This Jaxson editorial was initially revealed by Jax In the present day on October 13, 2024.
El Modelo Cigar Manufacturing Firm
The previous El Modelo Cigar Manufacturing Firm at 513 West Bay Road.
Throughout the late nineteenth century cigar makers discovered Jacksonville as a sexy location to course of Havana tobacco. On the time, Jacksonville was the terminus of six railroads, residence to a 24’ deep river channel, and thought of the gateway to Florida, the Bahamas, and Cuba. By 1895, the town had turn into residence to fifteen cigar manufacturing corporations and 1000’s of Cuban immigrants. The biggest was Gabriel Hidalgo-Gato’s El Modelo Cigar Manufacturing Firm. Situated at 513 West Bay Road in LaVilla, the cigar manufacturing facility opened in 1889, employed 225 and produced 6 million stogies yearly. El Modelo’s manufacturers included the Florida Alligator, Hamlet, El Modelo, La Tropia and El Deleite.
Nonetheless, José Alejandro Huau, Hidalgo-Gato’s brother-in-law, might have been the most well-liked cigar manufacturing facility proprietor on the town. His manufacturing facility at 32 West Bay Road employed 150 cigar employees at its peak. With the help of Huau, José Martí visited Jacksonville eight instances between 1891 and 1898, primarily making stops and speeches at El Modelo to fire up enthusiasm and monetary assist for Cuba’s freedom motion. Huau would go on to turn into a Jacksonville metropolis councilmember.
Sola & Gonzalez Firm
The Sola & Gonzalez Firm briefly operated out of 322 Broad Road in LaVilla.
The Sola & Gonzalez Firm was a cigarmaker that briefly operated a manufacturing facility at 322 Broad Road in LaVilla. Owned and operated by Jose de Sola and Mario Gonzalez, the manufacturing facility was first listed at this deal with in 1911. Though half proprietor, Gonzalez was a cigar maker who resided in Tampa. Jose de Sola, additionally listed sometimes as Joseph, was born in Havana, Cuba round 1877 and moved to Tampa in 1907. Sola & Gonzalez leased house within the constructing from the Nationwide Mercantile Realty and Enchancment Firm. Possession included Edward D. Mixon. Mixon was a Gullah Geechee contractor and actual property developer who additionally constructed the Eastside’s Debs Retailer constructing just a few years later in 1913.
The constructing was acquired by the Metropolis of Jacksonville in 1994 for $34,000. Since that point, the constructing has fallen into nice despair. In recent times, the second flooring has collapsed. In the present day, the Downtown Funding Authority (DIA) is contemplating partial demolition of the construction, whereas preserving the constructing’s entrance facade.
Lolita Cigar Firm
The Lolita Cigar Firm was positioned at 704 Broad Road.
The Central Lodge constructing on the intersection of Broad and West Beaver Streets is an area with a wealthy multicultural and Civil Rights Motion previous. It was designed by architect Mellen C. Greeley and constructed for the Ames Realty Firm in 1912. In 1919, the storefronts have been crammed with a wide range of companies, together with a dressmaker, grocery retailer, and two confectioneries. By 1921, the Central Lodge was open and a wide range of companies catered to the Black inhabitants, who have been prevented from purchasing in downtown Jacksonville throughout segregation.
Throughout the Nineteen Twenties Cuban immigrants Julio C. Pulgaron and Carlos Ortega operated the Lolita Cigar Firm on the constructing’s floor flooring at 704 Broad Road. Throughout this period, Pulgaron additionally lived or operated cigar making companies on Davis, Johnson and West Ashley Streets.
Charles “Charley” Jacob Hazouri (1897-1969) ran a market. Hazouri, a Lebanese immigrant, initially settled in LaVilla together with his father, Jacob Nadir Hazouri, in 1904 and is an ancestor of Jacksonville mayor’s Donna Deegan and Tommy Hazouri.
One other tenant, the Jacksonville Negro Welfare League, offered counseling and referrals for African American veterans getting back from World Warfare II for employment, housing, training, and coaching advantages. The Negro Welfare League merged with a brand new Jacksonville department of the Nationwide City League to create the Jacksonville City League in August 1947. The Central Lodge was designated as a neighborhood historic landmark in 1995. In 2013 the construction was renovated into 4,600 sq. ft of floor flooring workplace house and 16 higher stage flats by the Clara White Mission.
Editorial by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com