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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittalAlligator Joe's Alligator Farm Warren Frazee (a. k. a. Alligator Joe) had a tourist attraction at this site in the early 1900s, which was at the time a swampland where the Miami River joined Wagner Creek. Frazee learned about alligators as a youth in Duval County and moved south to take advantage of tourists visiting Miami. A large man weighing over 300 pounds, "Alligator Joe" showcased (for a fee) his ability to subdue alligators by flipping them onto their backs. Frazee used Wagner Creek as a staging area where he subdued the alligators after "wrestling" with them, sometimes underwater. For fifty cents, tourists could see his collection of alligators, crocodiles and turtles. He also sold tanned alligator hides, sprouted coconuts and stuffed alligators as souvenirs. He built a home near this location, and in 1910 married Della Hamilton of Miami. During summers, Frazee exhibited alligators and other South Florida animals at attractions including the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, White City in Denver, Colorado, Wonderland Park and Paragon Park in Boston, Massachusetts, Forest Park near Chicago, Illinois, Electric Park in Kansas City, Missouri, and Dreamland Park at Coney Island, New York. Representing Florida at the 1915 Panama -Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, CA, he arrived with 2,000 exhibition animals. Unfortunately, he soon caught double pneumonia there and died at the age of 46. The Spring Garden neighborhood worked with The Trust for Public Land (TPL) to purchase this river property for the City of Miami in 1999 and create the passive "Point Park." Marker to be Located in Point Park, 601 NW 7 Street Road SUBMITTED INTO THE PUBLIC RECORD FOR ITEM o311 ON D6-6/d7! z1 sse Page 1 of 1 Submitted Into the public record in connection with item 1)3.1 on 'o- o f. Priscilla A. Thompson City Clerk Submitted Into the public record in connection with item_3 1 on > o Priscilla A. Thompson City Clerk E.G. Sewell Park This site marks the tropical garden area of property purchased by General Samuel Crocker Lawrence in 1897. His land extended from the Miami River south to what is now NW 7th Street, and approximately from NW 10th Avenue west to approximately NW18th Place. During the Civil War (1861-1865), Lawrence served as a brigadier -general in the Massachusetts militia, and was injured at the first Battle of Bull Run in 1861. After the war, he settled in what would become Medford, Massachusetts and after incorporation, he served as that city's first mayor. He ran his family's rum distillery and managed what became the Boston and Maine Railroad. Where we are now, Lawrence created a lushly landscaped garden of royal palms with a guesthouse and a boat slip. Lawrence grew grapefruit on much of the remainder of his land, and in 1909 over 10,000 boxes of his Riverside Grove brand were shipped to New York. After Lawrence's death in 1911, his property was subdivided, and in 1921, this portion of the estate became known as the Lawrence Park subdivision. During its development, the Lawrence Canal was dug from the river south to NW 7th Street. Nearby are oolitic limestone caves that are well-known to early Miami residents, said to have been made from solution holes that were enlarged during construction of an inland waterway. The garden was acquired by the City of Miami in 1964, and dedicated as the "E.G. Sewell Memorial Park," in honor of Miami's famous pioneer, early mayor and lifelong promoter of the "Magic City." The Parks Department demolished General Lawrence's former guest house in 1969. Today, one can see the ruins of the Lawrence guesthouse, and also parts of the water pump used by General Lawrence to irrigate the tropical plants and the grapefruit groves nearby. The boat slip at the shoreline was once covered, and was built before 1910. The unique combination of native and exotic flora, as well as its beautiful location along the Miami River, makes this site one of the most captivating parks in Miami -Dade County. Marker to be Located in E.G. Sewell Park, 1801 NW South River Drive Submitted Into the public record in connection eriith item 1)3.1 on 1+z °'/ Priscilla A. Thompson City Clerk General Samuel Crocker Lawrence Submitted Into the public record in connection ith item �3.1 on 4��> o‘, Priscilla A. Thompson City Clerk Submitted -Into the public record in connection with item P3• on te'a404, Priscilla A. Thompson City Clerk Flagler Worker's House in Fort Dallas Park This site was the homestead of Julia B. Tuttle, known to many as the "Mother of Miami" due to her influence regarding the City of Miami's incorporation in 1896. Bolstering her image as a visionary real estate investor, Tuttle purchased nearly one -square -mile (640 acres) on the north shore of the Miami River near its mouth in 1887, which included this area known today as Fort Dallas Park. In 1891, the wealthy widow moved to Miami from Cleveland, Ohio and set up residence in the Old Fort 'Dallas "tall building," a two-story