Overtown (Miami)

Last updated

Overtown
Central Negro District (historic) [1]
Neighborhood of Miami
Miami FL Overtown 3rd Ave.jpg
NW 3rd Avenue
Nickname: 
Colored Town (historic name)
Miami neighborhoodsmap.png
Overtown neighborhood within the City of Miami
Coordinates: 25°47′14.92″N80°12′2.32″W / 25.7874778°N 80.2006444°W / 25.7874778; -80.2006444
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  United States
StateFlag of Florida.svg  Florida
County Miami-Dade County
City Miami
Government
 • City of Miami CommissionerKeon Hardemon
 • Miami-Dade CommissionersAudrey Edmonson
 •  House of Representatives Cynthia Stafford (D)
 •  State Senate Larcenia Bullard (D)
 •  U.S. House Frederica Wilson (D)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total6,736
 • Density3,410/km2 (8,820/sq mi)
 •  Demonym
Towner
Time zone UTC-05 (EST)
ZIP Code
33136
Area code(s) 305, 786

Overtown is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States, just northwest of Downtown Miami. Originally called Colored Town in the Jim Crow era of the late 19th through the mid-20th century, the area was once the preeminent and is the historic center for commerce in the black community in Miami and South Florida. The Overtown Historic Folklofe Village is in the area. [2]

Contents

It is bound by NW 20th Street to the north, NW 5th Street to the south, the Miami River, Dolphin Expressway (SR 836), and I-95 (north of the Midtown Interchange) to the west, and the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) and NW 1st Avenue to the east. Local residents often go by the demonym "Towners".

History

Overtown Folklife Village sign on the NW 2nd Avenue Miami FL Overtown Overtown Folklife Village.jpg
Overtown Folklife Village sign on the NW 2nd Avenue

A part of the historic heart of Miami, it was designated as a "colored" neighborhood after the creation and incorporation of Miami in 1896. The incorporation of Miami as a city occurred at the insistence of Standard Oil and FEC railroad tycoon Henry Flagler, whose mostly black American railroad construction workers settled near what became Downtown Miami, just north of Flagler's Royal Palm Hotel on the Miami River. Owing to a substantive black population, 168 of the 362 men who voted for the creation of the city of Miami were counted as "colored," but the separate but equal segregation laws of the Deep South dictated the city designate the portion of the city, in this case, north and west of FEC railroad tracks, as "Colored Town." [3]

The second-oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of the Miami area after Coconut Grove, the area thrived as a center for commerce, primarily along Northwest Second Avenue. Home to the Lyric Theatre (completed in 1913) and other businesses, West Second Avenue served as the main street of the black community during an era which, up until the Civil Rights Act of 1964, barred black residents from entering middle and upper income white areas like Miami Beach and Coral Gables without "passes." [4] During the Florida land boom of the 1920s, Overtown was home to one of the first black millionaires in the American South, D. A. Dorsey (who once owned Fisher Island), and the original Booker T. Washington High School, then the first high school educating black students south of Palm Beach. [4] Community organizing and mobilization during the era, as such in actions of Reverend John Culmer, who advocated for better living conditions for lower class blacks living in abject squalor during the 1920s, led to the completion of Liberty Square in 1937 in what is now-called Liberty City. Northwest Second Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood, once-called the "Little Broadway" of the South, [5] by the 1940s hosted hundreds of mostly black-owned businesses, ranging from libraries and social organizations to a hospital and popular nightclubs.

Popular with blacks and whites alike, [6] Overtown was a center for nightly entertainment in Miami, comparable to Miami Beach, at its height post-World War II in the 1940s and 1950s. The area served as a place of rest and refuge for black mainstream entertainers such as Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, and Nat King Cole who were not allowed to lodge at prominent venues where they performed like the Fontainebleau and the Eden Roc, where Overtown hotels like the Mary Elizabeth Hotel furnished to their needs. Further, many prominent black luminaries like W. E. B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson lodged and entertained in the neighborhood. [7]

The area experienced serious economic decline from the late 1950s. Issues ranging from urban renewal to the construction of interstate highways like I-95 (then, the North-South Expressway), the Dolphin Expressway and the Midtown Interchange in the 1960s, fragmented the once-thriving center with the resident population decimated by nearly 80 percent from roughly 50,000 to just over 10,000. [8] The area became economically destitute and considered a "ghetto" as businesses closed and productivity stagnated in the neighborhood. [9] In 1982, a riot broke out in the neighborhood following the police shooting of a man.

