The Boltz, Clymer & Co. was a cigar company establish in Philadelphia, PA. where it operated two factories.  They started their Florida operations manufacturing cigars in a small factory at Tampania Ave. & Union St. and in 1911 they built a cigar factory at this location, on the corner of Habana Ave. & Union St. where they could accommodate some four hundred fifty workers.  They produced the Flor de Americanos, El Pallencia, El Merito and Enterprise brand cigars.  Boltz, Clymer & Co. ceased to operate and shut down its Tampa operation in March 1916.

The Manuel Alvarez Cigar Co. was established and started operation in 1916 in a small factory on Pine St. and Cleveland Ave. in West Tampa. In June 1918, the Manuel Alvarez Cigar Co. relocated to the existing building at this location which had been vacant since Boltz, Clymer & Co. moved out two years earlier.  In 1921 the New York-Tampa Cigar Co. a newly incorporated subsidiary of the Porto Rican-American Tobacco Co. (PRATCO) with a capital of $2 million, acquired the Manuel Alvarez Cigar Co. and began producing the Recollection and Personality cigar brands here. Officers of the New York-Tampa Cigar Co. were Luis Toro Pasarell who was also president of PRATCO, president and Fred J. Davis vice president. After the Tampa cigar workers strike of 1921 operations expanded with the acquisition of Francisco Arango & Co. in 1922, maker of the very popular Pancho Arango brand which had not survived the effects of the strike. After Arango left the firm, Jaime M. Pendás previously with Y. Pendás & Alvarez took over the day to day operations of the firm.

The New York-Tampa Cigar Co. never met the expectations of the parent company. Financial support ceased, in 1923 Pandás returned to work at PRATCO and in 1924 Davis resigned as head of the manufacturing department but remained as a director. In 1925 the factory building, machinery and trademarks except the Recollection brand were sold for approximately $250,000 to the Schwab-Davis Co. whose ownership included Fred J. Davis and Leon Schwab.  The Schwab-Davis Co. remained here until it moved to Ybor City in 1930.

The Antonio Cigar Co., established by Karl Cuesta, the son of Angel Cuesta of Cuesta Rey fame, entered the cigar industry at this location in 1936.  Here, they produced the Rey del Mundo, Charles the Great and Tuval brands as well as several private brands. According to Mendez, the firm prospered until a suspicious fire destroyed the factory on Christmas morning 1943.  In 1945 Karl Cuesta moved his Antonio Cigar Co. across the Hillsborough River to 1316 Spring St. but in 1954 moved back to West Tampa to the old Preferred Cigar factory at Albany Ave. and Pine St. where it stayed until it was acquired by Villazón & Co. in 1967 and closed down.

It appears that the damage to the building caused by the 1943 fire was substantial and may be the reason why the structure is now only a one story building.  Since 1949 it has been occupied by its current owner Speedline Team Sports, Inc. The Speedline Athletic Wear website states that it was founded in New Jersey in 1936 as Malzone Sports and in 1949 the company moved to this building.  Acording to Hillsborough County Property Appraiser, the current structure was built in 1961, probably the year the building was rebuilt to its current format.  

The only history available in public records is that on July 30, 1971 Jenny Monteleone Gibbs, a single person, transferred title to Speedline Athletic Wear, Inc.  No information was found on how or when Monteleone acquired title or if she was associated with Speedline in any way.  On February 1, 2013, Speedline Athletic Wear, Inc. transferred title to Speedline Team Sports, Inc., its current owner.

The first photo in the gallery below is a 1925 image of the Schwab Davis cigar factory on Habana Ave.  It is identified as such by the University of South Florida Digital Commons website as a picture from the Burgett Brothers collection of Tampa photographs.  The 1915 Sanborn Fire Insurance map image #86 shows the Boltz-Clymer & Co. cigar factory at the northwest corner of Habana Ave. & Oak St.  It identifies it as a structure with three stories plus a basement which is in line with the picture.  The map states the basement was storage, the shipping and packing dept. were on the 1st level, the cigar making dept. was on the 2nd level and the filler dept. was on the 3rd level.  As such this factory layout conformed with the typical cigar factories in West Tampa and Ybor City at the time. 

The current photos in the gallery below, show that the structure was considerably altered, but they also show certain traits from the 1925 photo.  For example, the entrance stairway, the front fenestration and cornice above windows on the building front.  Also, the location of the loading dock seems to coincide as well as the basement windows on the side.  Most of what remains from the original building has been covered with stucco as can be seen on the last picture, but there are certain areas where the original bricks can still be seen although painted white.