While driving through Miami Shores, I came across this blue historical marker in front of Village…read moreHall. The marker is part of Florida's Historical Marker Program, one of the Division of Historical Resources' most recognizable public history initiatives. These markers commemorate significant people, places, and events throughout the state and can be found along roadways, at archaeological sites, battlefields, cemeteries, colleges, historic districts, schools, and churches. Historical Marker F-1178 was erected in 2021 by the Miami Shores Historic Preservation Board and the Florida Department of State. During Florida's land boom of the 1920s, developer T. V. Moore envisioned an upscale, master-planned residential community on land he owned in what is now Miami Shores' commercial district. In 1924, the Shoreland Company purchased Moore's property, along with the Gordon Tract, Bay View Estates, and other scattered parcels, to create the community of Miami Shores. Homes were designed in the Mediterranean Revival style, reflecting the company's vision of creating "America's Mediterranean." The development was named after Victor Jacobi's popular 1919 waltz, On Miami Shore. Although the devastating 1926 Miami hurricane and the collapse of the Florida land boom slowed construction, the community continued to grow steadily over the following decades. Miami Shores was officially incorporated as a village in 1932. It developed into a primarily residential community known for its tree lined streets, green spaces, and commitment to preserving its architectural heritage. A major milestone came in 1940 with the founding of Barry University which grew into one of the village's largest institutions and an important cultural and educational center. Miami Shores is one of my favorite South Florida communities because of its beautiful historic homes and welcoming small town atmosphere, despite being surrounded by the larger Miami metropolitan area. I always enjoy visiting for its historic preservation efforts, parks, and convenient location just minutes from downtown Miami.

Another iconic building in Downtown Miami. Definitely worthy of a visit. If you do go, hit the…read morebutton to the top in the elevator, to see sweeping views. The public are allowed to go there. Once you are up there, you can see this area of Miami from a different wow factor insight. Check out my pictures for a taster.. The Miami Tower is a 47-story, landmark office skyscraper in Miami, Florida, United States. It is located in central Downtown. It is currently the 16th tallest building in Miami and Florida. Add to your "must see" list for Down town Miami.

Newly renovated "Sky Lounge" is awesome! The gym is nicer than some gyms you have to pay for. Staff…read moreis nice and the building is clean.

The histories of Cuba and Miami are deeply intertwined, and reminders of that connection can be…read morefound throughout the city, including here at Tamiami Park. While driving through the park, I couldn't miss the large Cuban Flag Memorial near the FIU stadium. Curious to learn more, I stopped for a closer look. The Memorial Cubano was created through a community effort by Cuban exiles in South Florida who wanted to commemorate those who died under the Cuban government after 1959 or while attempting to flee the island. The project began in 2002 when a group of exiles organized a symbolic cemetery to honor victims whose graves were either inaccessible or nonexistent. Thousands of white crosses were placed throughout Tamiami Park, each bearing the name of a deceased person. What began as a temporary tribute soon became an annual tradition. After years of displaying the crosses, a permanent memorial was officially inaugurated on February 22, 2014. Designed by Cuban architects Willy Borroto and Otto Borroto, the memorial features a 62 foot tall obelisk painted as the Cuban flag, a large white star-shaped plaza representing the flag's star, royal palm trees representing the national tree of Cuba, and black marble panels engraved with the names of the deceased. Memorial Cubano, Inc., the nonprofit organization that owns and maintains the memorial, keeps records of individuals whose deaths it deems are attributed to political repression, imprisonment, military actions, or attempts to escape Cuba. Annual ceremonies continue to be held here to honor those who lost their lives under Castro's regime. One particularly large gathering took place on the day of Fidel Castro's funeral. As I walked through the memorial and looked at the names and photographs, the cost of the struggle for freedom was driven home. It was a moving experience. This memorial is well worth a visit if you find yourself in Sweetwater. It is a reminder of the enduring impact Fidel Castro's regime has had on Cubans and the South Florida community.

Continuing to brush up on my Latin American history, I present the bust of General José Gervasio…read moreArtigas. This is one of a number of Latin American monuments from the 1960s that were moved to the exterior of Bayfront Park when it was redesigned by artist and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi in the 1980s. José Gervasio Artigas (1764-1850) was a soldier and statesman famous for leading the independence movement in Uruguay. Artigas was born in Montevideo, then part of the Spanish Empire. He worked as a rancher and cavalryman before joining local militias. In 1811, inspired by broader independence movements in South America, he led a revolt against Spanish colonial authorities. His victory at the Battle of Las Piedras became a major symbol of resistance. This bust can be found near the Freedom Tower. It honors Artigas's role as a leader of the gauchos in the fight against Spanish domination. He is a national hero known as the "Father of Uruguayan Independence."

