Ybor City's 1917 Cuban mutual-aid clubhouse, designed by M. Leo Elliott and widely cited as one of the most haunted buildings in the United States.
2010 Avenida Republica de Cuba, Tampa, FL 33605
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Public tours, events, and rentals priced separately; ghost-tour tickets through third-party operators.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Four-story historic clubhouse with elevator access to the ballroom and theater levels
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1917 · Cuban mutual-aid society founded 1899 in Ybor City · M. Leo Elliott-designed 1917 clubhouse · Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1972) · Contributing structure to the Ybor City National Historic Landmark District
El Circulo Cubano de Tampa traces back to El Club Nacional Cubano, founded in Ybor City on October 10, 1899, by Cuban exiles working in the cigar industry. The organization adopted the name El Circulo Cubano in 1902 and operated as a fraternal mutual-aid society offering medical care, education, recreation, and burial benefits to Tampa's Cuban community.
The society's first clubhouse was completed in 1908 at 10th Avenue and 14th Street. By 1916, when the building was destroyed by fire, the club had grown to approximately 2,600 members. The current four-story neoclassical structure was designed by prominent Tampa architect M. Leo Elliott and completed in 1917. The new building consolidated the social, cultural, and benevolent functions of the organization in a single venue and originally included a theater, ballroom, library, cantina, bowling alley, gymnasium, swimming pool, and pharmacy.
Like Ybor City's other mutual-aid clubhouses, the Cuban Club endured financial pressure during the late twentieth century. The society faced foreclosure in 1992 and undertook a phased restoration in the mid-1990s. On New Year's Day 1996, part of the ballroom ceiling collapsed, damaging a roughly 70-year-old painted mural. Restoration work continued under the nonprofit Cuban Club Foundation supported by donations and state grants.
The building was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on November 15, 1972, and the American Institute of Architects' Florida Chapter recognized it in 2012 as part of 'Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places.' Today the Cuban Club operates as an active event venue, theater, and community gathering place inside the Ybor City National Historic Landmark District.
Sources
The Cuban Club is one of Tampa's signature haunted-building stories and a frequent stop on Ybor City paranormal tours. Tour operators including Tampa Terrors and Nightly Spirits attach a small number of recurring legends to specific rooms in the 1917 building.
The most commonly retold story is 'Rosalita,' a young woman said by tour-operator accounts to have been thrown from the third-floor ballroom after refusing a dance partner. The legend describes apparitions in period dress, a self-playing piano in the ballroom, and elevator activations on the upper floors. According to Tampa Terrors, an actor is also said to have died by suicide on the theater stage; visitors report unexplained footsteps and movement in the seats and wings.
A third story, reported in tour materials and local news features, refers to the documented 1934 shooting of board member Bellarmino Vallejo inside the building. The shooting is described in news archives cited by Tampa Terrors and Hauntedrooms; the supernatural component attached to it by tour operators (cold spots and a sensed presence in the cantina and meeting rooms) is folklore rather than documented history.
The building has been featured by the Travel Channel and other paranormal-media outlets. As with other Ybor City venues, individual reports are user-submitted and unverified; the legends are repeated consistently by multiple independent tour operators and local news features.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Walk the ballroom, theater, cantina, and bowling lanes of the 1917 Cuban Club with a paranormal-tour guide. Operators such as Tampa Terrors and Nightly Spirits cover the building's history and the legends of Rosalita, the on-stage actor, and the murdered board member.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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