd Streets, which cut north–south through

2030-419: The area's existing population looking for work elsewhere. By World War II, much of the organization's roles in terms of health care and social welfare were absorbed by government and private interests. The membership base declined further as the now second and third generation Spanish-Americans more freely interacted with the rest of the population and more closely identified with American culture. In 1983,

2100-451: The area, were once the main traffic routes between Interstate 4 and the Port of Tampa Bay , there was a large volume of semi-trailer truck traffic funneling through the historic district for many years. This caused damage to narrow city roads, was a danger to pedestrians, and sometimes resulted in trucks colliding with historic buildings. In 2014, the elevated I-4/Selmon Expressway Connector

2170-520: The bustling factory town of Ybor City in 1891 established El Centro Español as the first of several ethnic social club and mutual aid society organizations. El Centro Español served as the organizational model for its later counterparts such as El Centro Asturiano , El Circulo Cubano , L'Unione Italiana, and others. These clubs grew to play vital roles in Ybor City's development and were of particular importance in welcoming and orienting new arrivals to

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2240-485: The city built parking garages and closed 7th Ave. to traffic to deal with the visitors. Since around 2000, the city of Tampa and the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce have encouraged a broader emphasis in development. With financial help from the city, Centro Ybor, a family-oriented shopping complex and movie theater, opened in the former home of the Centro Español social club. The Florida Brewing Company building

2310-415: The common cause. The term "fraternal" can properly be applied to such an association, for the reason that the pursuit of a common object, calling, or profession usually tends to create a brotherly feeling among those who are thus engaged. *** Many of these associations make a practice of assisting their sick and disabled members, and of extending substantial aid to the families of deceased members. Their work

2380-543: The community – the Deutscher-Americaner Club (for German and eastern Europeans), L'Unione Italiana (for Italians), El Circulo Cubano (for light-skinned Cubans), La Union Marti-Maceo (for Afro-Cubans), El Centro Español (for Spaniards), and the largest, El Centro Asturiano , which accepted members from any ethnic group Though there was little overt racism inside the diverse neighborhood, Florida's Jim Crow laws forbade Afro-Cubans from belonging to

2450-427: The deal went forward from there, the birth of Ybor City. Cigar making was a specialized trade, and Tampa did not possess a workforce able to man the new factories. To attract employees, Ybor built hundreds of small houses for the coming influx of mainly Cuban and Spanish cigar workers, many of whom followed him from Key West and Cuba. Other cigar manufacturers, drawn by incentives provided by Ybor to further increase

2520-475: The earnings to fund member-supported community activities. Fraternals are chartered by state law and have been exempt from income tax under Section 501(c)(8) of the United States Tax Code since 1909. Fraternal Benefit Societies trace their lineage back through mutual societies , friendly societies and eventually to medieval guilds . Many fraternal benefit societies were founded to serve

2590-641: The eastern and southern fringes of the city. The area was referred to as La Pachata, after a Cuban rent collector in that area. It was also called "Little Italy". Unlike Cubans and Spaniards, the Italians arrived in the cigar town without cigar-making skills. When the early Italians entered the factories, it was at the bottom of the ladder, positions which did not involve handling tobacco. Working beside unskilled Cubans, mainly Afro-Cubans, they swept and hauled and were porters and doorkeepers. In time, many did become cigar workers, including Italian women. The majority of

2660-909: The emergency exists. Ad hoc mutual aid associations have been seen organized among strangers facing shared challenges in such disparate settings as the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in New York in 1969, during the Beijing Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 , for neighborhood defense during the Los Angeles Riots of 1992, and work of the organization Common Ground Collective which formed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Rainbow Family organizes gatherings in National Forests of

2730-430: The extent of private charity, says: "New York is, I firmly believe, the most charitable city in the world. Nowhere is there so eager a readiness to help ..." Medieval guilds were an early basis for many Western benefit societies. A guild charter document from 1200 states: This charter shows the importance of 'brotherhood', and the principles of discipline, conviviality, and benevolence. The structure of fraternity in

