Group portrait of African American police officers hired by the Miami Police Department - Miami, Florida
of neglect and poverty, but was once
a thriving cultural and arts scene and
the epicenter of Black wealth in Miami.
In its heyday in the early 1900’s and
once known as Colored Town, Over-
town hosted major entertainers who
performed at Miami Beach but could
not stay at those hotels. Entertainers
like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and
Nat King Cole would stay at boutique
hotels in Overtown after their per-
formances in addition to legends like
Jackie Robinson and W.E.B. Du Bois.
Overtown also had a bustling nightlife
where these entertainers would often
perform at venues like the Lyric The-
ater, Harlem Square Club, the Cotton
Club, and more.
In addition to being a popular desti-
nation for entertainers, Overtown was
also home to some of Miami’s thriv-
ing black businesses, which included a
black-owned hotel, a pharmacist, doc-
tors, dentists, hospitals, and many oth-
er successful Black businesses. All of
that changed when the construction of
I-95 and the railroad ripped through
the heart of Overtown, dismantling the
once thriving neighborhood and dis-
placing its residents to parts north to
Liberty City and other neighborhoods.
As a result, many of the area’s business-
es, shops, and restaurants were forced
to close, and Overtown lost its luster
and fell into deep poverty.
4. Virginia Key Beach
was once a Black beach
Back when there was segregation,
Black people were excluded from en-
joying many of Miami’s amenities, in-
cluding public beaches and swimming
facilities. Out of defiance to the segre-
gation, a few local Black leaders, in-
cluding Judge Thomas, defiantly pro-
tested by going to the exclusively white
Haulover Beach with the intention of
getting arrested, but they weren’t. In-
stead, in response, local officials des-
ignated Virginia Key Beach as the ex-
clusive public park for Black people on
August 1, 1945. The beach became a
popular social gathering spot, but was
eventually closed in 1982. The beach
was eventually re-opened to the public
in 2008 and has regained in popular-
ity as a great outdoor venue for major
events and festivals.
5. Black people had their
own police precinct
Miami got its first African-American
police officers in 1944, but segregation
restricted them from patrolling white
neighborhoods. Shortly thereafter, the
Black Police Precinct and Courthouse
was created in Overtown so that Black
officers could patrol the Black neigh-
borhood and fight racial injustices.
The police precinct only stayed open
for 13 years and have since been con-
verted into a museum in 2009.