IPH Communities – Little Havana Chronology

Chronology

1839 – 1840  

Members of the U.S. Army pass through the eastern edge of what would later be Jose Marti Park while pursuing the Seminoles into the Everglades.

1863

The Sagamore, a union gunboat, passes the eastern edge of what would later be Jose Marti Park , as it neared the home of George Lewis.

1890s

Early Miami promoters and developers, Bethel B. Tatum, John R. Tatum, and Smiley Tatum, come to Miami from Dawson, Georgia.

1896

The Eduardo Luis Gonzalez family moves to Miami, becoming the first known Cubans living in the city.

Olive Chapman Lauther arrives in Miami.

1900s

Miami’s early rise in population leads to the development of several subdivisions south and west of Downtown. The subdivisions on the west, which correspond with today’s East Little Havana, include Miami (A. L. Knowlton), Riverside (later Riverview), and Lawrence Estate Land Company subdivision. Elegant two story residences and bungalows prevail in the neighborhoods early years.

1903

Athos LaSalle and his family move from Orland to Miami, bringing with them a newspaper that eventually evolves into the Miami Herald (1910). The LaSalle family moves into a house on SW 1st St. and 7th Ave.

1904

The Tatum brothers sell lots in Riverside for $300 to $350 through their Lawrence Estate Land Company subdivision.

1905

The 12th Street (later Flagler Street) Bridge opens as a toll-roadway, connecting Riverside to Downtown. The trolley and bridge foster the neighborhood’s growth.

J.W. Warner and his family come to Miami with the railroad.

1906

The Tatum brothers encourage Miamians to buy land in Riverside, warning that an electronic trolley line would be completed through Riverside in only three months, raising prices by 50 percent.

1907

Formerly an auditor for the railroad, J.W. Warner enters the floral business and opens the Miami Floral Company (SW 5th Ave and 1st St.).

1908

The complex of buildings that eventually become The Miami River Inn (SW 2nd St.) start being built.

1909

The City of Miami purchases the 12th Street Bridge and removes the tolls charged to cross it.

1911

Olive Chapman Lauther moves into her home at 1011 W. Flagler St., the current location of the Master Care Panaderia Dullceria.

1912

The Warner Place (SW 5th Ave and 1st St.), home of J.W. Warner, is built at the site of the Miami Floral Company.

1914

Smiley Tatum builds a home for Cyrus Thompson at 676 S.W. 1st St. The home includes an outdoor shower, which all men were expected to use before entering the home in the evening.

1915

A Flagler Street trolley begins operations, carrying passengers as far west as S.W. 12th Avenue.

Parker Henderson is elected Mayor of Miami.

Construction begins on 8th Street (A.K.A. Highway 41, the Tamiami Trail, and, since the 60s, Calle Ocho).

Riverside Elementary School opens at 1190 S.W. 2nd St.

1917

Parker Henderson finishes his term as mayor of Miami.

1920s

Riverside reaches beyond Eighth, 12th and 17th avenues.

1921

Miami’s streets are renamed and renumbered.

The congregation of the Riverside United Methodist Church begins when 70 people gather at Riverside Elementary School for an organizational meeting.

Robert’s Drugstore opens at 701 West Flagler St.

1922

Living at 120 S.W. Eighth Street, the Encinosas become the known Cuban family to live on Calle Ocho. By this point a significant number of Cubans are living in the Riverside area.

The Riverside Baptist Church (S.W. 1st St. and 9th Ave.) is built one year after the congregation was organized.

1923

McAllister Florist opens at 801 S.W. 1st St.

Ada Merritt Junior High School (660 SW 3rd St.) is built. It was closed in the 1970’s but was saved from demolition by protests from the Hispanic neighborhood surrounding the school. In the 1970s the school was transformed into a Hispanic Job Corp Center.

1925

A trolley line begins operations down Sixth Street.

Construction is completed on 8th Street. For the next 30 years, Tamiami Trail is primarily filled with Jewish-owned-and-operated businesses.

The Seventh Day Adventist Church builds a place of worship at 862 SW Fourth St. At the time of its construction, the congregation was already over 10 years old and had been active in community affairs. In recent time, the church has become primarily Hispanic and is now called by its Spanish name, Templo Adventista del Septimo Dia.

