Founded in 1896, Overtown is one of the oldest Black communities in Florida. It was incorporated only 31 years after the Civil War with the aid of the Black vote. Black men were temporarily granted the right to vote so that both Miami and Overtown could become cities. Soon thereafter the state rescinded their right to vote. That move was indicative of Overtown’s Jim Crow era name of “Colored Town.” Overtown was built by those same Black men who also helped build the rest of Miami and the county’s portion of the Florida East Coast Railway. At that time South Blacks were not allowed to live in the same neighborhoods as Whites, so they built their homes on the unsuitable side of new railroad tracks. This created a hotbed for Black business. [...]
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