Overtown near Downtown Miami is known for many things, but one of those things it’s not known for is it’s architecture. Overtown nevertheless has a fabulous collection of traditional Miami buildings and architecture still preserved today.
The Churches of Overtown in particular are a wonderful example of Miami’s traditional architectural styles. Many of these churches are in excellent condition and actually designed to be urbanistically responsive to the street — a street for example terminates on the facade of Greather Bethel Church, highlighting its importance. The surrounding urban fabric nevertheless has not paid back in kind, Overtown is a neighborhood in disrepair. Many of these beautiful buildings are surrounded by blight or next to a highway, train overpass, or empty lots and parking. Buildings surrounding the churches do not highlight or emphasize their importance.
These buildings nevertheless still provide important social and cultural links to the black African community of Overtown. They are active participants of the community around them. They also serve as identifiable elements that connect the long time residents to their rich (yet troubled) historical past. There are few neighborhoods in Miami that have such a rich history and culture — Overtown is one of the oldest communities in Miami.
It is interesting to note that many of the churches sit on 3rd Avenue and are arranged in order in a sort of procession up the street — with a church located every block or two along the avenue all within walking distance to one another. During the neighborhoods heyday the street life outside these Churches must have been a wonderful urban spectacle.
Today I would say that together these churches form a collection of some of the oldest, most interesting, and beautiful churches in Miami. Included in this list are one of the only Art Deco religious structures in all of Miami and a small unique Gothic Revival style church. Many of these buildings are now a part of the National Register of Historic Places.
As the neighborhood revitalizes itself (hopefully), these urban landmarks will serve as important urban generators. The Churches must be protected and respected, they must be given their proper hierarchical importance within the fabric of the city. Time and time again I have seen the disrespect and urban isolation of important landmarks/buildings in Miami. Development surrounding these important sites must respect the urban memories of its people. Much like the old churches of Europe, these religious structures must be incorporated through plazas, gardens, and the design of buildings that emphasize the social importance of the space. They must be made an asset of the urban fabric for everyone to enjoy.
Some of the Churches photographed include:
1. Greater Bethel A.M.E. Church
- Greater Bethel A.M.E. Church is the home of one of Miami’s oldest African-American congregations, organized in March 1896, three months before the city was incorporated.
- Designed in a Mediterranean Revival Style
- National Register of Historic Places – 1992
2. Mt. Zion Baptist Church
- Designed in a Mediterranean Revival Style
- National Register of Historic Places – 1998
3. Ebenezer Methodist Church
- Designed in a Gothic Revival Style
- Only Gothic Revival Style Building left in Overtown
- The church is now known as the House of God, Nazarene.
- Not currently in use.
4. St John’s Baptist Church
- Designed in a Art Deco Style
- Designed by McKissack and McKissack, one of the first major black architectural firms in the United States.
- National Register of Historic Places – 1992
5. St Agnes Episcopal Church
- Designed with Neo-Classical and Mission style elements.
- The interior ornamentation is particularly noteworthy and includes an ornately carved marble altar from the congregation’s original church and detailed ceiling.
On the map below one can see that the churches hold no special place within the urban fabric. The urban fabric bleeds out, they are not contained by other buildings that define space. This is unlike the Churches of Donostia(or other properly sited churches in various cities) which are contained by buildings that define that space around them and take a prominent place within the urban structure.
Images Below:
The Flash Player and a browser with Javascript support are needed..
Related posts:
- Churches of Donostia
- Trinity Church in Boston — Urban Monument and Church
- Historic Bacardi Building
- Bringing Back the Arcade
- Boston’s Layers of Time – Value of Quality Urban Architecture
2 Responses
I like what you wrote here. Unfortunately, it is true that when you look at these pretty and relatively well-maintained churhes they do not give you the whole picture regarding the conditions of the the neighbourhood. However, as you mentioned, Overtown was once the center of a thriving black community where jazz fans (black and white), tourists, and black business owners mixed.
However, Overtown has been plagued with disadvantages since its earliest days. In 1899, after several fires affected the white Miami neighbourhoods, higher standards began to be implemented in these areas. These standards were not enforced in Overtown (or Colored Town, as it was called), and the neighbourhood was also deprived of other city services, including paved streets, sewage systems, and other infrastructure.
In 1916, Miami residents attempted to pass Ordinance 199 in order to prevent black migration out of Colored Town. Although it did not officially pass, the ordinance still served to maintain the segregation of some neighbourhoods.
In the early 1930s, upon the prompting of a Colored Town Episcopal priest concerned with recent tuberculosis outbreaks in his parish, the Miami Herald finally published a series of columns about the unhealthy conditions in Colored Town.
The 1930s, 40s, and 50s were the golden age of Colored Town. One area is nicknamed “Little Broadway” and many “big name acts (including white ones) often frequented the neighborhood and performed there. The Lyric, the Modern, and the Ritz theaters, the Mary Elizabeth Hotel with its Flamingo Lounge, the Rockland Palace with its Della Robia, and the St. John Hotel are among the cultural centers of the neighborhood. During these years, it starts to be called Overtown by its residents”.
But then come the 1960s…
“The construction of I-95 and I-35 rips through the center of Overtown, wiping out massive amounts of housing as well as Overtown’s main business district – the business and cultural heart of black Miami. The population drops from about 40,000 to about 10,000. Today, parking lots for the Miami Arena stretch along 2nd Avenue where the Rockland Palace and the Cotton Club once stood”.
A good part of the rest of Overtown’s story is plagued by poverty and disrepair, police brutality, and political misgovernment and misrepresentation. A series of riots break out in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s in Miami’s predominately black neighbourhoods as a result of poor living conditions and several cases of police brutality. (Coloured Town residents have spread to Washington Heights, Liberty City…and these neighbourhoods continued to grow in turn.) These riots were responded to heavy-handedly by law enforcement officials. As is often the case, increased patrol units and extra police violence were provided rather than targetting neighourhood disrepair, the utter abandonment by the city, and the outright sabotage of the city’s once thriving business centre by poor urban planning. Thi
Souce:
The Overtown Collaborative (http://www.floridacdc.org/members/overtown/hist-his3.htm)
Seth Bramson’s “History of South Florida” class at Florida International University
Me and my History degree and Miami experience =)
Posted on March 21st, 2009 at 12:13 PM
What a wonderful article. I think the churches are so beautiful. Really enjoyed them. Cheers for sharing.
Posted on March 27th, 2009 at 5:40 AM
Add A Comment