Asturian Americans


Asturian Americans are citizens of the United States who are of Asturian ancestry.

First American

The first Asturian immigrants came to North America as soldiers, officers and settlers with the Spanish Army in the wake of Spain's conquest of what is today Mexico and the southwestern US. Some came directly to areas that would eventually become American territory, while others came to the US via Mexico or Cuba.
The first known child of European descent to be born in what is now the continental US was Martín de Argüelles, born in 1566 in the Spanish settlement of St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously occupied European-founded city anywhere in the continental United States.

Modern immigration

In the early decades of the 20th century thousands of Asturians left Spain and Cuba and came to work in the thriving tobacco industry of Tampa, Florida, or the zinc and coal mines of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. These Asturian immigrants organized themselves in tight-knit communities, setting up clubs and welfare organizations to provide and care for its members.
One such club is the Centro Asturiano de Tampa, a historic site in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida. It is located at 1913 Nebraska Avenue. Established in 1902, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1974. It was designed by Tampa architect M. Leo Elliott.
On Asturian immigration, the "Asturian-American Migration Forum" states:

2010 US Census

The 2010 US Census failed to include an Asturian category, leaving Asturian-Americans with the only choice of checking the Hispanic category, unlike Basques or Scotch-Irish Americans, who, even though they do not come from independent countries, are recognized by the US Census with their own categories.
This caused some controversy at the "Asturian-American Migration Forum", as one member recalls:
Another member clarified the feelings of the Asturian community at the US Census' lack of sensibility with their heritage:

Notable people

Artists