house constructed by settler William English in the late 1840s on his plantation. The house, previously used by the American army to station troops during the Seminole Wars, has since been demolished on the north bank near the mouth of the Miami River. Tuttle improved the structure for her home and made it the center of social activity on the north side of the river until the founding of the city. In 1891, seeing the potential to transform the area around the Miami River into a center of trade and a gateway to the Americas, Tuttle entered into an agreement with Henry Flagler, a major shareholder in the Standard Oil Company and one of the wealthiest men in the country. In exchange for some of Tuttle's property, Flagler agreed to extend his Florida East Coast Railroad south to Miami and build a luxurious hotel at the river's mouth called the Royal Palm Hotel, which soon became Miami's first tourist attraction. When the hotel had completed construction on the river's north shore in 1897, Flagler offered ongoing employment and housin by building 30 similar homes north and west of the hotel site along what is now SE 1st and 2' Avenues for workers left unemployed after the completion of the Royal Palm Hotel. The Flagler Worker's House, or "Palm Cottage," is the only remaining structure of its kind in downtown Miami. Made of native pine and a gabled, shingled roof, the Flagler Worker's House was moved in 1980 from SE 2"a Street to its current location in today's Fort Dallas Park, next to Bijan's Seafood Restaurant. Designated as a City of Miami historic site in 1983, the Flagler Worker's House stands here today as the sole reminder in the area of the legacy of Julia Tuttle. After Julia Tuttle's death in 1898, her 38-year-old son Harry inherited much of his mother's remaining property. He converted her homestead into a gambling casino called The Seminole Club. Harry Tuttle married and built a two-story house near the Miami River, and began selling other parcels of the homestead property. In 1903, Fort Dallas Park became an elegant subdivision near the heart of the city, home to many of Miami's prominent families. As Miami's downtown area grew, the original houses in and around Fort Dallas Park, including Harry Tuttle's house, were replaced with hotels, high-rises and businesses. Facing demolition in 1925, the one-story stone "long building" of Old Fort Dallas was moved to Lummus Park, originally called "City Park" in recognition of Miami's first designated park. Marker to be Located at 64 SE 4th Street, adjacent to Bijan's Riverwalk Submitted Into the public record in connect*: Aith item D3.1 on 4I of, Priscilla A. Thompson City Clerk Submitted Into the public record in connection with item 13.1 on 4,1?-y{04. Priscilla A. Thompson City Clerk Past and Current Aerials of Fort Dallas Park Submitted Into the public record in connectio with item 'A .1 on L ?-,-lbt- Priscilla A. Tho pson --- City Clerk Fort Dallas Park Boundary Flagler Cottages_ •� lJ •e .J •. 4a •J lJ Submitted Into the public record in connec+iory with item 'D 3. 1 on 4 ›= 10 Priscilla A. Tho pson City Clerk. Fort Dallas and the William F. English Plantation Slave Quarters The United States of America took possession of Florida from Spain under the terms of the 1821 Treaty of Paris. In 1830, the U.S. implemented the "Indian Removal Act," forcing Seminole Indians south into the Miami and Everglades area. The Second Seminole War erupted in 1835 and was marked by the killing of Miami -Dade County's namesake, Major Francis Longhorn Dade. During the war, settlers attempted to take Seminole Lands, relocate Seminoles west of the Mississippi River and reclaim runaway slaves. Construction of the first three wooden buildings in Fort Dallas, named after U.S. Navy Officer Commodore Alexander James Dallas, commenced in 1838 on plantation land leased from Richard Fitzpatrick near the mouth of the Miami River's north shore. When the Second Seminole War ended in 1842, Fitzpatrick sold the land to his nephew, William F. English. From 1842-1844, English reconstituted the plantation and added new buildings to the complex, which included the construction of the ollitic limerock slave quarters before you today in Lummus Park. After English left for the California Gold Rush in 1849, the Army reoccupied Fort Dallas on the English property in preparation for the Third Seminole War and enlarged it on a grand scale. The Army renovated the building, adding a second wooden floor for soldier barracks on top of the remaining rock structure, which was also used as a storehouse. Following the end of the Third Seminole War in 1858, the Fort Dallas area became central to Miami's settlement. Subsequent uses of the building have included: a trading post, the county courthouse and the Miami post office. In 1923, the building was transformed into a restaurant, known as the "Fort Dallas Tea Room," and in 1925, Dr. R.C. Hogue purchased the Fort Dallas area to construct the Robert Clay Hotel. In 1925, in an effort to preserve this historic structure, the Miami City Commission provided a site for its relocation