To the editor:
Walk south from Grand Avenue into the quiet residential streets of West Coconut Grove and you will find something increasingly rare in South Florida: small wooden cottages, shaded yards, and homes that feel connected to the past.
Many of these modest houses were built by Bahamian settlers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These families came to Coconut Grove to work as carpenters, boat builders, and laborers during the area’s earliest days. Over generations they built a community—often called “Little Bahamas”—that helped shape the cultural identity of Miami.
Today, some of those original homes still stand. But they are disappearing.
In recent years, large luxury houses have begun appearing on nearby lots. While growth and investment are inevitable in a city like Miami, the pace and scale of redevelopment raise an important question: how much of the Grove’s historic fabric will survive?
These cottages are not simply old buildings. They represent one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in Miami. Their scale, craftsmanship, and placement along narrow streets reflect a way of life that predates modern zoning and large-scale development.
Walk these quiet streets in the early morning or late afternoon and it is easy to feel the presence of the Grove’s earliest residents. The carpenters, sailors, and Bahamian families who built these homes more than a century ago shaped a community whose spirit still lingers in the scale of the cottages, the shade of the trees, and the rhythm of the neighborhood. Preserving these houses is not simply about saving wood and nails. It is about protecting the living memory of the people who first built Coconut Grove.
Once these homes are gone, they cannot be recreated.
Preservation does not mean freezing a neighborhood in time. It means recognizing that certain places carry historic and cultural significance that deserves protection.
Coconut Grove has already taken steps in this direction. The Charles Avenue Historic District and a handful of individually designated homes demonstrate that preservation is possible. But the existing protections remain limited.
Expanding historic designation in West Coconut Grove would help protect more of the remaining cottages from demolition while still allowing reasonable restoration and adaptive reuse.
Cities across the country—from Charleston to Key West—have successfully preserved historic neighborhoods while continuing to grow and prosper.
Coconut Grove can do the same. The first step is awareness. Many residents and visitors walk these streets without realizing they are looking at a living piece of Miami’s early history.
The second step is community engagement. Local residents, historians, and preservation advocates can work with the City of Miami’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board to identify additional homes worthy of designation. Documentation, historical research, and community support are essential parts of that process.
Finally, preservation must be viewed not as an obstacle to progress but as an investment in identity. The character of Coconut Grove — the very thing that attracts people here — is rooted in its layered history. Protecting these homes means protecting the story of the Grove itself.
The cottages south of Grand Avenue remind us that Miami did not begin with high-rises and luxury estates. It began with small houses, close communities, and people who built a life here long before the city became what it is today.
Those stories deserve to remain visible. And so do the homes that tell them.
Charles Dundee
Coconut Grove
