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Friday, July 22, 2016

Marking the history of the Coconut Grove library

The Coconut Grove library has a new historic marker outside its doors, it's a long time coming, as the Grove library began in 1896, the historic name is Cocoanut Grove Library and Gravesite of Eva Amelia Munroe. As you may know, Mrs. Eva's grave is right outside, she's one of the Grove pioneers. The library started before there was even a City of Miami.

When Glass & Vine opened across the street, a bunch of publications, lifted my story, as they do, and someone trying to make it their own, added that Glass & Vine was in the former library space, and as other publications picked up the story and so on and so on (sort of like Melania Trump in a way), they all picked up the erroneous sentence that Glass & Vine was in the former library space. But it's in the former Chamber of Commerce space, the library is across McFarlane Road, next to the Woman's Club and now there is a marker to prove it.

The current library was built in 1963 at 2875 McFarlane Road. 

The reason there is Mrs. Eva's grave on the site is because that was a stipulation of Grove Pioneer Kirk Monroe, who donated the land many years later, and asked that his wife Eva's grave be maintained on the site. She died in 1882.

The current building, built in 1963 by the firm of T. Triplett Russell and Associates, was designed so that the westernmost wing pays homage to the original 1901 building. The original structure was one story and very rustic, built with the native Miami oolite. 

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1 Comments:

Blogger Bruce said...

Hi Tom,
Thanks for the story on the library and the gravesite.
Eva was Ralph Munroes first wife, who he brought to Miami from Staten Island with their infant daughter so she could recover her health. This was before Cocoanut Grove was settled. They camped near the mouth of the Miami river. It didn't help. Both mother and child died. Ralph buried them and moved back to NY.
When Ralph returned several years later and settled in Cocoanut Grove, he moved the grave to its present location.
When the Sonesta was being built, the developer wanted to move the grave. They had already begun digging to install utility connections. The Munroe family still owns (and pays property tax on) the grave. They objected, and with the help of Marc Sarnoff and Ron Nelson, got the developer to restore the grave and install the historical marker.

July 22, 2016 7:58 AM  

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