in today's Lummus Park, originally called "City Park" in recognition of Miami's first designated park. The Fort Dallas "long building" was disassembled stone -by- stone, barged up the Miami River, and rebuilt in City Park by the Miami Women's Club and the Everglades Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Reconstruction was completed in September 1929, and the Miami City Commission designated Fort Dallas a historic site in 1984. Marker to be Located in Lummus Park, 404 NW 3'd Street Submitted Into the public record in connection with item D3.1 on 1.1 ...jot. Priscilla A. Thompson City Clerk Submitted Into the public record in connection with item -I) .1 on (r 1;•,- te Priscilla A. Thompson City Clerk Submitted Into the public record in connection with item T3• ► on 4 tz7-1 o b Priscilla A. Thompson City Clerk Wagner Homestead This pre-1858 structure is the county's oldest standing house. It was built by German immigrant and U.S Army veteran William Wagner. After being wounded in the Mexican -American War in 1847, Wagner returned to Fort Moultrie, Georgia to recuperate and married Eveline Aimar, a French Creole. In 1855, Wagner's former Army unit was assigned from Fort Moultrie to Fort Dallas along the north shore of the Miami River. There, Wagner joined forces with Captain Sinclair, a sea captain with two schooners, and established a sutler's store to serve troops during the Third Seminole War (1855- 1858). With help from Captain Sinclair, Wagner built a steam -powered coontie mill on Wagner Creek. The production of starch from the native coontie plant (Zamia pumila) which grew profusely in the pine woods became a means by which Miami's early settlers could earn cash. In the late 1850s, Wagner built a house nearly 50 yards from the creek that would come to bear his name. The Dade -County pine house was a hand-hewn, peg -fastened and wood shingled example of 19th century shelters. In 1875, acting on a suggestion by the Reverend Bishop Rewot of St. Augustine who was visiting from Key West, Wagner built a small Catholic chapel known as the "Little Church in the Pine Woods," which burned down in 1892. The "Little Church in the Pine Woods" was regarded as the earliest house of worship in the Miami area since the Spanish missions. Wagner sold his property to Julia Tuttle in 1893, then bought it back from the probate court in 1899. He died on the land in 1901 at the age of 76. William Wagner was regarded as a true pioneer who lived to see the incorporation of Miami in 1896. Development in the 1920s prompted the Wagner Home's donation to The Dade Heritage Trust, a non-profit preservation group who undertook the Wagner Home's relocation to Lummus Park, as well as its restoration. The Miami City Commission designated the Wagner Homestead a historic site in 1984. Marker to be Located in Lummus Park, 404 NW 3`d Street Submitted Into the public record in connection w'th item_i3.1 on eel?› ot. Priscilla A. Thompson City Clerk Jose Marti Park One of Miami's most defining moments came in 1959 with Fidel Castro's takeover of Cuba. Castro's transformation of the island nation into a communist state led to a vast exodus of Cubans to Miami. The first wave of refugees left Cuba in hopes of achieving political freedom and a better quality of life. Their presence helped stimulate the region's economy while strengthening Miami's emerging multi -cultural spirit. In order to provide recreational space for residents of the multi -cultural neighborhood known as "Little Havana," the City of Miami's 1972 "Parks for People" Bond appropriated $950,000 to create a Latin Community Riverfront Park. In addition, $250,000 in federal funding was earmarked for the project before this riverfront site was finally purchased in 1978. In 1980, the design for the park was chosen after a citywide competition. Plans were temporarily delayed soon after, as the shores along the Miami River beneath Interstate 95 (I-95) were used to house the large number of Cuban refugees who had fled Cuba that year from the Port of Mariel. Out of the 125,000 Cuban men, women and children who arrived in the Mariel Boatlift, close to 800 lived at one time in the make -shift shelters known as "Tent City," and more than 4,000 lived there during the two months it was open. This site was also a former Indian camp, circa 400 A.D., preserved beneath river fill dredged in the early 1900s. When construction of the park's facilities began in September 1980, a skeleton was soon uncovered that dated to the time of the Tequesta Indians (1500-750 B.C.), the Miami River's first known inhabitants. Excavations in 1982 recovered pottery shards, shell tools, an Indian woman's grave and other artifacts. The park was officially opened and dedicated on October 27, 1984, named to honor Jose Julian Marti (1853-1895), Cuban literary hero, political activist and acclaimed author of "Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca." Marker to be Located in Jose Marti Park, 362 SW 4`h Street Submitted Into the publec record in connc.c son wi h item -I3. \ on G i �'1 o c. Priscilla A. Thom P son City Clerk