Coconut Grove - Miami's Most Historic Neighborhood

In the 19th century, wreckers from the Bahamas came to South Florida and the Keys to hunt for the remains of an international array of ships that crashed into the Great Florida Reef. The Bahamians were Miami's first permanent residents and helped found South Florida's first real community, Coconut Grove.

But it was Dr. Horace Porter who unwittingly founded the village in 1873 when he opened a post office by the name of Coconut Grove. He left the area one year later, and the post office was temporarily forgotten.

A decade later, Ralph Munroe discovered the abandoned post office. Munroe was visiting Miami again in hopes that the warm weather would help his ill wife who had contracted tuberculosis. His wife passed away, and Munroe buried her in South Florida to then return home to New York to find more tragedy. His infant daughter had also passed away.

The following year, Munroe returned to South Florida and urged the Peacocks, for which Coconut Grove's Peacock Park is named after, to invest in the lodging industry in this new area since there was property, but no available hotels. The Peacocks set the stage when they built the Bay View House. It was actually Charles Peacock who hired black Bahamians from Key West to work at the hotel. Munroe, meanwhile, accidentally found the post office and since it was much easier to re-open an existing post office, Peacock opened it at a new location, the Bay View House, and became post master.

In the 1920's, the Coconut Grove council hired an architect to develop a master plan for this young community. The architect, John Irving Bright created a municipal center in the intersection of Grand Avenue and Main Highway. The center would become the heart of the village and would be anchored by shops, theaters and hotels in a Mediterranean Revival Style. Bright would never see his master plan come to life. Five years later, the City of Miami took over Coconut Grove, and the development plan was put on a back burner.

It would take 70 years (1990) for Coconut Grove to have its village center. Named CocoWalk, the pedestrian-friendly, Mediterranean-style town plaza was unrelated to Bright's plans, but developers used that same source of inspiration - the spirit and flavor of Coconut Grove - to connect the older part of downtown Coconut Grove with the new. Villagers were concerned all through the 80's as the Grove turned trendy and became a hot spot, but in spite of changes the Grove retained its unique character and independent spirit.

To view restaurants in Coconut Grove, please click on the restaurant on the right for a profile of the establishment. To discuss these dining options with one of our representatives, please call 305-856-1422 or 800-260-9347.