TAMPA — Since 2009, J.C. Newman Cigar Co. has been Tampa’s last operational cigar factory. Recently, the 129-year-old business located inside Ybor City’s El Regensburg Cigar Factory learned they have an even more notable distinction. They now run the last operational cigar factory in the nation. Throughout the country, there still exists small operations, like the storefront businesses rolling .
The large clock faces at a West Tampa cigar factory span more than 100 years of time. Decades ago, West Tampa cigar workers looked up to the clock to ring in the new year, and the owners are now hoping to do the same for 2023.