Hello, my name is Sarah Rivera and I am a park ranger at Ybor City Museum State Park. When I’m not chasing after chickens or tending to the courtyard, you might find me peeling through centennials and biographies, searching for stories about the immigrant people who formed and founded this inspiring city. My most treasured piece of Ybor City history is museum’s tour casita: a perfect example of the affordable manufactured homes that Don Vicente Martinez-Ybor constructed for his cigar workers so that they could bring their families with them to the growing city. When you enter the casita you literally step into the culturally rich and challenging lives that the cigar workers faced in the frontier town that was Ybor City. Ybor City’s historically significant architecture does not stop there. If you’re interested in going for a scenic history walk, you can click the link below or scan the QR Code. It leads to a map of Ybor City’s most significant places, with descriptions of each place in English and in Spanish. Be sure to make the Ybor City Museum State Park your first stop!

Sarah Rivera, Park Ranger