The Historic Riviera

LINCOLN MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY - FROM MISTY BEGINNINGS TO DESERVING RESTORATION

Lincoln Memorial Park, located at 3001 N.W. 46th Street, is one of the oldest black cemeteries in Dade County. It is the final resting place of many black pioneers and luminaries who have helped shape the cultural landscape of early Miami. Since its inception, thousands of people have been laid to rest within the 20-acre property. One of the most unique features of Lincoln Memorial Park is that it is one of perhaps three Miami cemeteries that is almost exclusively comprised of above-ground burial vaults. Lincoln Memorial Park’s origins are somewhat shrouded in mystery. Fact and myth have blended together to produce one of Miami’s most beautiful and enduring legends. The urban-myth is described as follows: Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery was located in what was then known as the Brown Subdivision (now known as Brownsville) and was founded in the early 1920’s by a white realtor named F.B. Miller. According to the legend, Kelsey Leroy Pharr,...

A SPANISH ROYAL IN THE GABLES

In 1985 an elderly lady of nearly 80, living with her sister in a modest home at 722 Cadima Ave. in Coral Gables, received an unexpected invitation. The invitation, which came from King Juan Carlos of Spain, invited her to a royal funeral at the El Escorial Monastery. The ceremony was for the entombment of His Royal Highness Alfonso of Borbon, Prince of the Asturias, the heir to the Spanish throne, and later styled the Count of Covadonga. What made the royal invitation unusual was that Edelmira Sampedro-Robato, the lady in question, was not only that that she had once been wed to Alfonso, or that in 1933 the prince had renounced his rights to the abolished Spanish throne in 1933 to marry her, that the couple had divorced in 1937 after a tempestuous marriage of four years, but that Alfonso had, by 1985, been dead for nearly 40 years. If those reasons were not enough for her surprise, Alfonso, shortly before his untimely death had remarried, and divorced. Edelmira respectfully dec...

DADE COUNTY SLASH PINE

Dade County Slash Pine (known by naturalists as Pinus Elliottii) was one of the most important pine species in Southern Florida. The tree played a pivotal role in early Miami’s ecological landscape and helped shape the industries which would contribute to the city’s population boom in the early twentieth century. The timber proved to be of great use for pioneers, developers, and industrialist alike. The wood is resistant to both rot and termites and is known to be one of the hardest lumber products in the world. In fact, the tree was in such high demand that it was over-harvested to near-extinction. The Pine Rocklands once covered 185,000 acres of Miami-Dade County. By the time the city of Miami celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1996, only 2% of the pine forest remained. Slash Pine, which grows up to 100 feet in height and 2 to 3 feet in diameter, would have been one of the dominating features encountered by Miami’s first settlers. In fact, the pine trees would have been...

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