Overtown is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States, just northwest of Downtown Miami. Originally called Colored Town during the Jim Crow era of the late 19th through the mid-20th century, the area was once preeminent and is the historic center for commerce in the black community in Miami and South Florida. It is currently bound by NW 20th Street to the north, NW 5th Street to the south, the Miami River, Dolphin Expressway (SR 836), and I-95 (north of the Midtown Interchange) to the west, and the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) and NW 1st Avenue to the east. Local residents often go by the demonym “Towners.”
A part of the historic heart of Miami, it was designated as a “colored” neighborhood after the creation and incorporation of Miami in 1896. The incorporation of Miami as a city occurred at the insistence of Standard Oil and FEC railroad tycoon Henry Flagler, whose mostly black American railroad construction workers settled near what became Downtown Miami, just north of Flagler’s Royal Palm Hotel on the Miami River. Owing to a substantive black population, 168 of the 362 men who voted for the creation of the city of Miami were counted as “colored,” but the separate but equal segregation laws of the Deep South dictated the city designate the portion of the city, in this case, north and west of FEC railroad tracks, as “Colored Town.” A1 Bed Bug Exterminator Miami
A Black heritage neighborhood with a rich history and culture, as well as some delicious restaurants, Historic Overtown is a legendary district just west of Downtown Miami. Its cultural growth and development mirrored the artistic awakening of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s, and Historic Overtown was a busy entertainment destination known as Little Broadway. Stars such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday all played at the Lyric Theater and other venues in Historic Overtown.
As of 2000, Overtown had a population of 10,029 residents, with 3,646 households, and 2,128 families residing in the city. The median household income was $13,211.99. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 74.77% Black, 19.90% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 3.27% White (non-Hispanic), and 2.05% Other races (non-Hispanic).
Restaurants and Pubs
- Mina Bistro is located at 63 NW 9th St, Miami, FL
- Lil Greenhouse Grill is located at 1300 NW 3rd Ave, Miami, FL
- Moe’s Southwest Grill is located at 901 NW 17th Street Suite L-M, Miami, FL
- The Auld Dubliner Irish Pub & Kitchen 91 NW 1st St, Miami, FL 33128, United States
Check out other neighborhoods like Watson Island