Peacock Park
Encyclopedia
Peacock Park is a 9.4 acres (38,040.5 m²) public, urban park
Urban park
An urban park, is also known as a municipal park or a public park, public open space or municipal gardens , is a park in cities and other incorporated places to offer recreation and green space to residents of, and visitors to, the municipality...

 in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 on the shore of Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Its area is...

.

History

Among the first permanent settlers in South Florida were grocer
Grocer
A grocer is a bulk seller of food. Beginning as early as the 14th century, a grocer was a dealer in comestible dry goods such as spices, pepper, sugar, and cocoa, tea and coffee...

s Charles and Isabella Peacock who arrived in Coconut Grove encouraged to establish a hotel. Their hotel, built in 1883, was called Bay View House and was the first hotel on mainland Florida south of Palm Beach
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...

. Later renamed the Peacock Inn, the first community gatherings in Miami were held at Peacocks'. The establishment of a Florida East Coast Railway
Florida East Coast Railway
The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida; in the past, it has been a Class I railroad.Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a project of Standard Oil principal Henry Morrison...

 station near present-day Douglas Road station
Douglas Road (Metrorail station)
Douglas Road is a Metrorail station just southwest of Coconut Grove, in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables, Florida.The station is located at the intersection of South Douglas Road and South Dixie Highway , opening to service May 20, 1984.-Places of interest:*Coral Gables**Village of Merrick...

 in the late 1890s
1890s
The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the "Mauve Decade" - because William Henry Perkin's aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion - and also as the "Gay Nineties", under the then-current usage of the word "gay" which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no...

 made the once difficult-to-access lodge a popular refuge. Closing in 1902, the Peacock Inn building became the Lake Placid School until the school moved to Pompano Beach
Pompano Beach, Florida
Pompano Beach ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean just to the north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 99,845...

 in 1925 and the inn subsequently torn down.

The city of Miami purchased the private property in 1934 for $63,500 ($ million, adjusted for current inflation) and established it as the public Coconut Grove Bayfront Park, renamed in honor of the aforementioned Peacocks in 1973. Considered the Miami equivalent of the Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...

 neighborhood of New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, during the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...

 the park and surrounding Coconut Grove area became notable as a center for hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...

s and the youth counterculture
Counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural movement that mainly developed in the United States and spread throughout much of the western world between 1960 and 1973. The movement gained momentum during the U.S. government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam...

, hosting several be-in
Human Be-In
The Human Be-In was a happening in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the afternoon and evening of January 14, 1967. It was a prelude to San Francisco's Summer of Love, which made the Haight-Ashbury district a symbol as the center of an American counterculture and introduced the word 'psychedelic'...

s and concerts during the latter part of the decade. Nearby Dinner Key
Dinner Key
Dinner Key is a marina complex in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida along the shore of Biscayne Bay on South Bayshore Drive. It was originally an island, but was connected to the mainland in 1914 by filling in the intervening space...

 hosted a now-infamous Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...

 concert where lead singer Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...

 allegedly exposed himself in 1969.

Park amenities include a baseball field, basketball court, tennis court, playground, and skatepark
Skatepark
A skatepark is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, aggressive inline skating and scooters. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, quarter pipes, spine transfers, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs stairsets,...

. The adjacent Kenneth M. Myers Park, which hosts the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, is jointly administered by the city with Peacock Park. The Dinner Key Marina complex is located immediately along the shore of the park.
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