NiniaPimp Magazine

This 3-story flat-roofed brick factory was built for Garcia and Co. (1895-99) in 1895. Dentil moulding and brackets occur at the cornice. A flat-roofed porch, supported by fluted columns, projects at the main entrance, in the third, projecting, bay of five, on the east side. The steps are of metal grating. A low brick wall and plain cast-iron fence surround the property. The Arturo Fuente Factory serves as a cigar warehouse.

L’Unione Italiana (Italian Club) (1731E. 7th Aye.)
Ybor City’s Italians formed L’Unione Italiana in 1894. The club erected the present 3-1/2-story Neoclassical building, which it still occupies, on the southwest corner of 7th Avenue and 18th Street, in 1918.

The exterior walls are constructed of red brick and rest on a rusticated stone foundation over a partially raised full basement. Along its front (north) facade the edifice features four huge Roman Doric columns which mark the main entrance and culminate in a full entablature and cornice capped by a triangular pediment. On the east side the building has six similar columns which provide a sense of underpinning. Multipaned mullion windows are generally used throughout and are set in rectangular surrounds except on the third story where arched ones are utilized. The building is crowned with a half-story flat-roofed penthouse featuring eyebrow windows with decorative metal grills. The canteen, recreation room, theater, and ballroom are notable rooms. L’Unione Italiana’s overall condition is good, and it is undergoing restoration.

Adolph Katz Dry Goods (1724-1726 E. 7th Avenue)
The Katz Dry Goods store was erected about 1924 as office space for the Italian Club. The balcony on this 2-story brick edifice, unlike many other originals, is entirely of cast iron, rests on sturdier posts, and is not covered with the familiar galvanized metal roof so typical of Ybor City.

The building has a stepped parapet. The storefronts have been altered.

Juan Boamonde’s Furniture (1718-1720 E. 7th Avenue)
Built about 1910, this 3-story building is impressive because of its relative height and because it is one of the few buildings in the area to retain its original cast iron storefront elements, including posts. Tile also appears on the first floor. The upper stories are relatively unaltered.

Decorative brickwork adorns the facade and a stepped brick parapet appears at the roofline.

Cohen Building (1712-1714 E. 7th Avenue)

A 1-story concrete block building, faced with stucco and inset decorative tile, erected about 1920, the Cohen Building retains most original elements. A stepped pointed parapet with tile appears at the roofline. The structure has had a variety of tenants. It was occupied by Arnold’s Art Center.

Currently:  http://bluedeviltattoo.com/
May have been the previous home of Arnold Martinez art studio, who now has moved:  http://visitsouth.com/articles/article/arnold-martinez-art-gallery-tampa-fl/

Building Description:
Attractive, spacious, well designed single story building with two adjoining apartments; kitchen, bath, closet and sleeping loft. Includes workshop and fenced outdoor courtyard presently used for parking. Opportunity to develop additional floors. In 1990, the interior of building was extensively renovated with all new electrical, mechanical, plumbing, insulation and drywall throughout. In 2004, the façade was renovated with new clerestory windows and store front doors. Brochure with complete info available.

Newark Shoe Store Building (1708-1710 E. 7th Avenue)

This building was constructed soon after the disastrous fire of 1908. A 2-story brick structure, it retains most original features on the upper level, including decorative brickwork, corbelling, and a stepped parapet; the first-floor storefronts were altered in the Art Deco style during the 1930s.

Old Ybor City Bank rLatin-American Bank of Ybor City) (1702-1706 E. 7th)
A 2-story brick building erected in 1910 to house the Ybor City Bank, this structure served as a bank until 1955. It is relatively unaltered. The firstfloor storefront is covered with concrete in a usticated pattern. A wide awning features egg-and-dart molding and bracketing. The two east storefronts feature brick pilasters.

Broadway National Bank 1953

Wolfson Building (1621-1625 E. 7th)

The Wolfson family built this 1-story brick structure in 1922. It retains its metal awning rings and a water table. Its decorative brickwork bears the family name.

Note: The Wolfson family owned:

• Abe Wolfson Mens Wear
• Wolfson’s Trimming Store (Adam Wolfson & Son, William)

S.H. Kress and Co. (1620-1626 E. 7th)

Built in 1913, as a Kress Co. store, this 3-story blond brick building reflects the popular commercial style of its period of construction. Brick pilasters and string courses decorate the
facade. Egg-and-dart molding appears at the cornice. A stepped parapet bear the “Kress” name.  The Kress Co. store expanded into the first floor of an adjacent structure built sometime between 1903 and 1915.

Other Contributers: Burgert Brothers -- Photographer

S. H. Kress & Co. was the trading name of a chain of “five and dime” retail department stores in the United States, which operated from 1896 to 1981.

Samuel H. Kress opened his first “stationery and notions” store in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania in 1887. The chain of S. H. Kress & Co. 5-10-25 Cent Stores was established in 1896.^[1] Throughout the first half of the twentieth century Kress stores were a familiar sight on “Main Street” in hundreds of cities and towns.

In 1964 Genesco, Inc. acquired ownership of Kress. The company abandoned its center-city stores and moved to the shopping malls. Genesco began liquidating Kress and closing down the Kress stores in 1980.

Tiendas Kress, the subsidiary chain in Puerto Rico, survived the parent company and is still in business there. The Kress Foundation, a philanthropic organization promoting art, was es

The company’s exclusion of African Americans from its lunch counters made Kress a target for civil rights protests during the 1960 lunch counter sit-ins, along with Woolworth’s, Rexall and other national chains.^[5] In Nashville, Tennessee, Kress repeatedly refused to serve the protesters but eventually agreed to integrate the downtown store in exchange for ending a consumer boycott. The Greensboro, North Carolina Kress was included in the first civil rights demonstrations in the South.^[6] The Kress building in Baton Rouge was the site of that city’s first civil rights sit-in, which event helped save it from the wrecking ball 45 years later.^[7]

In the 1920s and 1930s Kress sold a house label of phonograph records under the “Romeo Records” trademark.