Ritual & Tradition: The History of Cigar Making in Key West

"Long before mojitos, sunsets, and the famous Mallory Square celebrations, Key West had cigars — and the Cuban hands that rolled them changed the island forever."

The story of cigar making in Key West is not simply a footnote in Florida history. It is a living, breathing piece of Cuban-American culture — one of survival, craft, community, and tradition. And at 410 Wall Street, the building that now houses El Meson de Pepe and the Cayo Hueso y Habana Historeum, that history is not just remembered. It is present in every brick, every story, and every guest who walks through the door.

William Wall and the Birth of the Industry

In 1824, an Englishman named William Wall was shipwrecked near Key West. At the time, the island had fewer than 600 residents. Wall stayed. He built a life, and in 1831, he made history by establishing the island's very first cigar factory.

Wall recognized something that others had not yet seen: Key West's proximity to Cuba made it an ideal location for the cigar business. Cuba was already producing some of the finest tobacco leaf in the world. Key West was positioned to receive it, roll it, and send it to markets beyond.

Cuban Migration and Cigar City USA

The cigar industry that Wall started gained enormous momentum in the decades that followed, fueled by a wave of Cuban migration. The Ten Years' War in Cuba (1868–1878) sent thousands of Cubans — many of them skilled cigar makers — across the Florida Straits.

At its peak, Key West was the largest city in Florida and the wealthiest city per capita in the United States. Much of that wealth came from cigars. The island became known as "Cigar City USA".

The Legacy Lives On at Mallory Square

Key West is no longer Cigar City USA, but the cultural imprint of the cigar era never left. At 410 Wall Street, that legacy is preserved more deliberately than almost anywhere else on the island.

The building that William Wall's descendants built in 1879 now houses a Cuban restaurant that has served guests for over 40 years, and a museum dedicated to the very history described in this article.