Millionaires' Row, the Next Generation in Coconut Grove, FL

Before Miami came to be in 1896 there was Coconut Grove.  Named in 1850 by Dr. Horace Porter, it was one of the earliest settlements at the eastward end of the Florida peninsula behind mangrove barriers on the Bluffs of Key Biscayne. Three hundred years earlier, the Spanish knew Coconut Grove by a different name used by resident Tequesta Indians;  “The Little Hunting Grounds”.

By the time English-speakers arrived in “The Grove”, most of the Tequeste had left for Cuba, along with dispossessed Spaniards who had lost their land rights in a treaty with the English in 1763. Pirates and sharks still roamed Biscayne Bay then.

The Tequesta lands were adopted by Seminoles, (mostly the Creek tribe).  The word Seminole translates to “frontiersman”, “outcast”, “runaway”, “separatist” to describe native families and communities who refused to be assimilated into European cultures and emigrated to open land instead.

The Land of “Swells”

Three millennia of human habitation would pass before “Millionaires’ Row” would arise on the bluffs, but the rise was swift.  The legacy continues today, 100 years later.  By 1896, Cocoanut (sic) Grove had a hotel, a school, and a number of institutions. It also had a new postmaster, Ralph Monroe, who took over Dr. Porter’s original outpost.  Henry Flagler came to lunch in The Grove with “The Mother of Miami” – a Tuttle, who asked him to extend his railroad to Miami.

Once Flagler’s railroad reached to Miami, (Flagler accepted Tuttle’s deal) there was no holding back the growth of the city.  By 1925, Miami made a hostile takeover of Coral Gables (the residents of The Grove voted against annexation).  By then, The Grove had become a destination for wealthy northerners who appreciated the warm climate and the seclusion of living on Biscayne Bay.  A tight-knit community arose, mostly made up of anglos with similar pedigrees and tastes.  Many of their homes along the Bay, dubbed “Millionaires’ Row” defined a new architectural style; “Mediterranean Revival”.  The well-to-do residents were referred to as “swells”.

The “see and be seen” scene repeats itself in Coconut Grove of the 21st Century.  Condominium towers have sprouted along the Bluff, and home prices in the trendiest perches on the Bluff make it work out closer to “$10 Millioners Row”, but who’s counting?  After all, the Real Estate market in South Florida will be flying high, for at least as long as mortgage rates remain low.  Expensive SUVs lumber down the streets, mixed in with shiny restored classics and supercars.  If you’ve got it, flaunt it in The Grove!

Peacock People

Peacocks and Parrots are a thing in The Grove.  The Peacocks who settled here are no relation to the bird.  Charles and Isabella Peacock settled their family in The Grove during the 1880s.  They started the Peacock Inn, where Henry Flagler committed to extending the Florida East Coast Railway’s tracks to Miami.  The Peacock family sold large portions of their land to Miami, and today it benefits the public.  The only parrot families in town are tropical immigrants with wings.  The parrots noisy fly in flocks through the acreage left behind by the Peacocks.  They roost and feed in the abundant trees of the Grove, as heard in the Video Postcard.

Peacock People in condo heights

With Parisian pocketbooks n’ tight pink tights

Feathers up as they strut-walk,

Shades on as they squawk

Enjoying life’s pleasures in tapas-sized bites

Black and Brown People

Indigenous people helped to instruct newcomers how to acclimate to swarming insects, relentless humidity and numerous natural hazards in the hammock forest.  They maintained an active trade with caucasians.  As industries grew up in and around The Grove, black and brown people provided labor on land and at sea.  They mostly resided in “Kebo” just west The Grove, which is the oldest Black settlement in Miami.

There were conflicts between the races.  The burning of a lighthouse in 1736, raids and an occasional murder, but from many historical accounts, relations between races were mostly supportive and cordial.  E.W.F Stirrup, a Bahamian, was one of the leaders of the Kebo community who helped to build about 100 houses there for other Bahamians.

The Snowbird Economy

Coconut Grove is home to one of the first international airports in the South.  Pan-American Airways landed pontoon planes at Dinner Key in Biscayne Bay in 1929, making flights from Miami to Havana, in competition with Flagler’s railroad.  Between the new air service, the Florida East Coast Railway, and a new highway for autos, Route 1, Florida became accessible to even more wealthy Northerners seeking refuge from the cold.

Today, “snowbirds” are prevalent in The Grove; Peacocks, parrots, dodos, and others.  Some make their winter homes here, some arrive for a long weekend for a convention, or for an event and stay only a few days.  As a result, the community has become fractious and transient, and the community feel of the 1920s and ‘30s in The Grove has been lost.

The Grove is no longer the homogeneous place characterized by Millionaires’ Row.  Restaurant offerings alone are proof of the multicultural place Coconut Grove and metro Miami have become.