Development was spurred in the area again in the late 1980s with the construction and completion of the Miami Arena and transit-oriented development surrounding the newly opened Overtown station.

Since the 1990s and 2000s, community gardens have been created, in addition to renovations to the historic Lyric Theatre and revitalization and gentrification efforts spurred both by the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County. Dr. Marvin Dunn founded the original Roots in the City Overtown Community Garden, turning an "overgrown, littered lot into a flourishing garden" maintained by Overtown residents and volunteers. [10] [11] [12] Roots in the City, a non-profit "dedicated to community development, jobs training, inner-city beautification, healthy eating initiatives, and community research" used the Community Gardens to provide affordable fresh produce to low-income families, public school students, community agencies and homeless shelters. [13] and is also organizes an urban farmer's market. [14] These projects and other aspects of Overtown were featured in a short documentary The Ground under Overtown centered on multi-issue multi-racial community organizing created around Florida protests against the FTAA with a focus on environmental racism, critiques of so-called "free trade" agreements like the FTAA, and positive community solutions such as permaculture. Anti-FTAA protesters at Dr. Dunn's invitation held a workshop on permaculture at the Overtown Community Garden and donated over 100 cherry trees to the Overtown community. [15]

In 2015, David Beckham announced that he had secured land in the neighborhood for a future, since-named Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami, [16] although the team has since proposed a stadium at a different site in the city. [17]

Demographics

Overtown Music and Arts Festival Miami FL Overtown Music and Art Festival.jpg
Overtown Music and Arts Festival

As of 2000, [18] Overtown had a population of 10,029 residents, with 3,646 households, and 2,128 families residing in the city. The median household income was $13,211.99. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 74.77% Black, 19.90% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 3.27% White (non-Hispanic), and 2.05% Other races (non-Hispanic).

Places of interest

Lyric Theater, 1914 Miami FL Historic Overtown Lyric Theatre.jpg
Lyric Theater, 1914

Overtown is home to several historic churches and landmarks listed in the National Register of Historic Places, including:

Other places of interest included in the City of Miami Historic Preservation Program are:

Parks and recreation

Henry Reeves Park Miami FL Overtown Henry Reeves Park.jpg
Henry Reeves Park

Education and institutions

Booker T. Washington High School Miami FL Overtown Booker T. Washington Senior High School.jpg
Booker T. Washington High School

Schools

Miami-Dade County Public Schools:

Libraries

Museums

Places of worship

Greater Bethel AME Church, 1927 Miami Overtown FL Greater Bethel AME01.jpg
Greater Bethel AME Church, 1927

In addition to the churches listed in the places of interest section, in the neighborhood there are: [43]

Other institutions

Dr. William A. Chapman House Miami FL Overtown Chapman House.jpg
Dr. William A. Chapman House

Infrastructure

Transportation

Overtown is served by the Miami Metrorail at:

