This made me sad. Apart from a sign to state its history, there was nothing else to see. This…read moremade me sad, really? all that history, all these pour should and bodies that were originally buried here, and that's the best you can do? Very sad. Nothing to see apart from an area, taken over, possibly avoiding the truth the history just be forgotten in the name of what? progress? life? life carrying on? According to records there were 525 people buried in the land, many of whom were Black and Bahamian labourers that helped develop Miami in the early 1900's. Discovered in 2008, the Lemon City Cemetery is believed to be one of the oldest burial sites of people of color in Miami and was designated a historical site in November 2009. In April 2009, Carlisle Development Group and Biscayne Housing Group were in the beginning stages of developing a series of low-income housing buildings, when human remains were found while digging the land. At the time, the city had no records of the cemetery's existence. An examination of the remains and the land concluded that the construction site was indeed a cemetery, believed to date back to the early 1900s. (This is so freaken sad - how can this be so????) Further examination of the human remains concluded 525 souls were interred in the cemetery, the majority of whom were of Black American and Bahamian descent. Many of them were laborers who helped with the construction and development of Miami. see this for more information - https://www.miamitimesonline.com/faith_family/to-be-laid-to-rest-historical-markers/article_93f90568-bc1d-11e8-a548-fbaebc0ed876.html

Lemon City is an unincorporated area that predates Miami. It was a farming community that sprang up…read morein the 1850's, 26 years before the founding of Miami. The community took their name from the unusually sweet lemon trees that grew in the area. By the time Miami was incorporated, Lemon City already had a population of 300. Lemon City had the areas oldest school, the Lemon City School, and the first library, the Lemon City Library. Lemon City was segregated with Black families living in three neighborhoods, Nazarine, Boles Town, and Knightsville. The exact boundaries of Lemon City have been lost to time since it was never incorporated. During the 1980's many Haitian immigrants made what was once Lemon City their home. The area has now been designated as Little Haiti which upset some of the descendants of the pioneers of Lemon City who thought the name change was insulting to their history. To be more inclusive of all of the history of the area, 10 historical signs marking the history of Lemon City were erected by the Mayor's office. Markers were placed at the Lemon City Train Station, Lemon City Pharmacy, Lemon City Library, the Lemon City Port, and here at the Lemon City Cemetery. In April 2009 while doing construction on the Village Carver Apartments, an affordable housing development off Northwest 71st Street near Fourth Avenue, workers who were digging discovered bones. According to the city, they were not aware that the 2.4 million dollars worth of land held a cemetery. It turned out that a total of 525 lemon City residents were buried there, most of whom were black Americans of Bahamian descent. Burials in the Lemon City Cemetery are documented from 1911 until 1935 when African-Americans were buried here during segregation. Eventually the city lost track of the location of the cemetery. Concerned citizens united to prevent building from taking place on the cemetery. Led by local historian Enid Pinkney, they formed the Lemon City Cemetery Community Corporation. In November 2009, the City of Miami designated the cemetery a historical site. The developers offered to move the remains buried here but ultimately gave in to the demand to leave them. Instead a memorial was constructed in 2011 and the cemetery was left as a garden. The memorial is on private property and contains 500 names but where everyone is exactly buried is lost to time. In 2018 a historical marker was placed her to explain the history of the cemetery. It is one of the sadder chapters of Lemon City but thanks to the City of Miami and community leaders this cemetery was rescued from being a housing development. It now provides 2 acres of green space to an area that is otherwise paved over.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a history buff especially in Miami which is relatively new. This area…read morewas a lot different than what it is now, see below for some information about this. If you walk down the street it leads to the water's edge so you can get a glimpse of Miami from another angle. Lemon City was a community on the shores of Biscayne Bay, predating the incorporation of the City of Miami, that was home to white and Black pioneers. Most of the Blacks in this area were of Bahamian descent and established flourishing communities and businesses including the only U.S. Post Office in the area, a library, churches, "a colored school" and a cemetery. There were at least three identifiable Black communities in Lemon City--Nazarine, Knightsville and Boles Town--all dating from about 1900. After the area underwent a drastic demographic shift in the 1920s, Lemon City became a distant memory in the minds of many of Miami's Black pioneers. Today, over a relatively short period of time, Haitians have moved into the area and changed the character of the neighborhood that was once known as Lemon City. The culturally vibrant Haitian community has enriched Miami-Dade's multi-ethnic character.

