Discover the history of Coconut Grove

Coconut Grove is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami dating from the 1800’s. With a Bohemian look “The Grove” is a place with lush vegetation, art galleries, cafes and bookstores in a waterfront atmosphere, located roughly south of Brickell and east of Coral Gables. The neighborhood's name was originally spelled "Cocoanut Grove" but the definitive spelling "Coconut Grove" was established when the city was incorporated in 1919.

By 1890, Coconut Grove claimed more than one hundred residents ranking it among the largest settlements on the southeast Florida mainland. By then, those institutions associated with maturing communities began to appear such as the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, a sailing regatta in 1887, and Sunday school classes that then became the first public school in the county, and helped spawn the first church, today’s Plymouth Congregational Church.

The area’s fortunes changed dramatically in 1896 after Henry M. Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway steamed into Miami. Soon hundreds of new settlers were pouring into Dade County.

By the 1970’s malls like Malls like Mayfair and Cocowalk opened businesses dotting McFarlane, Grand, and Main Highway, and many of the wood frame buildings gave way to high rise condominiums, but the area’s uniqueness is still unchanged, examples of this is the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens dating from 1925; or The Barnacle which dates back to 1891; and The Kampong where you can admire 2,000 rare and unusual varieties of tropical and subtropical fruits, palms, vines and flowering trees.