Evangelist Street is a historic street in Coconut Grove that has been renamed Charles Avenue. It was built by Bahamian immigrates who moved to the area known today as West Grove in Coconut Grove. Most of the Bahamians that settled in Coconut Grove were from the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. Many were former slaves from West Indian Plantations. A mass immigration from the Bahamas to South Florida and the Keys took place in the late 1800's when agriculture became unsustainable due to rocky soil. Florida had a similar geography and climate so the people who immigrated knew how to farm the land. Later in the 1920's, many were hired by George Merrick to build nearby Coral Gables. One of the first settles to the area was Mariah Brown whose house is now a landmark.
When Coconut Grove refused to build a road in the new community, the residents built their own. Made of oolitic limestone, they named it Evangelist Street for the number of Black churches on the street that included Macedonia Baptist Church, St. Agnes Baptist Church, and St. Paul's Methodist Church. The street runs from Main Highway to SW 37th Avenue also known as Douglas Road. In the late twenties, the street was renamed after early settler Joseph Frow's son Charles. The Frow's sold land to other Bahamian immigrants so that they could build their shotgun style homes.
Evangelist became the main drag in the thriving Bahamian community. It contained businesses including a bicycle shop, grocery store, soda shop and ice cream parlor, and a cleaner's. E.W.F. Stirrup, a prominent Bahamian from Evangelist Street built homes to sell and rent to other immigrants. In the 1920s the business district moved from Evangelist to County Road, now named Grand Avenue.
Other parts of Coconut Grove progressed but through the years Charles Avenue remained the same. It was one of the last streets in the Grove to be paved and get sewers. Today Charles Avenue is still an important part of this historic Bahamian community. Pioneers are interred in the Charlotte Jane Memorial Park Cemetery and the shotgun homes by Mariah Brown and E.W.F. Stirrup are historic landmarks. The Neighborhood Conservation District was formed in 2005 to preserve this historically significant part of Coconut Grove. read more