Audio tourQCT Miami Daily Black Heritage Tour - Segment 01 - Downtown/Overtown

See and learn over 120 years of Miami Black and mainstream history as well as current and future plans. This 5 segment tour includes sites in Downtown/Overtown (including the Wynwood art district), and early suburbs like Brickell/Coconut Grove, Brownsville/Liberty City, Opa Locka, and Little Haiti (formerly Lemon City). This tour was developed and narrated by a Miami native whose family has been in the area since the early 1900's and are actually part of the city's intriguing history. This APP-guided version is now available via a native English-speaking person-guided tour at http://www.queencitytours.com/southflorida/QCT-Miami-Daily-Black-Heritage-Tour.htm.

Greetings and welcome to Queen City Tour's® QCT Miami Black Heritage Tour. My name is Jay and I will be your tour guide.

You are about to be taken on an exciting and memorable journey into Miami's rich Black history; from the first Paleo-Indian settlement more than 10,000 years ago along the edge of South Biscayne Bay, to the Spanish entrada in 1513, to the first Bahamian families in the early 1800’s, to its official incorporation on Tuesday July 28, 1896, and today a world-renowned tourist destination; Black Miamians have made significant contributions to the development of our City, State, and country.

So join us as Queen City Tours® takes you on a memorable and exciting journey into Black Miami's rich and exciting past and present.

Note: Any use of the terms Negro or Colored are not intentionally meant to shame or degrade African-Americans but to maintain the historic significance of said terms used during said periods.

Liability Disclaimer: By using this service you agree to hold harmless Queen City Tours, its employees, officers, subsidiaries, contractors, and affiliates for any and all damages and/or losses that occur on or near the tour route to include suggested stops.

Now, let me fill you in on a little bit more of Miami history. Miami began the process of becoming the most-popular city in Florida in the early 1900’s with tourism and agriculture (today transportation) as its two main industries. Miami was incorporated in 1896 shortly after the arrival of Henry Morrison Flagler’s (1830 – 1913) railroad on Monday April 13, 1896. That July 344 registered voters (black and white) voted for its incorporation in a wood frame building on Avenue D near the Miami River. The total population was estimated at between 700 and 800 residents.

The city’s name is derived from the word Mayaimi which means very large lake, possibly referring to Lake Okeechobee to the north which marked the beginning of a canoe trail from the Miami River through the Everglades. In the 1920’s the city grew so rapidly from one winter to the next that visitors’ remarked that “It had grown like magic,” and the reason why some still refer to Miami as The Magic City.

The county was named in honor of Major Francis Langhorne Dade on Thursday February 4, 1836, who was massacred by Indians during the second Seminole War on Monday December 28, 1835. The county name was officially changed to Miami-Dade after a 1997 election.

Our State was referred to as "Pascua de Florida," meaning "Feast of Flowers," by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon on Palm Sunday April 2, 1513, before claiming it for the country of Spain.

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