Since its construction in the late 1800s by Francisco Ferlita, the Ferlita Bakery, also known as the La Joven Francesca Bakery, has served as a cultural focal point for Ybor City. At that time a large immigrant population that included Italians, Spanish, Cubans, and many other ethnic groups, made up the majority of the city's inhabitants and resulted in an eclectic neighborhood. Ferlita's decision to name his establishment "the Young French Girl" and bake primarily Cuban bread, despite his own Italian heritage, epitomizes the blending of cultures that is such a distinct and intrinsic part of Ybor City society. Cuban bread itself has come to symbolize the culture of Ybor City due to its overwhelming popularity amongst all of its citizens, and the Ferlita Bakery is thought to be one of the first to bake traditional Cuban bread in the United States, though this claim has not been substantiated.

In addition to providing the area's inhabitants with bread, the bakery's importance also stems from its use as a gathering place for the residents of the city. Individuals would often visit the courtyard next to the bakery in order to sit and chat with other patrons, and even the bakers themselves, while eating bread or pastries. The value placed upon the bakery by the community is even apparent in the way in which it was so quickly rebuilt after being inadvertently burned down in the early 1900s.

After Francisco Ferlita's death, his sons and their families continued to run the bakery until the state of Florida purchased the building in a city wide program known as Urban Renewal. The Ferlita Bakery then underwent a conversion into a museum facility. The bakery now houses the Ybor City State Museum, but still retains the same brick ovens inside the building that were used when Francisco Ferlita first built the structure, as an acknowledgement of the building's original use. The Ferlita Bakery continues to serve as an integral aspect of Ybor City, though it no longer supplies bread to the city's inhabitants, by maintaining the area's sense of community through the Ybor City State Museum which celebrates and preserves the unique spirit and history of the area.