Ybor City Museum Society

About Us

The Ybor City Museum Society is a Citizens Support Organization (CSO) that assists the Ybor City Museum and State Park in its role in preserving the history and heritage of Ybor City.

Since 1982, when the Ybor City Museum Society was established as a Citizens' Support Organization (CSO) for the Ybor City Museum State Park, it has worked in many ways to support activities and programs at the site. Until 1998, the Society operated solely with volunteer support. In that year, it hired its first Director, a museum professional who oversaw the opening of the Centro Ybor Museum (in the restored Centro Espanol club building), a 2000 square foot space housing small exhibits on the cigar industry, social clubs, and theatre in old Ybor. The Centro Ybor Museum receives over 36,000 visitors yearly.

A 2,000 square foot 'mini-museum' located in the historic renovated Centro Espanol building, three blocks from the Ybor City Museum State Park. This space houses exhibits on the cigar trade, social clubs, and theatre of old Ybor City. It also contains a museum store and the Ybor City Visitor Information Center.

The Ybor City Museum State Park is a state historic park consisting of the Ybor City Museum, housed in the Ferlita Bakery building (a neighborhood bakery operated by the Ferlita family, Italian immigrants who established the business at that location in 1896), the Casita, and the Garden.

The State Park contains permanent exhibits on Vicente Martinez Ybor, the founding and early history of Ybor City, the cigar industry, the social clubs of the city, and the Ferlita Bakery itself. Two years ago, the Ybor City Museum Society initiated changing exhibitions in the Museum space; these change twice yearly. The Ybor City Museum also houses a museum store with a variety of items for sale reflecting the ethnic heritage of the community, the cigar trade, and the site's history.

Mailing Address
PO Box 5421
Tampa, FL 33675