The Tobacco Factory of Maia, considered one of the oldest on the island St. Michael, laboured in the parish of Maia between 1871 and 1988. This factory was founded by Manuel Bento de Sousa, with their children and grandchildren as continuing his work, death of its founder.
From the 80, and due to competition by other business as well as weak investment in recent years, had been doing in the factory, this começaa entering a phase of decline, closing its doors in 1988. The structure of buildings dissociated themselves from their duties but remained alive the memory of the technical processes of agricultural production and industrial tobacco.
Thus, the Tobacco Factory of Maia, in addition to being an irreplaceable March collective memory of the local community is also an element strongly characterizes identification and for everyone who visits the Eastern Zone of the municipality of Ribeira Grande.