GREATER BETHEL AME CHURCH
MIAMI’S FIRST BLACK CONGREGATION
Home to Miami’s oldest Black congregation, est. 1896, months before the city was incorporated. Greater Bethel AME Church has served Overtown’s spiritual and humanitarian needs for over a century. Its Mediterranean Revival building, completed in 1943, remains one of the neighborhood’s most commanding structures.
Photo: HistoryMiami (1989)
DORSEY PARK
A GIFT OF GREEN TO OVERTOWN
In 1917, civic leader and philanthropist Dana Dorsey donated land to the City of Miami for Overtown’s first public park for Black residents. Over a century later, the site remains a public park — a lasting gift to the community he helped build.
Photo: City of Miami Tax Historic Tax Card Photo
THE LYRIC THEATER
THE HEARTBEAT OF BLACK MIAMI
Built during the era of segregation, The Lyric Theater became a safe, vibrant space where Black Miamians could experience world-class entertainment, community and pride. It stood as a symbol of resilience and the brilliance of a community that created its own spaces to thrive.
Photo: City of Miami Tax Historic Tax Card Photo
DR. WILLIAM A. CHAPMAN HOUSE
A DOCTOR FOR ALL OF FLORIDA
Dr. William A. Chapman, Sr., one of Miami’s first Black physicians, traveled Florida educating communities on disease and treatment. Between journeys, he returned to this two-and-a-half-story masonry vernacular home, built in 1923.
Photo: City of Miami Tax Historic Tax Card Photo
DORSEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY
KNOWLEDGE BUILT FOR A COMMUNITY
Donated by Miami’s first Black millionaire, Dana Albert Dorsey, in 1940, the Dorsey Memorial Library was the first city-owned building constructed specifically as a library — and only the second in Miami to serve African-American residents. Designed by Paist & Steward in Masonry Vernacular style.
Photo: City of Miami Designation Report (1988)
DR. SAMUEL H. JOHNSON X-RAY CLINIC
HEALING A COMMUNITY LEFT BEHIND
When Black residents were turned away from X-ray services at Miami’s City Hospital, Dr. Samuel H. Johnson acted. South Florida’s first Black radiologist built his own clinic in 1939 to ensure his community received the care they were denied.
Photo: City of Miami Tax Historic Tax Card Photo
BOOKER T WASHINGTON SENIOR HIGH
MIAMI’S FIRST BLACK HIGH SCHOOL
Opening in February 1927 despite a bombing and a hurricane during construction, Booker T. Washington was Miami’s first public school offering a full twelfth-grade education to Black students — drawing families from West Palm Beach to Key West.
HISTORIC BLACK POLICE PRECINCT
WHERE BLACK OFFICERS MADE HISTORY
After a decade of community organizing, Ralph White, Moody Hall, Clyde Lee, Edward Kimball, and John Milledge became Miami’s first Black Patrolmen in 1944. This building became the first municipal court where Black officers administered justice for Black residents.
Photo: City of Miami Designation Report (c. 1955)
NEW PROVIDENCE LODGE
BUILT BY HAND, BOUND BY PURPOSE
Founded in 1901, New Providence Lodge #365 gave Overtown’s masons a safe place to gather — Black residents then needed special permits to travel through white neighborhoods. Members built the Lodge themselves in 1947, meeting evenings until the work was done.
Photo: City of Miami Tax Historic Tax Card Photo (c. 1950s)
ST. AGNES’ EPISCOPAL CHURCH
WHERE ADVOCACY MET THE ALTAR
Founded in 1898 to serve Miami’s Anglican Bahamian community, St. Agnes’ grew into the third largest Black Episcopal congregation in the nation by the 1940s. Its Gothic Revival and Mission-style building, completed in 1930, features a stunning barrel-vaulted ceiling.
EBENEZER METHODIST CHURCH
A CENTURY OF SPIRITUAL STRENGTH
Founded in August 1898, Ebenezer Methodist Church has been a spiritual anchor in Overtown for over a century. By 1907 it was one of six active congregations shaping the neighborhood. The current building — the third for this congregation — dates to 1947.
Photo: City of Miami Designation Report (1988)
DANA A. DORSEY HOUSE
HOME OF OVERTOWN’S FOUNDING FATHER
Miami’s first Black millionaire, Dana Albert Dorsey, built this vernacular home for his wife in 1913. Beyond his real estate empire, Dorsey co-founded South Florida’s first Black bank, Miami’s first Black high school, and donated land for a park and the city’s first Black library.
Photo: City of Miami Tax Historic Tax Card Photo
WARD ROOMING HOUSE
WHERE ALL WERE WELCOME
Built in 1925, the Ward Rooming House welcomed Black visitors and Native Americans when Downtown Miami routinely turned them away. Now a historic landmark, it endures as a symbol of the dignity and inclusivity at the heart of the Overtown community.
Photo: City of Miami Tax Historic Tax Card Photo (c. 1940)
SAINT JOHN BAPTIST CHURCH
WHERE HISTORY MEETS HOLY GROUND
Organized in 1906, Saint John Baptist Church is Miami’s second-oldest Black congregation. Its 1939 building — designed by McKissack and McKissack, the nation’s first Black-owned architecture firm — remains one of Miami-Dade’s rare Art Deco houses of worship.
Photo: HistoryMiami (1979)
MOUNT ZION BAPTIST CHURCH
A CHURCH BUILT FOR A MOVEMENT
Breaking ground in 1928, Mount Zion took thirteen years to complete under Reverend J.R. Evans. It became more than a church — an early home for Boy and Girl Scout troops and a gathering place for civil rights leaders including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Photo: City of Miami Tax Historic Tax Card Photo