2800-582: The factories of Ybor City. Not coincidentally, that was also the year that the Great Depression began. During the 1920s, organized crime families thrived in both Tampa and Ybor. Aside from bootlegging, the Ybor mafia ran numerous numbers rackets, called bolita . By 1927, there were over 300 bolita houses in Ybor City. The Depression was a major blow to cigar manufacturers. Worldwide demand plummeted as consumers sought to cut costs by switching to less-expensive cigarettes, and factories responded by laying off workers or shutting down. This trend continued throughout

2870-516: The former Ferlita Bakery building (originally La Joven Francesca) building on 9th Avenue. Tours of the gardens and the "casitas" (small homes of cigar company workers) are provided by a ranger. Exhibits, period photos and a video cover the founding of Ybor City and the cigar making industry. Historically, the boundaries of "Greater Ybor City" stretched from Tampa Bay on the south to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (formerly Buffalo Avenue) on

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2940-441: The guild forms the basis for orders such as Freemasonry and other fraternal orders , friendly societies and modern trade unions . Joining such an organization a member gained the 'freedom' of the craft and the exclusive benefits that the organization could confer on members. Historically, benefit societies have emphasized the importance of social discipline, in conforming to the rules of the organization and society, and acting in

3010-560: The immigrant community. In exchange for membership dues, they offered not only social, cultural, and recreational opportunities, but educational programs and health care. El Centro Español in 1904 went so far as to build their own hospital, the Sanatorio del Centro Español, which was in its day among the top medical facilities in Florida. The organization's first clubhouse, an ornately constructed frame structure flanked by two towers,

3080-639: The immigrants that came to Ybor City are the Germans, the Romanian Jews, and the Chinese. The Chinese and Jews were employed mainly in service trades and retail businesses. The Germans arrived after the 1890s, and most were businessmen. In the cigar factories, they worked as managers, bookkeepers, and supervisors. Cigar boxes were made by German-owned factories. Several early cigar box labels were made by German lithographers. The Germans formed their own club,

3150-435: The labor pool, also moved in, quickly making Tampa a major cigar production center. Italians were also among the early settlers of Ybor City. Most of them came from a few villages in southwestern Sicily. The villages were Santo Stefano Quisquina , Alessandria della Rocca , Bivona , Cianciana , and Contessa Entellina . Sixty percent of them came from Santo Stefano Quisquina. Before settling in Ybor City, many first worked in

3220-412: The late 1970s. Attempts at redevelopment failed until the 1980s, when an influx of artists began a slow process of gentrification . In the 1990s and early 2000s, a portion of the original neighborhood around 7th Avenue developed into a nightclub and entertainment district, and many old buildings were renovated for new uses. Since then, the area's economy has diversified with more offices and residences, and

3290-599: The mainstay of fraternal societies that no longer focus as much on mutual aid. Many of the features of benefit organizations today have been assimilated into organizations that rely on the corporate and political structures of our time. Insurance companies, religious charities, credit unions, and democratic governments now perform many of the same functions that were once the purview of ethnically- or culturally-affiliated mutual benefit associations. New technologies have provided yet more new opportunities for humanity to support itself through mutual aid. Recent authors have described

3360-778: The models of fraternal orders such as the Freemasons and the Oddfellows , some coworking communities , and many others. A benefit society can be characterized by Examples of benefit societies can be found throughout history, including among secret societies of the Tang Dynasty in China and African-Americans during the post-revolutionary years, such as those who organized the Free African Society of Philadedelphia . Philadelphia's first black organization,

3430-402: The mutual benefits provided to members, many fraternal benefit societies engage in charitable and volunteer efforts of lodge members in the broader community. more than 80 fraternal benefit societies are operating in the United States and Canada today, with over 9 million members and with $ 380 billion of life insurance in force. El Centro Espanol de Tampa El Centro Español de Tampa

