Coconut Grove

Several waves of immigration established Coconut Grove, the first in 1825, when the Cape Florida lighthouse went into operation and was manned by John Dubose. Dr. Horace P. Porter is credited for coming up with the name when in 1873 he rented a home from Edmond D. Beasley’s widow, who homesteaded 160 acres of bay front property. He lived there for only a year but during that time he established a post office which he named Coconut Grove. Around the same time the area saw an influx of Americans from the Northeastern US, as well as British and white Bahamian immigrants. The first hotel on the South Florida mainland was located in Coconut Grove. Called the Bay View Inn (later known as the Peacock Inn), it was built in 1882, on the site of present-day Peacock Park, by English immigrants Isabella and Charles Peacock, who had been the owner of a wholesale meat business in London. Coconut Grove’s first black settlement, in the 1880s, was established by Bahamian laborers who worked at the Peacock Inn. The Barnacle Historic State Park is the oldest house in Miami-Dade County still standing in its original location. It was built in 1891 and was home to Ralph Middleton Munroe, also known as “The Commodore” for being the first commodore and founder of the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, an American yacht designer and early resident of Coconut Grove.

Formerly an independent city, Coconut Grove was annexed by the city of Miami in 1925. In the 1960s, bay-shore Coconut Grove served as the center of South Florida’s youth countercultural movement, notably hosting several love-ins and concerts (including a now-infamous Doors concert at Dinner Key Auditorium) during the latter part of the decade. The bohemian community continued to grow in Coconut Grove through the 1970s.

A surge of commercial development in Coconut Grove was driven by the construction of three major residential complexes during the late 1970s and early 1980s: Yacht Harbour Condominiums in 1975; Grove Isle, a condominium, club and hotel complex, in 1979; and L’Hermitage in 1980. This was followed with the opening of 2575 S. Bayshore Drive in 1982 and the 1983 opening of Grove Towers. Further development was proposed for Grove Isle in 2013.

Coconut Grove has a number of outdoor festivals and events, the most prominent of which is the annual Coconut Grove Arts Festival. Others include the King Mango Strut, which began as a parody of the Orange Bowl Parade, and which continues each year on the last Sunday in December. The Great Taste of the Grove Food & Wine Festival takes place each April. Each June, the Goombay Festival transforms Grand Avenue in Coconut Grove into a Carnaval (Caribbean Carnival), celebrating Bahamian culture, with Bahamian food and Caribbean music (Junkanoo).

The Grove has numerous restaurants, open air and streetside cafes, and several waterfront restaurants and bars. By night, the Grove becomes a center of nightlife frequented by locals, young professionals, students from the-nearby University of Miami and Florida International University, and tourists.

Shopping is abundant in the Grove, with two open-air malls, CocoWalk, the Streets of Mayfair, and many other street shops and boutiques.

The Village Center, the three blocks radiating from and focusing on the intersection of Main, McFarland, and Grand Avenues, home to the majority of the retail and restaurant business in the Grove, is also home to three gyms, a multiplex movie house in CocoWalk, several parking garages, a state historic site, an elementary school, a City of Miami fire station, several large condos and residential rental towers, the Coconut Grove Post Office, and two sizable parks. Development and redevelopment continue to redefine and transform the area.

Major corporations including Arquitectonica, Spanish Broadcasting System, and Watsco are located in the Grove.

The eastern border of Coconut Grove is Biscayne Bay, which lends itself to the local boating and sailing communities. The area features the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Coral Reef Yacht Club, Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, and a sizable municipal marina, Dinner Key Marina. The US Sailing Center is on the Bay between Kennedy Park and the Coral Reef Yacht Club. Pan Am’s seaplane operations were based at Dinner Key, and the Miami City Hall is based in the old Pan Am terminal building.

Coconut Grove is directly served by the Miami Metrorail at Coconut Grove and Douglas Road stations. Coconut Grove is served by Metrobus throughout the area, and by the Miami Metrorail at:

• Vizcaya (SW 32nd Road and U.S. 1)
• Coconut Grove (SW 27th Avenue and U.S. 1)
• Douglas Road (SW 37th Avenue and U.S. 1)

Metrobus’ Coconut Grove Connection connects at Coconut Grove and Douglas Road stations, going to many popular areas within the Grove, including CocoWalk and Peacock Park.

Cultural institutions

• Coconut Grove Playhouse
• Marjory Stoneman Douglas Home
• Miami Science Museum, moved to downtown Miami
• The Barnacle Historic State Park
• The Kampong
• Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

Libraries

Miami-Dade Public Library operates area public libraries

Schools

Elementary schools
Miami-Dade County Public Schools operates area public schools:

• Coconut Grove Elementary School
• Dade County Training School (1899–1937)
• Frances S. Tucker Elementary School
• George W. Carver Elementary School

Middle schools

George Washington Carver, while actually in Coral Gables, serves Coconut Grove

High schools

• Bridgeprep Academy of Arts and Minds Charter High School, founded in 2003
• George Washington Carver Senior High School (1937–1966)

Private schools

• Ransom Everglades School, founded in 1903
• St. Hugh Catholic School, 1956
• Immaculata-Lasalle High School, 1958
• St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School, 1958
• Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, 1961
• Coconut Grove Montessori School
• Vanguard School

• Charles Avenue
• CocoWalk
• Dinner Key
• First Coconut Grove School
• Mercy Hospital
• Miami City Hall
• Plymouth Congregational Church
• Trapp Homestead
• Woman’s Club of Coconut Grove
• Grove Isle

• The Kampong: an 8-acre (32,000 m2) tropical garden that forms part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden
• The Barnacle Historic State Park: Built in the late 19th century, the former home of Ralph Middleton Munroe is the oldest home in Miami-Dade County still standing in its original location and is situated on the shore of Biscayne Bay. The forest surrounding the home is tropical hardwood hammock and is the last of its kind in the area. The unique architecture includes period furniture and wide porches that afford magnificent views.
• Peacock Park / Kenneth Myers Bayside Park
• David Kennedy Park
• Merrie Christmas Park
• Steele Park
• Blanche Park
• Elizabeth Virrick Park
• Kirk Munroe Park
• Coconut Grove Park
• Grand Avenue Park
• Ingraham Terrace Park
• Sunrise Park
• Marjory Stoneman Douglas Mini Park
• Dinner Key Picnic Islands Park
• Alice C. Wainwright Park