Lemon City is an unincorporated area that predates Miami. It was a farming community that sprang up…read morein the 1850's, 26 years before the founding of Miami. The community took their name from the unusually sweet lemon trees that grew in the area. By the time Miami was incorporated Lemon City already had a population of 300. Lemon City had the areas oldest school, the Lemon City School, and the first library, the Lemon City Library. Lemon City was segregated with Black families living in three neighborhoods, Nazarine, Boles Town, and Knightsville. The exact boundaries of Lemon City have been lost to time since it was never incorporated. During the 1980's many Haitian immigrants made what was once Lemon City their home. The area has now been designated as Little Haiti which upset some of the descendants of the pioneers of Lemon City who thought the name change was insulting to their history. To be more inclusive of all of the history of the area, 10 historical signs marking the history of Lemon City were erected by the Mayor's office. Markers were placed at the Lemon City Train Station, Lemon City Pharmacy, Lemon City Library, and here at Historic Lemon Avenue. In 1889 eighty-one small lots were platted in Lemon City. A main street ran down the middle named Lemon Avenue. The street originally ran from the Biscayne Bay to Rock Road which is now NE 2nd Ave. The street was forty feet wide and was sand and exposed rock. Much of Lemon City's development took place along Lemon Avenue including the areas first hotel in 1892. In 1895, owner Eugene C. Harrrington deeded the street to Dade County. Since Lemon City was unincorporated they had to pay for their own infrastructure. The all women Village Improvement Association was organized in 1896 to pave Lemon Avenue. They completed laying rocks in 1902 and Dade County provided a steamroller to finish the job. The completion of the road allowed Lemon City to expand west. Lemon City was annexed in 1925 and the name of Lemon Avenue was changed to NE 61st St. I love finding these historic markers and Lemon City has so many of them. It is fun going on a scavenger hunt for the signs. Each one provides another glimpse into a city from the past that no longer exists but still continues to influence Miami today.

Lemon City is an unincorporated area that predates Miami. It was a farming community that sprang up…read morein the 1850's, 26 years before the founding of Miami. The community took their name from the unusually sweet lemon trees that grew in the area. By the time Miami was incorporated, Lemon City already had a population of 300. Lemon City had the areas oldest school, the Lemon City School, and the first library, the Lemon City Library. Lemon City was segregated with Black families living in three neighborhoods, Nazarine, Boles Town, and Knightsville. The exact boundaries of Lemon City have been lost to time since it was never incorporated. During the 1980's many Haitian immigrants made what was once Lemon City their home. The area has now been designated as Little Haiti which upset some of the descendants of the pioneers of Lemon City who thought the name change was insulting to their history. To be more inclusive of all of the history of the area, 10 historical signs marking the history of Lemon City were erected by the Mayor's office. Markers were placed at the Lemon City Train Station, Lemon City Pharmacy, Lemon City Library, and here at the Lemon City Post Office. Marker F-945 installed in 2017 details the history of the Lemon City Post Office. The Lemon City post office opened on October 1, 1889. It was located in a corner of Moffat's bayside store and E.L. White served as the first postmaster. Mail came into Lemon City from the port or by train before being sent south. In 1891 the post office broke with the Moffat family and moved from location to location. It finally got a permanent location in 1905 in its own building. During the years the post office was open, it moved nine times and had twelve postmasters. The post office became part of the Miami postal system in 1925. In 1974, it ceased operation. I am watching with anticipation to see what is going to happen in Little Haiti. You can already see the spark with new businesses opening like the Citadel Food Hall in the Little River area. I had heard of Lemon City in passing when bones were discovered in an unmarked cemetery during construction of an affordable housing unit. I always meant to learn more about this historic area but never had the time. I finally got to explore this area and was really delighted to find all of the historical markers. It was like a scavenger hunt discovering them and learning another piece of Lemon City's history. Although the post office is no longer here, there is a huge MAGIC sign set up heralding what will hopefully be good things to come for this area. I am excited to see the next chapter of history unfold here.

