Peacock Park is a public,

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

where

Indian peacock The Indian peafowl (''Pavo cristatus''), also known as the common peafowl, and blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. It has been introduced to many other countries. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and ...

s roam in the

Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, S ...

neighborhood of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

on the shore of

Biscayne Bay Biscayne Bay () is a lagoon with characteristics of an estuary located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida. The northern end of the lagoon is surrounded by the densely developed heart of the Miami metropolitan area while the southern end is la ...

History

Among the first permanent settlers in South Florida were

grocer A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

s Charles and Isabella Peacock who arrived in

encouraged to establish a hotel. Their hotel, built in 1883, was called Bay View House and was the first hotel on mainland Florida south of Palm Beach. Later renamed the Peacock Inn, it was where the first community gatherings in Miami were held. Some visitors to the inn stayed in the area and this was the beginning of Coconut Grove, South Florida's first mainland community. Closing in 1902, the Peacock Inn building became the Lake Placid School until the school moved to

Pompano Beach Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2020 ...

in 1925 The building was torn down in 1926. Later the property became a city park. After the hotel closed in 1902

Ralph Munroe Ralph Middleton Munroe (April 3, 1851 – August 20, 1933) was an American yacht designer and early resident of Coconut Grove in south Florida. His home, now The Barnacle Historic State Park, is the oldest house in Miami-Dade County still standi ...

established Camp Biscayne nearby so there would be a place for visitors to stay. The city of Miami purchased the private property in 1934 for $63,500 ($ in 2015 U.S. dollars) and established it as the public Coconut Grove Bayfront Park, renamed in honor of the aforementioned Peacocks in 1973. Considered the Miami equivalent of the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

neighborhood of New York, during the 1960s the park and surrounding Coconut Grove area became notable as a center for hippies and the youth counterculture, hosting several be-ins and concerts during the latter part of the decade. Nearby

Dinner Key Dinner Key is a marina complex in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida, along the shore of Biscayne Bay on South Bayshore Drive. It was originally an island, but was connected to the mainland in 1914 by filling in the intervening space. ...

hosted a now-infamous

Doors A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security by ...

concert where lead singer

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredictable and err ...

allegedly exposed himself in 1969. Park amenities include a baseball field, basketball court, tennis court, playground, peacock aviary, and

skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairse ...

. The adjacent Kenneth M. Myers Park, which hosts the

Coconut Grove Sailing Club Coconut Grove Sailing Club is a sailing club located in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida (United States). CGSC is one of the 5 members of the Biscayne Bay Yacht Racing Association, together with Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, Coral ...

, is jointly administered by the city with Peacock Park.City of Miami website The Dinner Key Marina complex is located immediately along the shore of the park.

Gallery

Image:Peacock Inn, 1880s.png, The Peacock Inn, c. 1880s Image:Peacock Inn, 1896.png, The Inn, as it appeared c. 1896

References

;Notes

Bibliography

* Frank J. Cavaioli. Pompano Beach: A History Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2007. * * Junior League of Miami. Historic Coconut Grove. 1987. * Arva Moore Parks. The Forgotten Frontier. Miami: Banyan Books, 1980. {{Miami Parks Urban public parks Geography of Miami Parks in Miami Tourist attractions in Miami Coconut Grove (Miami)