TAMPA, Fla. — You are immediately transported back in time when you walk into the J.C. Newnan Cigar Co in Ybor City.
The employees at the factory are artisans, channeling generations of knowledge through their hands to blend the best tobacco leaves into a work of art. Cigar rollers are doing the job at J.C. Newman like it's been done for over a hundred years.
"I learned in Cuba I learned in the cigar rolling school that was in 1994," Luis Gonzalez told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska. "In my particular case, my grandpa used to grow tobacco in Cuba. So, I was always curious to see how you can make a real cigar, like different blends and styles. I learned the process of making premium cigars."
"How important is your heritage to you living in the United States now as a Cuban American?" Paluska asked.
"Well, it is pretty important. Because as an immigrant, I came to this country to look for the American Dream. The city was formed by the cigar business 100 years ago, so they're still doing the same thing. It is something incredible because, you know, the world changes, but this kind of job never changes."
The story of how J.C. Newman Cigar came to be doesn't start in Latin America, but someplace you wouldn't expect: Cleveland, Ohio. It was 1895 "when Julius Caeser Newman rolled his first cigars in the family barn," according toJ.C. Newman's website.
At 14, Newman's mom, "Hannah, paid $3.00 per month so that he could learn the cigar trade."
Built in 1910, the factory nicknamed "El Reloj," Spanish for "clock," has stood at 2701 16th Street. The clock is still a symbol of the Tampa skyline today.
"We're the oldest cigar company in the United States. But we also have the last traditional Cigar Factory is still operating not only in Ybor City but in the United States," Drew Newman, the great-grandson of the founder and 4th generation owner, told Paluska.
"We roll cigars here in Ybor City today, just like my great-grandfather did 100 years ago. And our one and only goal as a company is they're all cigars 100 years from now, just like we do today, just like we did in 1895."
At its peak in the 1930s, more than 150 cigar factories cranked out 500 million cigars annually. Slowly, time and restrictions on tobacco took their toll. The Newman's survived.
"We're the last holdout. We are the last factory in Tampa in the United States because we're an American company. We love Tampa. We love Ybor City, we want to be here," Newman said. "Does it make economic sense for this factory to still be running? Maybe; maybe not. But our heart is here. And it's our privilege to keep Tampa's historic cigar-making tradition alive."
For the rollers, the factory represents their past, present, and future all in one place.
"For our culture, it's very important Tampa was founded by the rollers a hundred years ago," Gonzalez said. "It's a privilege for us to keep doing the same thing."
The factory is now open to the public for tours and rolling classes, or you can visit their newly opened museum.
