By Fabiola Fleuranvil | Miami Soul |
[email protected] | @MiamiSoul305
@MsFab_MiaSocial
For Miami.com
Miami.com is excellent source of in-
formation on where to go and what to
do in Miami. We are pleased to share
the following regarding Black History
facts in Miami from Miami.com —
Miami Soul – your ultimate source for
places to go, people to see, and things
to do in the Black social scene. miami.
com/miami-soul.
MIAMI BLACK HISTORY FACTS
1. Fisher Island was once
owned by a Black man
Fisher Island has been home to the
likes of Oprah and Mel Gibson and
is only accessible by ferry or boat, but
most people don’t know that Fisher
Island was originally first owned by
a black man – real estate developer
Dana A. Dorsey. He was South Flor-
ida’s first African-American million-
aire and later sold the island in 1919
to Carl Fisher who was developing
Miami Beach. Dorsey was the son of
former slaves who moved from South
Georgia to Miami in 1896 working as
a carpenter for the Henry Flagler Flor-
ida East Coast Railroad. With only a
fourth grade education, he purchased
one parcel of land in Overtown, built
a rental home on the land, reinvested
the rental income to build and rent
more as far north as Ft. Lauderdale,
and later sold land to the City of Mi-
ami for a park for Blacks. Dorsey also
owned Miami’s first black-owned ho-
tel, Dorsey Hotel, and also owned the
Negro Savings Bank.
2. Black people were part
of Miami’s incorporation
Black people have always been a part
of Miami’s history. Before Julia Tuttle
and Henry Flagler, who were credited
as the builders of Miami, Black people,
mostly Bahamians, were already here
as the first settlers. Black people were
also critical to Miami’s incorpora-
tion in 1896 and were needed to sign
the city’s charter in order to reach the
number of male voters needed to form
a new city. Of the 368 men who voted
to incorporate Miami, 162 of them
were Black. In fact, the first name on
the city’s charter was Silas Austin, a
Black man. Black people also mostly
occupied Overtown and Coconut
Grove, which is also the oldest inhab-
ited neighborhood in Miami.
3. Overtown was Miami’s
Black Wallstreet and the
Harlem of the South
Overtown is going through its long
awaited second renaissance after years