Health care

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References

Notes

  1. ↑ "The Reverend John Edwin Culmer, 1891-1963". Episcopal Archives. 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  2. ↑ https://goingovertown.org/listing/folklife-village-2/
  3. ↑ Mjagkij, Nina (2001). Organizing Black America: An Encyclopedia of African American Associations. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. p. 287. ISBN   978-0-8153-2309-9.
  4. 1 2 Mjagkij 2001
  5. ↑ Savage, Beth (1995). African American Historic Places. Washington, D.C.: National Register for Historic Places. p. 155. ISBN   978-0-471-14345-1.
  6. ↑ Bird, Christiane (2001). The Da Capo Jazz and Blues Lover's Guide to the United States . Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press. p.  106. ISBN   978-0-306-81034-3.
  7. ↑ Jones, Maxine; Kevin McCarthy (1993). African Americans in Florida. Key West, Florida: Pineapple Press. p.  164. ISBN   978-1-56164-031-7.
  8. ↑ Hirsch, Arnold; Raymond A. Mohl (1993). Urban Policy in Twentieth-Century America. Piscataway, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. p. 139. ISBN   978-0-8135-1906-7.
  9. ↑ Simms, Bob (July 21, 1975). "Minority Experience: Welcome to the Ghetto, It's No Place Like Home". The Miami News . Retrieved June 19, 2011.
  10. ↑ Food Events: Roots in the City Farmers Market Pilots this Week
  11. ↑ Roots In The City Overtown Community Garden
  12. ↑ Roots In The City Presents: The Overtown Community Garden
  13. ↑ Piola Takes Inner City Produce To Its Restaurants On Miami Beach, Brickell And Hallandale Beach
  14. ↑ Roots in the City Urban Farmers' Market
  15. ↑ The Ground Under Overtown
  16. ↑ Hanks, Douglas (December 4, 2015). "Beckham announces Overtown site for soccer stadium". Miami Herald. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  17. ↑ Flechas, Joey (July 18, 2018). "After Beckham's 5-year quest, the next decision on his soccer stadium is up to voters". Miami Herald. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Demographics of Overtown Miami, FL". miamigov.com. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
  19. ↑ Historic preservation program. "D. A. Dorsey House". City of Miami Planning Department. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  20. ↑ Historic preservation program. "Greater Bethel AME Church". City of Miami Planning Department. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  21. ↑ Historic preservation program. "Lyric Theater". City of Miami Planning Department. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  22. ↑ Historic preservation program. "Mt. Zion Baptist Church". City of Miami Planning Department. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  23. ↑ Historic preservation program. "St. John's Baptist Church". City of Miami Planning Department. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  24. ↑ Historic preservation program. "Dorsey Memorial Library". City of Miami Planning Department. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  25. ↑ Historic preservation program. "D.A. Dorsey House". City of Miami Planning Department. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  26. ↑ Historic preservation program. "Ebenezer Methodist Church". City of Miami Planning Department. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  27. ↑ Historic preservation program. "Hindu Temple". City of Miami Planning Department. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  28. ↑ Historic preservation program. "St. Agnes' Episcopal Church". City of Miami Planning Department. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  29. ↑ Historic preservation program. "Ward Rooming House". City of Miami Planning Department. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  30. ↑ Historic preservation program. "X-Ray Clinic". City of Miami Planning Department. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  31. ↑ "Dorsey Park". City of Miami Parks and Recreation. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  32. ↑ "Gibson Park". City of Miami Parks and Recreation. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  33. ↑ "Henry Reeves Park". City of Miami Parks and Recreation. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  34. ↑ "Williams Park". City of Miami Parks and Recreation. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  35. ↑ "Frederick Douglass Elementary School". Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  36. ↑ "Paul Laurence Dunbar K-8". Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  37. ↑ "Phillis Wheatley Elementary". Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  38. ↑ "Booker T. Washington Senior High School". Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  39. ↑ "Theodore & Thelma Gibson Charter School". Theodore & Thelma Gibson Charter School. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  40. ↑ "Culmer/Overtown Branch". Miami-Dade Public Library System. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  41. ↑ "Dorsey Memorial Library" (PDF). City of Miami Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  42. ↑ "Black Police Precinct Courthouse and Museum". Black Police Precinct Courthouse and Museum. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  43. ↑ "Faith Based Organizations". City of Miami Neighborhood Enhancement Team. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  44. ↑ "Culmer Center". Miami-Dade County Community Action and Human Services. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  45. ↑ "Overtown NET". City of Miami Neighborhood Enhancement Team. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  46. ↑ "Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency". Miami Community Redevelopment Agency. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  47. ↑ "Overtown Youth Center". Overtown Youth Center. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  48. ↑ "Jefferson Reaves, Sr. Health Center". Jackson Health System. Retrieved November 24, 2013.

Bibliography

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