V. Guerra, Diaz & Co. was owned by Spanish immigrant from Asturias, Vicente Guerra (1850-1909) and his nephew and son-in-law Frank R. Diaz (1874-1946).  Vicente emigrated from Spain to New York City in 1875 where he married Margaret Newschadffer in 1879 and had a daughter named Maria Guerra Neuschadffer (1882-1967) who in 1900 married Frank R. Diaz.  Vicente moved to Tampa in 1894 and in 1895 moved his cigar factory from New York to the east side of Livingston Ave. between Harper St. & Park St. in Palmetto Beach later known as the Corina Factory.  ​

In 1899, the Cuban American Cigar Manufacturing Co. acquired the Corina facilities and made Guerra its Vice President and General Manager, position he held until his death on January 1909.  It appears that due to the acquisition of the Corina factory by the Cuban American Cigar Co. in 1899, sometime between 1899 and 1903, V. Guerra, Diaz & Co. opened a cigar factory at the southwest corner of 7th Ave. & 21st St. in Ybor City and in July 1903 opened a branch factory on Armenia Ave. & Oak St. in West Tampa.

In June 1897, El Modelo Cigar Co. relocated from Jacksonville, FL to the factory vacated by La Hilda Cigar Co. at the corner of Garcia Ave. & Arch St. in West Tampa.  El Modelo Cigar Co. was acquired by the Cuban American Cigar Co. and relocated in 1899 to this new 27,462 sq. ft. factory then known as El Modelo factory, at the northeast corner of Ave. B and Clark St.  The Cuban American Co. did not operate here for long as the 1903 Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. map show that the Cuban American Cigar Co. El Modelo factory was then not in operation.  The 1915 map show the factory as belonging to V. Guerra, Diaz & Co. at the northeast corner of 26th St. & Clark St.

It is then evident that sometime between 1903 and 1915, V. Guerra, Diaz & Co., consolidated their Ybor City and West Tampa factories at this location.  After Vicente's death in 1909, his interests were managed by Frank R. Diaz and Joseph Guerra who had been a former manager at Corina.  It is unknown at this time if there was a family relationship between Vicente and Joseph Guerra.

Armando Mendez in his book West Tampa Ciudad de Cigars state that in 1904 V. Guerra, Diaz & Co. relocated the West Tampa factory to the site previously occupied by A. Santaella & Co. and Leopold Powell & Co. on Howard Ave. & Pine St. and that the Galiano Havana Cigar Co., also owned by V. Guerra, Diaz & Co., was probably a co-tenant in this building.  The dates in Mendez are conflicting as he also states in his book that Leopold Powell & Co. operated at the factory on Howard Ave. & Pine St. until 1906.  Another conflicting information in the book is that V. Guerra, Diaz & Co. moved to this location in Palmetto Beach because their factory in West Tampa was destroyed by the great West Tampa fire of April 4, 1904.  Although it is documented that the fire started at the Mugges Ten Pin Alley catty-corner from the Leopold Powell & Co. factory, it was not affected by the fire due to the winds blowing from the northeast.  

It appears that V. Guerra, Diaz & Co. acquired El Modelo brand from the Cuban American Co. as it is listed as one of the brands they produced. V. Guerra, Diaz & Co. best known brands were La Mega, by which name this factory building was sometimes known, La Matilde, La Flor de V. Guerra, Diaz & Co., La Notica, La Ahles, La Copiosa, Don Vicente and Artemo brands.  

V. Guerra, Diaz & Co., occupied this building until 1943.  During the 1940's it was shared with Tampa Tiger Cigars, Haas Cigar Co. and John W. Merrian & Co.  It also served as naval barracks and training facility during WWII and beginning in 1956 and until the 1970's, it was occupied by the V. Guerrieri Cigar Co. by which name the building was also known. 

On July 5, 2015 just past midnight, the building caught on fire which firefighters were able to contain, however, the building collapsed around noon that same day due to damage to the second and third floors.  At the time of the fire, the building was owned by 201 26th Street North LLC.  Before the fire occurred, a sign in the front yard of the vacant and abandoned building, stated that Acuity Commercial Services was in charge of selling the property.

A picture of the building including some interior photos during its last years can be seen in this page of the website Abandoned Florida.