1930s

An increasing number of Jews move into the Riverside area. Their businesses, professional offices and institutions accompany them. This population continues to grow, remaining a major element of the community until the 1950s.

1931

Mayor Redmond Gautier is elected to office.

1933

Mayor Redmond Gautier completes his term as mayor of Miami.

1937

Gardner Malloy, a tennis star from Miami, playes Bobby Riggs at Henderson Park (971 NW 2nd St.) for the Dade County Tennis Championship. Riggs wins the match in five sets.

1939

The current building for the Riverside United Methodist Church at 985 NW 1st St. is built.

1940

The Stein Paint Company opens at 545 W. Flagler St. As Miami’s oldest paint store, it has provided paint for the Orange Bowl Stadium, the University of Miami Complex, and Carnival Cruise Line ships.

1945

The Miami Jewish Home for the Aged opens with 31 beds at 335 S.W. 12th Ave.

“Doc” Jerome Stern buys Robert’s Drugstore while it is still located at its original site. Eventually the store moved to 590 West Flagler St., an area called “Little Vietnam” for its high crime rate in the early 1980s. In the early post war years, Charlton Heston and Georgie Jessel visited the store for its fabulous milkshakes.

Olive Chapman Lauther moves out of her home at 1011 W. Flagler St..

1947

A hurricane floods many parts of the neighborhood.

1948

The Miami Hebrew School and Junior Congregation (1101 S.W. 12th Ave) is built.

1950s

Postwar prosperity leads to another major housing boom, prompting many Riverside residents to move to suburban developments throughout Dade County.

1950

A beautiful bust of Jose Marti is presented to the City of Miami by the Cuban Tourist Commission, underlining the already close ties between the two entities in pre-Castro times. The statue currently sits in Jose Marti Park (which openned in the 1980s).

1951

The Miami Hebrew School and Junior Congregation is targeted by hate groups who attempt to dynamite it twice in 1951. The site of the old Jewish center is currently the Iglesia Bautista Renacer.

1959

A new structure is built encapsulating the Riverside Baptist Church. At this point, the church is largely Southern and many of Miami’s leading families are members of it. Eventually, the church moves to Kendall.

1960s

Large numbers of immigrants, coming from Cuba, Nicaragua, and other Latin American and Caribbean countries, begin pouring into Riverside, which is consequently dubbed Little Havana. They transform the culture of the area, and their continuous immigration prevents the gentrification of the neighborhood.

1960

The Riverside United Methodist Church begins serving Cuban refugees.

1969

El Credito (1106 SW 8th St.), originally started in Havana in 1907, moves to Miami.

1972

The Warner family ceases to operate the Miami Floral Company from the first floor of their home.

1975

The popular Malaga restaurant opens at 740 SW Eight St.

1980s

The Museum of the Cuban Holocaust opens in part of the building that used to be the Riverside Baptist Church.

1980

The Mariel Boatlift brings thousands of Cubans into Miami. East of Jose Marti Park, the temporary Tent City is built to house hundreds of homeless Cuban refugees.

1983

President Reagan dines at La Esquina de Tejas, located at S.W. 12th Avenue and 1st St.

1986

The Al Martirologio Del Presidio Politico Cubano memorial (SW Seventh Ave. and 4th St.), honoring Cuban political prisoners in the era of Fidel Castro, is completed in Riverside Park.

1988

Nicaraguan immigrants flock to Metcalfe Apartments.

Rio Plaza (546 SW 1st Ave.) opens. Built by the nonprofit East Little Havana Community Development Corporation, this complex offers 114 condominiums for low and moderate income persons.

1989

A bronze statue of Claude Pepper is placed in Jose Marti Park (351 SW 4th St.) shortly after his death. The statue was sculpted by Tony Lopez, a Cuban exile who works in Palm Beach County.

1990

Riverside Elementary School starts the school year in a new colorful Art Deco building.

Owner of the Miami River Inn complex, Sally Jude, completes restoration of the historic site.

1991

Olive Chapman Lauther dies at the age of 104.

Spiritualist Rimborti Mirachura Chindoy Mutunba-Joy Casamijoy, who claims to hail from the Columbian Amazon, begins operating out of La Botanica La Abuela (1122 SW 8th St.).

By this point, Nicaraguan immigrants form Little Havana’s dominant ethnic group. The neighborhood has a high percentage of elderly persons as well as a large percentage of young struggling families.