3500-800: The needs of immigrants and other under-served groups who shared common bonds of religion, ethnicity, gender, occupation or shared values. The first modern American fraternal benefit society was the Ancient Order of United Workmen , founded by John J. Upchurch in 1868. "The Order of Knights of Pythias is a great international fraternity which was founded in Washington, DC, February 19, 1864, by Justus H. Rathbone..." The Knights had an "Endowment Rank" which included life, health and disability insurance. As Walter Bayse wrote in his history of fraternals: “the American fraternal system had its beginning as

3570-436: The neighborhood. In fact, the home stock was aging poorly, as many of the structures built in the early days of Ybor City were still in use. As the historic neighborhood continued to empty out and deteriorate through the 1950s and 1960s, the federal Urban Renewal program sought to revitalize the area by demolishing older structures and encouraging new residential and commercial development. The demolition took place, but due to

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3640-619: The networked affiliations that produce collaborative projects . In modern Asia rotating credit associations organized within communities or workplaces were widespread through the early twentieth century and continue in our time. Habitat for Humanity in the United States is a leading example of shared credit and labor pooled to help low-income people afford adequate housing. In post- disaster reactions, formal benefit societies of our time often lend aid to others outside their immediate membership, while ad hoc benefit associations form among neighbors or refugees, generally lasting only as long as

3710-416: The north, and from Nebraska Avenue on the west to 40th Street on the east. This eventually included all of today's neighborhoods of Historic Ybor, East Ybor , VM Ybor , and Ybor Heights plus a portion of East Tampa . The Ybor City Historic District encompasses the central portion of that area, approximately straddling Interstate 4 , which bisected the neighborhood in the 1960s. The official boundaries of

3780-467: The organization consolidated their remaining membership to the West Tampa clubhouse, and the Centro Español de Tampa building was sold. After sitting vacant for several years, it was restored in 2010 and now houses Ghost Party Haunted Tours. The West Tampa clubhouse houses The Hillsborough Education Foundation and its Teaching Tools for Hillsborough Schools program. The Centro Español building

3850-475: The owner of the 40 acre parcel. The Tampa Board of Trade was horrified to find that the purchase had failed and hatched a plan to get the buyer and seller back together. Vicente Ybor was sitting in the train station on his way to Jacksonville to look at more property when the Board of Trade (a group of five, one of whom was Frederick Salomonson, future 3-time mayor of Tampa) arrived and persuaded Ybor to reconsider and

3920-659: The population has shown notable growth for the first time in over half a century. Ybor City has been designated as a National Historic Landmark District , and several structures in the area are listed in the National Register of Historic Places . In 2008, 7th Avenue, Ybor City's main commercial thoroughfare, was recognized as one of the "10 Great Streets in America" by the American Planning Association . In 2010 Columbia Restaurant , which

3990-435: The process of admission, and the rights and privileges of members. A fraternal benefit society operates under a lodge system if it has a supreme governing body and subordinate lodges into which members are elected, initiated, or admitted under its laws. A society has a representative form of government if its supreme governing body is an assembly composed of delegates elected directly by members or intermediate assemblies, or

4060-493: The provisions of Section 38(a)(2) of this Article whether incorporated or not, conducted solely for the benefit of its members and their beneficiaries and not for profit, operated on a lodge system with ritualistic form of work, having a representative form of government, and which provides benefits following this Article, is hereby declared to be a fraternal benefit society. The court's opinion in National Union v. Marlow

4130-400: The rough frontier settlement of wooden buildings and sandy streets had been transformed into a bustling town with brick buildings and streets, a streetcar line, and many social and cultural opportunities. Largely due to the growth of Ybor City, Tampa's population had jumped to almost 16,000. Ybor City grew and prospered during the first decades of the 20th century. Thousands of residents built

4200-431: The same social organization as their more European-looking countrymen. Sometimes differences in skin color within the same family made joining the same Cuban club impossible. In general, the rivalries between all the clubs were friendly, and families were known to switch affiliations depending on which one offered preferred services and events. Cigar production reached its peak in 1929, when 500 million cigars were rolled in

