Mariah Brown House

"Love to see her house still standing"

"Evangelist Street is a historic street in Coconut Grove that has been renamed Charles Avenue. It was built by Bahamian immigrates who moved to the area known today as West Grove in Coconut Grove. Most of the Bahamians that settled in Coconut Grove were from the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. Many were former slaves from West Indian Plantations. A mass immigration from the Bahamas to South Florida and the Keys took place in the late 1800's when agriculture became unsustainable due to rocky soil. Florida had a similar geography and climate so the people who immigrated knew how to farm the land. Later in the 1920's, many were hired by George Merrick to build nearby Coral Gables. One of the first settles to the area was Mariah Brown whose house is now a landmark. The Mariah Brown house is located on historic Charles Street in Coconut Grove. Brown was born in Upper Bogue, Eleuthera in 1851. She immigrated from the Bahamas in 1880 to Key West where she lived with her three daughters as she worked as a laundress. In 1889 she moved to Coconut Grove where she was joined by her husband Ernest. The couple went to work at the nearby Peacock Inn before Miami was even a city. The couple purchased a plot of land for $50 from local landowner Joseph Frow to build their home. Their 1890 frame vernacular house made of Dade County Pine which is impervious to termites is a type of Conch house you would find in Key West and the Bahamas. These homes had a lower sloped roof and larger roof overhangs to protect against tropical weather storms. Other features of these home include clapboard siding, foundation piers, high ceilings, porches, and operable sash windows. This is thought to be the first house in the area owned by a black person. Mariah passed away in the 1920s and the house remained in the Brown's family until the 1930s when it was purchased by Sarah Gardner. The home remains largely in it's original condition except for a rear addition that was built circa 1910, electrical wiring that was added in the late 1920s, and a rear exterior stairway that was removed. The home is currently unoccupied and has not been restored. It is owned by the Coconut Grove Cemetery Association which maintains the historic cemetery on Charles Street. The house was designated a historic site in 1995 by the city of Miami. Historic marker F-891 was installed in front of the house that same year."

"Currently not open for tours. This is the home of Mariah Brown. A Bahamian who immigrated to Key West in 1880. Eventually, moving to Coconut Grove in 1889 to work at Peacock Inn. She purchased the plot for 50$ and 1890 constructed the first house on Evangelist Ave., know today as Charles Ave."