Marjorie Stoneman Douglas lived in this home in Coconut Grove. It was built in 1926 by George Hyde…read moreand is designed to look like an English Cotswolds country cottage. The house looks like it is out of a fairy tale. The house is extremely small, barely 900 feet. Marjorie considered it more of a workshop than a home. It is a single story wood frame T shaped structure with a stucco, brick, and half-timbered exterior walls and a sloping roof covered in wood shingles. The interior has hardwood flooring, plaster walls, and plaster ceilings with exposed beams. The interior has one large room that used to be dominated by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas's desk. The other rooms are a little bedroom and a tiny kitchen that only held a hot plate and toaster. Furnishings in the home were very simple. The house didn't have a driveway because she never learned to drive or central air conditioning. Marjorie did much of her writing in the home including the 1947 book The Everglades: River of Grass which spawned a movement to save the Everglades from development. The state of Florida purchased the house in 1991. Marjory was allowed to live out the rest of her life in her home which she did until she passed away at the age of 108 in 1998. The house was designated a national landmark in 2015. The house sits vacant as the people in the neighborhood have fought any attempts at turning the house into a museum fearing the traffic it would bring to the area. With the shooting that took place at the high school named in Marjorie Stoneman Douglas's honor in Parkland her name has been thrust back in the spotlight and there is renewed interest in finally doing something with the house. It seems like the neighbors may finally be coming around to allowing access to the house on a limited basis. Before that can happen the state needs to repair termite damage and mold caused by an air conditioner leak. Some of the ideas for the house are to turn it into a museum to honor Marjory or to allow a writer to live there in residence. A plan that has been scraped is to move the house to Fairchild tropical Gardens where there is a statue of Marjory Stoneman Douglas sitting on a bench. I am a long time Marjory Stoneman Douglas fan. As someone who loves the Everglades I appreciate her and everything she did to save it from development. I have seen many lovely pictures of her outside her home usually with a cat. Visiting her house was a thrill. I especially loved discovering the seahorse on the outside fireplace and the hand shaped doorknocker on the front door. I truly hope the neighbors and the state can come to an agreement to allow people access to the property. Right now you can easily park in front of the house and take a peek in the windows. Marjory Stoneman Douglas created a lasting environmental legacy and her home deserves to be protected and maintained. Maybe even more so after what happened in Parkland. The house belongs to all of us and we should be able to pay our respects to her there.

I love discovering old places, and if they are abandoned even better for me! It is surely worthy of…read morea trip - lets hope they GET ON WITH RESTORING IT, and stop wasting money on just maintaining it!! (its been owned by the state since 2007 after all!!!) Here is some more information and history about this house (sourced from https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/things-to-do/arts-history/marjory-stoneman-douglas-house.html) Almost 68 years after Marjory Stoneman Douglas' "The Everglades: River of Grass" changed the popular conception of the Everglades from worthless swamp to treasured ecosystem, the Stoneman Douglas house in Miami's leafy Coconut Grove neighborhood will be designated a national historic landmark. During his first visit to Everglades National Park in April 2015, President Barack Obama declared the protective designation for the conservationist's modest 1926 cottage at 3744 Stewart Ave. No plans have been announced yet for opening the stucco-covered, wood-frame Stoneman Douglas house to the public, although fans still can go by the historic one-story home, now surrounded by million-dollar mansions. Preservationists and environmentalists have argued for years with neighbors over the fate of the bungalow and concerns that turning it into an education center or attraction would overwhelm the area with traffic and violate residential land use codes. A plan to move the house three miles from its South Grove location to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden was scrapped in 2006. The Stoneman Douglas house and property have been owned by the State of Florida and since 2007 has been maintained by the Florida Park Service as a lasting memorial to a remarkable "woman who saved the Everglades." As a 34-year-old divorced woman living with her father, buying her own house represented independence to Douglas. In her autobiography, "Voice of the River," she wrote about her desire to have a place of her own. I didn't need much of a house, just a workshop, a place of my own. All I wanted was one big room with living quarters tacked on. I knew an architect, George Hyde, who drew up some plans. He mostly built factories, which was fortunate, because I hoped my little house would be as stout and as sparse as a factory with not much to worry about. Because she never learned to drive, the house had no driveway (or air conditioning, electric stove or dishwasher). Part Tudor Revival and part Medieval Revival in design, the house, created by well-known architect George Hyde, is noted for its hip roof, half-timbering, post-hurricane wood floors, elegant detailing, and cast bronze hardware. Starting out as a young writer working for her father at The Miami Herald in 1915 following her brief marriage, Marjory Stoneman Douglas eventually produced more than 100 short stories for popular magazines. "River of Grass," published in 1947, was her most influential work. Later in life, she became a relentless crusader for the natural preservation and restoration of the nature of South Florida. She recognized that the Everglades was a system that depended not only on the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee into the park, but also upon the Kissimmee River which feeds the lake. To add a voting constituency to her efforts, in 1970 she formed the Friends of the Everglades, and was active as the head of the organization. Dubbed the "Grande Dame of the Everglades," she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Upon her death at the age of 108 in 1998, The Independent in London stated, "In the history of the American environmental movement, there have been few more remarkable figures than Marjory Stoneman Douglas." Today, Everglades National Park, the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, protects over 1.5 million acres. It's the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states, behind Yellowstone National Park and Death Valley National Park. There are three ways to access the park by car. The main entrance in Homestead connects visitors to the Royal Palm Area and the Flamingo Area of Everglades National Park. The Shark Valley entrance is in Miami and the Gulf Coast Entrance is in Everglades City.

