Sign at Charles Avenue

Material Information

Subjects / Keywords:: West Grove
Miami
Photograph
Charles Avenue (Coconut Grove, Miami, Fla.)
African American neighborhoods -- Florida -- Miami
Genre:: Photograph
Spatial Coverage:: Florida--Miami--Coconut Grove--West Grove
Coordinates:: 25.725723679741 x -80.2453022293297

Abstract:: Historical marker for Charles Avenue off of Main Hwy, which commemorates the African-Bahamian community’s contributions to the development of Coconut Grove, one of Miami’s oldest neighborhoods. Inscription reads: The first black community on the South Florida mainland began here in the late 1880s when Blacks primarily from the Bahamas came via Key West to work at the Peacock Inn. Their first hand experience with tropical plants and building materials proved invaluable to the development of Coconut Grove. Besides private homes, the early buildings included the Odd Fellows Hall, which served as a community center and library, Macedonia Baptist Church, home of the oldest black congregation in the area, and the A.M.E. Methodist Church, which housed the community's first school. At the western end of Charles Avenue is one of the area's oldest cemeteries. ( en )
Funding:: Support for this project was provided by the Mellon funded Race, Risk, and Resilience: Building a Local-to-Global “Commons for Justice” Grant.