Railroad Shop Colored Addition was a small, close-knit black community established in the 1920’s. The community extended from NW 12^th Avenue to 17^th Avenue and from 46^th to 50^th Streets. No one seems to know exactly where the name “Railroad Shop Colored Addition” originated. Perhaps it came about because the area was predominately inhabited by black trainmen who earned enough to purchase property in the area. Some believe it was given the name so as not to be confused with the white area “Railway Shop”, located around NE 36^th Street and Second Avenue.

The pioneers of the area included: Mrs. Eliza Pierce, James & Mary Marshall, Silas Rollins, Emma Neal, Mrs. Essie Peoples, Ms. Ruby Strickland, George Kilpatrick, Neal Adams, Ms. Georgia Ayers, Ms. Lenora Smith, John D. Johnson, and Mr. John Braynon; and families such as the Clarks, Blanches, Mapps, Perkins, Knowles, Browns, Smiths, Perrys, Jacksons, Williams, and the Tylers, among others. It has been said that Black trainmen and their families began moving to the area “when it was nothing but woods.”

Many former black residents of Railroad Shop Colored Addition still recall the unjust treatment they received once white families started moving into the area. Black homeowners were unfairly denied permits to do basic repairs to their homes. The county placed a large X on property tracts owned by black residents and would print “Issue No Permits” across the top. If someone attempted to do needed repairs to their home, they risked being thrown in jail.

The residents feared that whites in the neighboring area of Allapattah were after their land. As it turned out, they were correct. On Friday morning, August 1, 1947, the residents of Railroad Shop Colored Addition were evicted from their homes by eminent domain. The Miami City Commission voted in favor of the eviction to make room for the new Allapattah Junior and Elementary Schools for white residents. The first 35 black families that lived in the area (from N.W. 46^th Street to N.W. 48^th Street north and from N.W. 12^th Avenue to N.W. 14^th Avenue west) were removed from their homes by the police, along with their belongings, in a two hour period. Their homes were then boarded up and later demolished.

No provisions were made to house any of the residents. Their belongings were placed on the side of the side of the road, and as fate would have it, it rained that night, only adding to their misery. This chapter in the history of Railroad Shop Colored Addition was recorded in a community newspaper, The Tropical Dispatch, by one of Overtown’s editors, Daniel Frances. The residents north of 48^th Street to 50^th Street were not affected at that time. A year and a half later, however, they were also evicted to make room for a fire station and a “white only” park.

The white community surrounding Rail Road Shop, and the City of Miami Commission never imagined that years later black families would reclaim their old neighborhood, occupying the swimming pool and attending the schools that was once off limits to them. The area is now called Manor Park and Allapattah, but the area once known as “Rail Road Shop Colored Addition” will never be forgotten. For many years, Georgia Jones Ayers, a former Railroad Shop resident and activist has organized Railroad Shop family reunions.

Source(s):    A Narrative Biography, on Lenora B. Smith; “Evicted Residents ‘Going Home,’ “ The Miami Herald, 1977, Bea L. Hines; Rail Road Shop Keeping in Touch, 30 Year Reunion program.