Cigar Cottages In Key West History

Since the 19th century, Key West has constituted one on the historic centers of cigar tradition. Formerly featuring more cigar factories for each person than anyplace else in the world, Key West had always played a major role in the cigar industry.
Since the 19th century, Key West has constituted one on the historic centers of cigar tradition. Formerly featuring more cigar factories for each person than anyplace else in the world, Key West had always played a major role in the cigar industry. Just after the War between the States, this city became a Mecca for Cuban citizens fleeing their nation’s long running revolution against Spain. By the late 1870’s there were over 100 factories constructing cigars.

Cuban influence in Key West first commenced on a monumental scale in 1868 when the first war against Spanish authority created a mass exodus. When Cubans confronted forced conscription into the Spanish army to battle against their countrymen, thousands of skilled cigar craftsmen and their families fled their native land.

On a single September day in 1869, over 2,000 Cubans lined the wharves of the Cuban capital to flee their mother country. While some left for New York City or New Orleans, the bulk boarded steamers for the 12-hour trip to a destination ninety miles to the north, a city Cubans called Cayo Hueso, today