Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida

Coconut Grove, (originally spelled Cocoanut Grove), is a neighborhood located in the City of Miami, Florida in Miami-Dade County, United States. The area is defined as southeast of US 1, from N. Prospect Ave as the southern border to the intersection of US 1 and Brickell Ave as the northern border. The western border is LeJeune Road and the eastern border is Biscayne Bay. Technically, all of Coconut Grove has a zip code of 33133, which actually extends the area north of US 1 into what is called "Silver Bluffs". The region is often referred to simply as "The Grove".

Geography

It is located at coord|25.713|-80.257, with an average elevation of convert|13|ft|m, making it one of the higher areas within the city of Miami. [ [http://florida.hometownlocator.com/FL/Miami-Dade/Coconut-Grove.cfm Coconut Grove, FL - Community Profile] ]

History

Several waves of immigration established Coconut Grove, the first in 1825, when the Cape Florida lighthouse went into operation and was manned by John Dubose. The post office was established in 1873, around the same time that the area saw an influx of Americans from the Northeastern US, as well as British immigrants. Coconut Grove's first black settlement, in the 1880s, was established by Bahamian craftsmen and sailors and their families. The first hotel on the south Florida mainland was located in Coconut Grove. Called the Bay View Inn (later known as the Peacock Inn), it was built in 1882, on the site of present-day Peacock Park, by English immigrants Isabella and Charles Peacock, who had been the owner of a wholesale meat business in London.

World-renowned for its annual art festival, Coconut Grove's other events include the King Mango Strut, which began as a parody of the Orange Bowl Parade. The Goombay Festival For a week in mid-June, Grand Avenue in Coconut Grove is transformed into a Caribbean Carnival. It celebrates Bahamian residents historic festival with Bahamian dancing, Bahamian food, Caribbean music (Junkanoo) and Bahamian culture.

Formerly an independent city, Coconut Grove was annexed by the city of Miami in 1925. The Grove is sometimes known as Miami's Food Court, for its many and varied restaurants. Open air cafes are quite popular as well. Some local favorites include Green Street Cafe, Monty's Raw Bar, Tuscany, Mr. Moes, and Le Bouchon, a French cafe. There are plenty of chain franchises as well, such as The Cheesecake Factory and Johnny Rockets. Shopping is also abundant in the Grove, with two large open-air malls, CocoWalk, Streets of Mayfair, and many other street shops and boutiques. The Coconut Grove Playhouse [ [http://www.cgplayhouse.com/ COCONUT GROVE PLAYHOUSE : Broadway By The Bay ] ] is a very popular destination, and has launched a number of popular plays and musicals. By night, the Grove becomes a center of nightlife frequented by young professionals and students from Florida International University and the University of Miami.

The eastern border of Coconut Grove is Biscayne Bay, which lends itself to a boating community. The area features a sailing club (Coconut Grove Sailing Club), a yacht club (Coral Reef Yacht Club) and a marina (Dinner Key Marina [ [http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/PublicFacilities/Marinas/dinner.html CMS Redirect ] ] ). Pan Am's seaplane operations were based in Dinner Key, and the Miami City Hall is based in the old Pan Am terminal building.

Coconut Grove is also home to The Kampong, an 8 acre (32,000 m²) tropical garden that forms part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden.

Coconut Grove is also the location of The Barnacle Historic State Park. Built in the late 1800s, the former home of Ralph Middleton Munroe is one of the oldest homes in Dade County and is situated on the shore of Biscayne Bay. The forest surrounding the home is hardwood hammock and is the last of its kind in the area. The unique architecture includes period furniture and wide porches that afford magnificent views.

Demographics

Demographically, Coconut Grove is split up into North-East Grove and South-West Grove, and as of 2000, the total population of both of the neighborhood's sections made up 18,953.cite web |url=http://www.miamigov.com/Planning/pages/services/Census.asp |title=Demographics of Coconut Grove Miami, FL. |publisher=miamigov.com |accessdate=2008-06-11]

As of 2000,cite web |url=http://www.miamigov.com/Planning/pages/services/Census.asp |title=Demographics of Coconut Grove Miami, FL. |publisher=miamigov.com |accessdate=2008-06-11] North-East Grove had a population of 9,812 residents, with 5,113 households, and 2,221 families residing in the neighborhood. The median household income was $63,617.82. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 35.24% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 2.25% Black or African American, 60.96% White (non-Hispanic), and 1.55% Other races (non-Hispanic).

As of 2000,cite web |url=http://www.miamigov.com/Planning/pages/services/Census.asp |title=Demographics of Coconut Grove Miami, FL. |publisher=miamigov.com |accessdate=2008-06-11] South-West Grove had a population of 9,141 residents, with 3,477 households, and 2,082 families residing in the neighborhood. The median household income was $63,617.82. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 14.80% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 48.27% Black or African American, 35.27% White (non-Hispanic), and 1.66% Other races (non-Hispanic).

In Popular Culture

*Cocoanut Grove is the setting of the Marx Brothers's 1925 show The Cocoanuts (musical) and 1929 film The Cocoanuts.
*Pioneer Folk rock musician Fred Neil resided in, and wrote songs about Coconut Grove, notably on the song 'Bleecker & MacDougal'.
*'Coconut Grove' is also a song by The Lovin' Spoonful.
*In the film "Scarface" Manny lives in an upscale home in the Grove.
*In the TV series "Dexter", Dexter Morgan, lives in Coconut Grove.
*In the video for the song 'Careless Whisper' George Michael can be seen looking out at sea from a hotel balcony in Coconut Grove as a seaplane flies by.
*In the movie "Bad Boys", Martin Lawrence and Will Smith follow a suspect through Coconut Grove.
*The movie "Hoot", produced by Frank Marshall, Toby Emmerich and Jimmy Buffett (who also appears in the film and sings on the soundtrack) and based a novel by Carl Hiaasen, is set in Coconut Grove.
*In Big Trouble, by Dave Barry, the main setting is Coconut Grove.
*The set for the TV series Burn Notice is in Coconut Grove, in what was once the City of Miami's Convention Center.

Points of interest

* The Barnacle Historic State Park
* Coconut Grove Convention Center
* Coconut Grove Playhouse
* CocoWalk
* Dinner Key
* The Kampong
* Kennedy Park
* Marjory Stoneman Douglas Home
* Mercy Hospital
* Miami City Hall
* Miami Science Museum
* Plymouth Congregational Church
* Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

See also

*Neith Nevelson
*Brickell

References

External links

* [http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/NETS/pages/AboutNET/DistrictMapLarge.asp City of Miami Neighborhoods Map]
* [http://coconutgrovegrapevine.blogspot.com Coconut Grove Grapevine, daily blog]
* The case of [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/joyce_cohen/1.html Joyce Cohen]