1880s
A small settlement known as “Cocoanut Grove” forms five miles south of the Miami River (its name changes to Coconut Grove in 1919). Charles and Isabella Peacock build the Bayview Inn, later known as the Peacock Inn, South Florida’s first mainland hotel (site of today’s Peacock Park). [+ PEACOCK STORY/EARLY COCONUT GROVE]
1889
Bahamians immigrants begin settling in Coconut Grove. Early settlers, including Mariah Brown and E.W.F. Stirrup, establish a thriving black community known as Kebo, along Evangelist Street (today’s Charles Avenue) in Coconut Grove Village West.
1891
Commodore Ralph Munroe, known as the “Father of Coconut Grove,” purchases 40 acres of bayfront land and builds his home, the Barnacle, which is preserved today a state park.
Julia DeForest Tuttle, known as the mother of Miami, purchases 644 acres on the north bank of the Miami River. Tuttle immediately begins persuading industrialist Henry Flagler to extend his Florida East Coast railroad south to Miami.
1894
South Florida’s first library opens in the community of Lemon City (today’s Little Haiti neighborhood), five mile north of the Miami River. Settlers in the area create a small but successful community in the upper bay.
Oct. 24, 1895
Julia Tuttle and Henry Flagler strike a deal. She grants him half of her land in exchange for his promise to extend the railroad to Miami. Their contract is affectionately known as “Miami’s birth certificate.”
![This home served as Lemon City’s library from 1894 until 1904. (State Archives of Florida) [+LEMON CITY LIBRARY/EARLY LEMON CITY]](https://mia125.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Lemon_City.jpg)