4270-487: The same year, the organization established a second clubhouse, El Centro Español de West Tampa , to serve the Spanish population of West Tampa . After several decades of prosperity and growth, El Centro Español and the other area social clubs entered a period of decline. Factors such as Prohibition , the Great Depression , and restrictions in immigration curtailed the influx of potential new membership, and sent much of

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4340-492: The state and local level supplemented private aid societies more than the converse of this being true. In 1890, 112,000 American residents lived in private charitable institutions, while only 73,000 resided in public almshouses. Towards the latter part of the nineteenth century, public aid was reduced as it was seen as contributing to sloth and dependency while private aid was judiciously provided with greater checks for reform and recovery. Writing in 1890, Jacob Riis , commenting on

4410-475: The sugar cane plantations in St. Cloud, central Florida. Some came by way of Louisiana. A number of families migrated from New Orleans after the lynching of eleven Italians in 1891 during the "Mafia Riot". Italians mostly brought their entire families with them, unlike other immigrants. The foreign-born Italian population of Tampa grew from 56 in 1890 to 2,684 in 1940. Once arriving in Ybor City, Italians settled mainly in

4480-635: The then-Spanish colony. But, labor unrest and the lack of room for expansion had him looking for another base of operations, preferably in his own company town . Ybor considered several communities in the southern United States and decided that an area of sandy scrubland just northeast of Tampa would be the best location. In 1885, the Tampa Board of Trade helped broker an initial purchase of 40 acres (160,000 m) of land, and Ybor quickly bought more. However, Ybor City very nearly didn't happen at all. Vicente Ybor initially failed to come to an agreement with

4550-413: Was built in 1892 on the site of the present Centro Español building, and featured a theater, dance hall, canteen, soda fountain, and classrooms, where English courses were offered. The club's membership expanded rapidly, surpassing 2,600 people by 1908, and soon after outgrew their facility. The club replaced their original clubhouse with the building today known as El Centro Español de Tampa in 1912. In

4620-722: Was built to siphon heavy truck traffic away from the historic district. The TECO Line Streetcar , which links Ybor City, the Channelside District and Downtown Tampa , began operating in October 2002. The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority ( HARTline ) operates the streetcars as well as the bus system. Small startups have also begun utilizing NEVs to shuttle passengers between Tampa's core neighborhoods including Ybor. Mutual aid societies A benefit society , fraternal benefit society, fraternal benefit order, friendly society , or mutual aid organization

4690-720: Was designed by Francis J. Kennard , an architect who was responsible, either solely or in part, for many Tampa Bay area structures now considered to be of historic importance, including Hillsborough High School , St. Andrews Episcopal Church , and the Belleview-Biltmore Hotel . Kennard employed the French Renaissance Revival style in his design for the building, with heavy influence from Moorish Revival and Spanish Mediterranean Revival styles. The structure features masonry construction of red brick with white stone accents. The shape

4760-583: Was included by the National Register of Historic Places as one of the Contributing Properties within the Ybor City Historic District . The building remains an important component of the district , which on December 4, 1990, gained more distinct recognition as a National Historic Landmark District. It is now home to Jason Fernandez 's restaurant Carne. Immigrants from Spain (including some by way of Cuba ) to

4830-401: Was numbered in the tens of thousands. In the lowest point in the late 1970s, perhaps 1000 residents called the neighborhood home. In recent years, the numbers have begun to climb once more. Ybor City's population grew an estimated 42.5% between 2000 and 2003, mainly as a result of new condominium and apartment construction. As of 2003, approximately 2,900 residents lived in the area. Ybor City

4900-406: Was restored into a commercial building in 2001. New apartments, condominiums and a hotel have been built on long-vacant lots, and old buildings have been restored and converted into residences and hotels. New residents began moving into Ybor City for the first time in many years. The blocks surrounding 7th Avenue also thrive with restaurants, nightlife and shopping. Reflecting the district's status as

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