Lemon City is an unincorporated area that predates Miami. It was established right after the Civil…read moreWar. Lemon City was a farming community that sprang up in the1850's, 26 years before the founding of Miami. The community took their name from the unusually sweet lemon trees that grew in the area. By the time Miami was incorporated, Lemon City already had a population of 300 people. Lemon City had the areas oldest school, the Lemon City School, and the first library, the Lemon City Library. Lemon City was segregated with Black families living in three neighborhoods, Nazarine, Boles Town, and Knightsville. The exact boundaries of Lemon City have been lost to time since it was never incorporated. During the 1980's many Haitian immigrants made what was once Lemon City their home. The area has now been designated as Little Haiti which upset some of the descendants of the pioneers of Lemon City who thought the name change was insulting to their history. To be more inclusive of all of the history of the area, 10 historical signs marking the history of Lemon City were erected by the Mayor's office. Markers were placed at the Lemon City Train Station, Lemon City Pharmacy, Lemon City Library, and here at the neighborhood that used to be Lemon City Nazarene. The neighborhood of Nazarene was bounded by Northeast Seventy-First Street to the north, Northeast Third Avenue to the east, and Northeast Second Avenue to the west. The name Nazarene was taken from the bible and it was pronounced Naz'ree. Nazarene was part pineland and part prairie, and it included a muddy low lying area called a slough (slew). This area was platted by a white farmer named Louis W. Pierce in 1900. Pierce owned a lot of land in Lemon City and he needed a place for his Bahamian workers to live. In the mid-20th century due to a variety of factors, many residents shifted to other places in Miami. The Lemon City African American cemetery located in Nazarene was lost during this time. It was rediscovered in 2009 and it also has a historic marker. As a a fan of history, I love discovering Florida's historic markers. The ones located in Lemon City have taught me the story of the former slaves and Bahamian pioneers who built Miami. Lemon City was swallowed up by the northern edge of the City of Miami in the early 1900s. Thanks to people like historian Dr. Pinkney and Miami Mayors Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado and Francis Suarez there are historical markers to make sure the history of Lemon City does not disappear like it's boundaries.

Evangelist Street is a historic street in Coconut Grove that has been renamed Charles Avenue. It…read morewas 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.

Evangelist Street was the original name given to this historical street. It has since be renamed to…read moreCharles Avenue. Charles Avenue is a historic street in Coconut Grove, It is one of the oldest streets in South Florida. It was built in the 1880s by Bahamian settlers who worked for the first hotels in the area. Charles Avenue is lined with shotgun houses, churches, a cemetery and the Coconut Grove Playhouse. The Bahamian community actually built this street, as the town refused to do it for them. They made it out of oolithic limestone which is Coral rock. On the street they have the Charlotte Jane Memorial Park Cemetery formerly known as Coconut Grove Bahamian Cemetery (see my other review). It is a historic cemetery in Miami, Florida where many Bahamian settlers were buried. Florida was first used as a graveyard in the early 1900s by Miami's Bahamian immigrants. There is also the Macedonia missionary Baptist church here (see my other review for more details of this)

Some more history for you history buffs. Magic City, Aka this area, is getting a makeover people!…read moreThis building is derelict, but does have some history attached to it - It is the old DuPuis Medical Office and Drugstore, it was built is 1902 and is located at 6041-6045 NE 2nd Avenue, miami. Dr. John G. DuPuis constructed his medical office and drug store in the rural community of Lemon City four years after he arrived in South Florida. One of the region's most noted early physicians and community leaders, DuPuis founded the Dade County Agricultural School and established what would become one of the area's largest dairies. This traditional Masonry Vernacular style building features pressed metal detailing typical of turn-of-the-twentieth-century American commercial architecture.

