YBOR CITY, Fla. — This is a big week in Tampa Bay history.
It was 140 years ago this very week when the first Tampa-made cigar was rolled in Ybor City.
Before that time, about 700 people called this region home.
WATCH: 'Cigars!' exhibit at Florida Museum of Photographic Arts captures a fading history
Cigars made us happen — Ybor, Tampa, Tampa Bay — expanding our population in exponential ways.
At the height of the cigar industry here, more than 200 cigar factories were operating in Ybor City and West Tampa.
Now, only about 25 of those regal brick buildings still stand, with only a handful still rolling out cigars.
That's where award-winning local photographer Zack Wittman comes in.
He beautifully captures what remains of our fading history in "Cigars! Photography, Industry and Identity," an illuminating new exhibit at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts.
"Ybor reminds me of the great historic American cities like New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston," says Zack. "Southern American cities where architecture is such a big part of their personality."
Zack collaborated with Drew Newman from the J.C. Newman Cigar Company, America's oldest family-owned cigar maker, gaining access to buildings both robust and derelict.
"Cigars!" runs until July 19 and is included with museum admission.
For more on the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, go here.
For more Sean Daly stories, follow him on Instagram at @seandalytv.
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