Ybor City's 1912 Spanish mutual-aid clubhouse designed by Francis J. Kennard, a National Historic Landmark restored in 2010 and now home to Carne restaurant and entertainment space.
1526 E 7th Avenue, Tampa, FL 33605
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Public access to the ground-floor restaurant and event spaces; upper-floor tours subject to venue availability.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Restored 1912 multi-story clubhouse with elevator and stair access
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1912 · First Spanish mutual-aid society in Ybor City (founded 1891) · Francis J. Kennard-designed 1912 clubhouse · U.S. National Historic Landmark (designated June 3, 1988) · Major restoration completed 2010
El Centro Espanol de Tampa was founded in 1891, becoming the first of the city's ethnic mutual-aid societies that served Ybor City's immigrant cigar-industry workforce. The society's first clubhouse opened on this site in 1892. The current red-brick building, completed in 1912 to a design by Tampa-based architect Francis J. Kennard, replaced the earlier structure and consolidated the society's social, theatrical, and benevolent functions in a single landmark.
Kennard's design combines French Renaissance Revival with Moorish and Spanish Mediterranean Revival accents in red brick with white stone trim. The original program included a theater, dance hall, canteen, soda fountain, and classrooms where English-language and citizenship courses were offered to members. By 1908 the society's membership had surpassed 2,600.
The Centro Espanol was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 3, 1988, and was simultaneously designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark on that date, recognizing it as one of the few surviving structures specifically associated with Spanish immigration to the United States. A major restoration was completed in 2010.
The building today serves as the home of Carne, a restaurant operated by chef Jason Fernandez, along with associated event and entertainment space. It remains a regular stop on Ybor City architecture and ghost-tour itineraries.
Sources
El Centro Espanol is included among Ybor City's haunted-buildings circuit by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, FOX 13 Tampa Bay, and several local ghost-tour operators. The reports attached to the building are narrower in scope than at the neighboring Cuban and Italian clubs.
The most commonly repeated report is the sound of crying or fussing babies heard inside the building when no infants are present. The phenomenon is described in tour materials as concentrated on the lower floors. A second recurring report describes candles that re-ignite shortly after being blown out, a pattern noted by staff during the building's various restaurant and entertainment-venue tenancies.
A third distinctive legend, documented by FOX 13 Tampa Bay and tour guide Max Herman, concerns an antique safe inside the building said to be haunted by the ghost of a man who died attempting to break into it in 1908. Tour guide Herman noted of such spirits: 'They're just as confused sometimes as we are when we make connections.'
No specific named entity beyond the safe-breaker legend is widely attached to the other reports, and contemporary news coverage of paranormal activity at the building is thinner than at other Ybor mutual-aid clubs. The lore is treated by reputable tour operators and local media as low-level reporting rather than as documented case history.
Media Appearances
Visit El Centro Espanol as part of an Ybor City walking ghost tour. Guides describe the building's history, the 2010 restoration, and the reports of crying babies and self-igniting candles tied to the lower floors and former theater.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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