Lemon City is an unincorporated area that predates Miami. It was a farming community that sprang up…read morein the 1850's, 26 years before the founding of Miami. The community took their name from the unusually sweet lemon trees that grew in the area. By the time Miami was incorporated Lemon City already had a population of 300. Lemon City had the areas oldest school, the Lemon City School, and the first library, the Lemon City Library. Lemon City was segregated with Black families living in three neighborhoods, Nazarine, Boles Town, and Knightsville. The exact boundaries of Lemon City have been lost to time since it was never incorporated. During the 1980's many Haitian immigrants made what was once Lemon City their home. The area has now been designated as Little Haiti which upset some of the descendants of the pioneers of Lemon City who thought the name change was insulting to their history. To be more inclusive of all of the history of the area, 10 historical signs marking the history of Lemon City were erected by the Mayor's office. Markers were placed at the Lemon City Train Station, Lemon City Port, Lemon City Library, and here at the Lemon City Pharmacy. Dr. John Gordon DuPuis was born in Newnansville Florida in 1875. He graduated from medical school at the University of Kentucky in 1898 and then moved to Lemon City where he began his practice and pharmacy in a one room building behind the Conolly Hotel. The Lemon City Pharmacy Dupuis Office was built in 1902, four years after he arrived in South Florida. It was the first concrete building north of downtown Miami and served as Dr. DuPuis medical practice and pharmacy and his families residence. The pharmacy was designed in a Masonry Vernacular style. The building features pressed metal detailing and the type of commercial architecture that was popular at the turn of the century. Dr. DuPuis was one of the first doctors in the area and a community leader. He treated the sick during a yellow fever outbreak in 1899 and counted the Seminoles and among his patients who held him in high regard. Dr. DuPuis was a white doctor who made house calls to Black families in the area, which was unusual for the time. Based on his belief that fresh milk was necessary for good health, he established what would become one of the area's largest dairies. White Belt Dairy consisted of 900 cows over 2,000 acres and was managed by Dr. DuPuis wife Katherine and his son John. Dr. DuPuis was also passionate about education. He founded the Dade Agricultural School in 1915 which focused on vocational training with a stress on agriculture. In 1925 Dr. DuPuis family moved out of the building and he continued his practice there until he passed away in 1955. The Dr. DuPuis medical building is currently in pretty sad shape. It was on the Dade Heritage Trust list of 12 most historic endangered buildings in 2018 however there may be hope for it because big plans are in the works for this area. The Miami City Commission are considering a billion-dollar real estate project in Little Haiti called the Magic City Innovation District, It is expected to take 10 to 15 years to complete and will turn Little Haiti area into an international draw for tourists and businesses. Spread out over 17 acres it will include residential units, hotel rooms, retail space, and a pop-up theme park with multimedia and interactive installations, designed by Lune Rouge, the Montreal-based company owned by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté. Best of all the developers want to preserve the historic aspects of this neighborhood. The DuPuis Medical Office and Drug Store will be incorporated into the western side of the project. A drawing of the project shows it turned into an art gallery. I am watching with anticipation to see what is going to happen in Little Haiti. You can already see the spark with new businesses opening like the Citadel Food Hall in the Little River area. I had heard of Lemon City in passing when bones were discovered in an unmarked cemetery during construction of an affordable housing unit. I always meant to learn more about this historic area but never had the time. I finally got to explore this area and was really delighted to find all of the historical markers. It was like a scavenger hunt discovering them and learning another piece of Lemon City's history. The pharmacy is currently fenced off in anticipation of the new project and there is a huge MAGIC sign set up across the street heralding what will hopefully be good things to come for this area. I am excited to see the next chapter of history unfold here.

I like learning more about the history of Miami and I found this historic marker at the base of the…read moreSW 1st Street bascule bridge. Marker F-1125 was erected in 2020 by The Florida Department of Transportation District 6 and the Florida Department of State. This area of Miami is the South River Drive Historic District which was the first neighborhood developed on the west side of the river. The South River Drive Historic District contains six frame vernacular houses built before 1915. They were built as rooming houses for new residents and tourists in the early part of the twentieth century. The SW 1st Street bascule bridge was completed in 1929 and provided the access to the downtown that allowed the neighborhood to thrive. This district also has four apartment buildings from the 1940's. The South River Drive Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Lemon City is an unincorporated area that predates Miami. It was a farming community that sprang up…read morein the 1850's, 26 years before the founding of Miami. The community took their name from the unusually sweet lemon trees that grew in the area. By the time Miami was incorporated, Lemon City already had a population of 300. Lemon City had the areas oldest school, the Lemon City School, and the first library, the Lemon City Library. Lemon City was segregated with Black families living in three neighborhoods, Nazarine, Boles Town, and Knightsville. The exact boundaries of Lemon City have been lost to time since it was never incorporated. During the 1980's many Haitian immigrants made what was once Lemon City their home. The area has now been designated as Little Haiti which upset some of the descendants of the pioneers of Lemon City who thought the name change was insulting to their history. To be more inclusive of all of the history of the area, 10 historical signs marking the history of Lemon City were erected by the Mayor's office. Markers were placed at the Lemon City Train Station, Lemon City Pharmacy, Lemon City Library, the Lemon City Port, the Lemon City Cemetery, and here in the historic neighborhood of Lemon City Knightsville. I have learned a lot of Florida history by stopping to read the blue historic markers which can be found all over the state. I discovered this marker while traveling through Lemon City. It recounts the history of Knightsville which is bounded by the area east of I-95, between 71st and 54th Streets. Five acre Knightsville was the cultural center of the community. It had two churches and the local chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the first floor which was the school and the second floor was a meeting space and place for social events. Marker F-1071 was installed in 2019 by Alexander Adams and the Florida Department of State. The Little Haiti of today bears little resemblance to the Lemon City of the past. For one thing there are no more lemon trees but I love finding these historic markers that bring the past to life. It is fun going on a scavenger hunt for the signs. Each one provides another glimpse into Lemon City that despite no longer existing, still continues to influence Miami today.