Place

Coconut Grove Playhouse in 1940s

Coconut Grove – Yesterday and Today

The VIP list of writers who visited or resided in Coconut Grove by the mid-20th century were joined by the “royalty” of the entertainment world who made the village a stop on their circuits.  The roster of musical artists performing…


Barnacle in 1897

Coconut Grove’s Twentieth Century Journey

The destiny of the Miami area and all southeast Florida changed dramatically in 1896 when Henry M. Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway reached the Miami River. Soon hundreds of new settlers were pouring into Dade County.  Coconut Grove residents viewed…


Coconut Grove Residents in 1887

Early Stirrings in Coconut Grove

We’ve noted in the previous blog that a vast wilderness with small clusters of hardy settlers living along Biscayne Bay was the greater Miami of just 125 years ago. Further, we observed that Coconut Grove, one of those communities, was…


Exterior of U.S. Hotel in 1930s.

United States Hotel in Downtown Miami

Nearing its hundredth birthday, the U.S. Hotel stood as a lonely reminder of a past that is slowly disappearing in downtown Miami. It opened in November of 1918 and was razed in May of 2018. Its age and lack of…


Lake Worth in 1880s

Before the Railroad: The Southeast Florida Frontier

Greater Miami is young, as developed entities goes. While the county stretches back to 1836, the city of Miami, its flagship municipality, traces its corporate existence only to 1896.  Further, the county’s population in 1890 was less than 900, despite…