1895 - Monday January 7, Mr. Fernando Figueredo  first day in office as first West Tampa Mayor

The successful development of the area of West Tampa attracted the attention of the city of Tampa, which had incorporated Ybor City in 1887. However, Hugh Macfarlane led opposition to a merger with Tampa. On May 18, 1895, a bill passed the state legislature creating West Tampa as a separate municipality. At that time the city already had a population of 2,815. West Tampa elected Fernando Figueredo as its first mayor. He had arrived in 1894, a hero of the Ten-Years War in Cuba. Men of differing national origins took part in the governing of West Tampa. Cubans, Spaniards, Italians and Anglos were elected to office and had a voice in the city’s development, but the community was overwhelmingly a product of immigration. In 1910, it had a population of 8,258, of whom only 626 were native whites with native parents.

See http://cigarsoftampa.com/mayors.html for other historic mayors