SMOKIN KEY WEST
There’s an excellent reason why Key West is a cigar friendly destination: it was once the cigar capital of the United States. During the last half of the nineteenth century, two civil wars in Cuba sent thousands of skilled cigar émigrés to an island ninety miles to the north which Cubans called Cayo Hueso. Key West’s new émigrés rolled Cuban cigars from Cuban tobacco, sold a third less than those from their homeland. By the 1880s, the Spanish language dominated Key West, while its mayor, Carlos de Cespedes spoke only Spanish. A rush to Key West by northern cigar manufacturers ensued, hiring Cuban cigar artisans while virtually converting the tiny island into an appendage of Cuba in “La Florida.” While Ernest Hemmingway once popularized the Key West -Havana connection, today, there’s renewed excitement about Cuba in the warm humid air as Key Westers (Cayohuesanos) anticipate reopening travel there. And there is an abundance of Cuban American legacy on the island, especially in an historic cigar area known as Gatoville.
In 1884, Cuban cigar maker/émigré Eduardo Hidalgo Gato came to Key West after fleeing Cuba’s first war against Spain, briefly locating in New York. Arriving to Key West in 1874, he established the first successful industrial community in the United States in the eastern part of Key West known as Gatoville.
Unlike most 19th century immigrant communities in the United States, Cuban born Eduardo Hidalgo Gato established the nation’s first successful industrial community, combining American entrepreneurial spirit with the Cuban Patron’s humanitarian concern for workers. While typical industrial towns such as Pullman’s outside Chicago were owned and operated with the owners iron fist, Key West’s Gatoville encouraged private enterprise, offering affordable housing, parks, a baseball team for employees, while encouraging education for children at two schools adjacent to the cigar factory on Simonton Street.
Historic Cigar Alley at Duval Square is located across from the historic Gato factory, now the renovated for offices of Monroe County. This new smoke/wine shop is Key West’s hot spot for smoking cigars, enjoying a fine bottle of wine, and discussing Key West’s historic cigar legacy. Historic Cigar Alley is situated on what was once an alleyway connecting two historic schools operated by the Sisters of Holy Mary Conception. It is now known as Duval Square, at 1075 Duval Street, # 4. Its friendly patrons, Becky and Chris will introduce you to their favorite wines, an excellent array of cigars from the largest humidor in Key West, and love to discuss Key West’s cigar legacy. The relaxing ambiance for cigar smoking or wine tasting in the shop extends outside to a large gumbo limbo tree shading an outdoor patio. It is perfectly located adjacent to several excellent restaurants.
If you are interested in learning more about cigar history in Key West please contact us. We have a number of resources available.