An historic business district on Hollywood Boulevard built up in the 1920's and 1930's. The…read moreHollywood Historical Society affixed markers to the historic landmarks which are now modernized businesses although the exterior structure remains original. In my hunt for the landmarks, I found five on Hollywood Blvd that peaked my interest: Hollywood Furniture Co. Central Arcade Hollywood Theatre/Ritz Lovett's/Woolworth Co. Hollywood Publishing Co.

If you are a history buff, like me then you should visit here. It is located in Downtown Miami so…read morenear plenty of other places of interest. There are two entrances and it makes for a very pleasant walk from one entrance to the other. Other people have listed a lot of information already about the history, but I found this little nugget..see below. The most puzzling grave in the cemetery is the one belonging to Carrie Miller, a room-size monolith that reads, "THE BODY OF CARRIE BARRETT MILLER WAS MOULDED IN THIS SOLID BLOCK OF CONCRETE--DECEMBER 4TH.1926. AFTER THE BODY HAS GONE TO DUST HER SLEEPING FORM WILL REMAIN."

I love history and what better way to experience it than to visit the final resting place of some…read moreof Miami's pioneers. This is the oldest cemetery and the only municipal cemetery in Miami Dade county. On January 4, 1989 this cemetery was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. I have been running all over Miami visiting some of it's most historic places like Fort Dallas and Arch Creek Park and this cemetery has been long on my list. Somehow October seemed the appropriate month to visit. One year after Miami was incorporated this cemetery was built in 1887 a half mile out of the city limits along a wagon road. The 10 acre piece of land for the cemetery was sold to Miami by Mary Brickell for $750. It was considered a " rocky wasteland" not suitable for building. With the growth of the city the cemetery is now between downtown and art loving Wynwood. The first burial in the cemetery was an elderly black man on July 14, 1897. H. Graham Branscomb, a 24 year old male from England who died from consumption was the first caucasian burial. Whites were buried on the east end of the cemetery and African Americans were laid to rest on the west side. Today 9,000 souls are currently laid to rest here. The graveyard is maintained by the city but not very well. Many of the mausoleums have been stripped of their bronze and now just have plywood. The graves themselves are to be maintained by the families of the interred who owned deeds to their plots. It is one of the few cemeteries where the owners of the plot hold the deed to the land. Some of the graves date back to the 1800's although there are much newer burials. Around a thousand burial spots are left and ten to twenty burials still take place every year but restrictions are strict. You must either be a deed holder or family of the deed holder. The graveyard has different sections, one for African American pioneers, a walled and gated Jewish section, and veterans of the Civil War, Spanish-American War, and World War I and II. Some of the famous names that are familiar to South Floridians that are buried here include Burdine, Peacock, Tuttle, Duval, Sewell and Jackson. The grave of Carrie Miller bears the following inscription "The body of Carrie Barrett Miller was moulded in this solid block of concrete--December 4TH.1926. After the body has gone to dust her sleeping form will remain." The cemetery contains the only known five oolitic limestone gravestones worldwide. Shady trees and tropical plants make this a beautiful resting spot for some of Miami's most famous former residents.

The bust of Bernard O'Higgins is one of many monuments to Latin American leaders that can be found…read morethroughout downtown Miami. These busts and statues date to the 1970s and were relocated from inside Bayside Park to the outskirts when the area was redesigned in the 1980s. Today, you can find O'Higgins keeping watch over a nearby parking lot. Read on as I continue filling in the gaps in my knowledge of Latin American history with this chapter of Chilean history. Bernard O'Higgins (1778-1842) is considered one of the founding figures of modern Chile and is often referred to as the "George Washington of Chile." He was born the illegitimate son of Ambrosio O'Higgins, an Irish-born official in the Spanish Empire. Determined to free Chile from Spanish colonial rule, he became a leading figure in the Chilean independence movement in the early 19th century. During the Chilean War of Independence, O'Higgins worked closely with José de San Martín. Together, they led the famous crossing of the Andes Mountains and defeated Spanish royalist forces at the Battle of Chacabuco in 1817. After Chile formally declared independence in 1818, O'Higgins became the nation's first Supreme Director. His government promoted education, infrastructure development, and military reform. However, his centralized style of leadership drew opposition from some members of the Chilean elite. In 1823, he resigned from office and went into exile in Peru, where he remained until his death in 1842. Today, Bernard O'Higgins is widely regarded as a national hero in Chile. Numerous statues, memorials, and landmarks throughout the Americas bear his name. This bust in Miami serves as a reminder of Chile's struggle for independence and symbolizes the enduring ties between Chile and the United States.