Overtown

Once a beacon of Black excellence, Overtown pulsates with a history as vibrant as its name suggests. Right here, just northwest of Downtown Miami, Overtown wasn’t always called that. It began as “Colored Town,” a name etched in the painful reality of segregation. Imagine this: by the 1940s, this very spot thrived with hundreds of Black-owned businesses. It was a bustling hub on Northwest Second Avenue, dubbed the “Little Broadway” of the South. Overtown was where legends like Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie found solace when Miami’s glittering stages came with a side of discrimination. They couldn’t stay on Miami Beach, but here in Overtown, they found open doors and warm welcomes. But Overtown’s story is a tapestry woven with threads of triumph and tribulation. The construction of I-95 in the 1960s, while connecting cities, tore through the heart of this neighborhood. Imagine the once vibrant “Little Broadway” now dissected, its lifeblood of businesses and residents displaced. Yet, Overtown endures. The echoes of jazz legends still reverberate in the walls of places like the Lyric Theater, now restored to its former glory. As you walk these streets, remember Overtown’s story, a testament to resilience, a celebration of Black heritage, a vibrant thread in the multicultural fabric of Miami.