Mariah Brown House Museum to open in December

After 15 years of efforts to honor the history of the West Grove, the Mariah Brown House Museum may finally become a reality in December.

Mariah Brown immigrated to Florida from the Bahamas in the 1880s. In 1890, Brown built a home along Evangelist Street, known today as Charles Avenue. As one of the first black-owned homes in Coconut Grove, the Mariah Brown House garnered historical designation by the City of Miami.

The historical significance of the structure inspired the late Esther Mae Armbrister, an activist and founder of the Coconut Grove Cemetery Association. In 1995, she enlisted the help of attorney W. Tucker Gibbs and community members to restore the building and turn it into a museum.

“She [Armbrister] wanted something left in the West Grove that spoke to the history,” Gibbs said.

The in-house committee for the Mariah Brown House restoration and museum was formed at the Cemetery Association. The association then received a Miami-Dade County grant to purchase the property and rebuild the structure, said committee member Renita Ross Samuels-Dixon.

An archeological assessment was conducted on the property, and plates and other artifacts were recovered. They are currently on display at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida in Downtown and may be moved to the Mariah Brown House upon completion of the museum.

Unfortunately in 2000, the committee encountered a problem that would set the restoration project back 10 years.

Gibbs said that since the outside of the house must remain historically accurate, finding windows that are period-appropriate but also meet the hurricane standards of the Florida Building Code has been problematic. However, the Cemetery Association recently made gains toward having windows approved by the City of Miami Historic Preservation Department.

The amount of time the project has taken is not only due to window problems; it is also due to the fact that committee members are volunteers.

“We’re all volunteers, so you juggle your time as you can. It makes it difficult for everyone,” Gibbs said. “It’s not the fastest thing, but it will get done.”

Still, the committee, which does not meet on a regular basis, has received criticism from community members.

“There should be more accountability of that committee to the community,” said Coconut Grove Collaborative President and CEO Jihad S. Rashid. “They could stand to be a little more active. The board in general is not proactive enough.”

A long road still lies ahead, but committee members hope to have the project completed by December of 2010.

“We’re at a point where we can see completion,” Samuels-Dixon said.

Many community members acknowledge the historical and architectural importance of the project and want to see it completed.

“I personally really want this to happen,” said Ellen Uguccioni, historic preservation officer for the City of Miami. “I think Charles Avenue was the epicenter of the Bahamian population, and it deserves the kind of recognition that the group is trying to bring.”

The significance of the Mariah Brown House has touched individuals such as Sandra Riley, committee member and artistic director of the Crystal Parrot Players. She authored a play entitled “Mariah Brown” that has been performed several times to raise funds for the Mariah Brown House. According to the Crystal Parrot Players website, the group has raised $6,600. Riley said the money will be given to the committee once the project is further along.

The committee hopes the restoration of the Mariah Brown House and the creation of a museum will help the Coconut Grove community economically, Samuels-Dixon said. Historical tours that currently travel down Charles Avenue will be able to stop at the Mariah Brown House to tour the museum and witness reenactments. The committee also hopes to partner with schools to bring children to the museum to learn about their community’s history.

“When you see how other places have preserved their history, why can’t we preserve our Bahamian, Caucasian and African-American history?” Samuels-Dixon said. “All three of these should be preserved in Coconut Grove.”

When completed, the Mariah Brown House Museum will ensure that the history of Coconut Grove will not be forgotten.

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