A brief Coconut Grove history tour

I ran into my friend Glenn Terry last Sunday. I was shooting royal poinciana pictures around Plymouth Congregational Church and he was leaving church. We started talking and he gave me a little tour of the area. I told him when you stand on Devon Road, you just feel history all around you. The church itself was founded in 1897.


Right down the block, on the turn on Devon Road before it makes a loop into Hibiscus Street there are two interesting buildings which comprised the Cocoanut Grove Untilities started in 1916 by the Matheson family. The structure on the right was the water tank, the reservoir.


This is where the Grove's water came from back in the day, before the water facility moved onto the LeJeune Road location in 1925.


And directly next door in a non-descript house was the telephone company, where the operator put the calls through. I picture the tv show "Green Acres" when I think about this, or "Andy Griffith," where you pick up the phone, click it and ask Sarah on the other end to connect you with some other number. This is where it happened in the Grove.


I also enjoyed Glenn's descriptions of the people who lived in the area like Jack Lemmon, and the various tree lined blocks and houses and the history of each one.

Every once in awhile Glenn gives bicycle or walking tours. We'll let you know when the next one comes up. They are quite interesting and Glenn is quite proud of his neighborhood.