More than a century ago, virgin Dade County pine was cropped and stripped to raise a house that is now considered the first home built and owned by a black family in Dade County. Still standing since its construction in 1890, the abode was home to Mariah and Ernest Brown. They were a black Bahamian couple who had come to work at the Peacock Inn in Coconut Grove before Miami was even a city.

Mariah is noted as the first black Bahamians to come to Coconut Grove. Her husband Ernest soon followed as did other Bahamians who worked at the inn or took on others jobs for Commodore Ralph Munroe. At first, these early black settlers lived at the Inn. As more Bahamians arrived they formed a community originally known as Kebo. They a cut road on the west side of Main Highway that they called Evangelist Street, but is now known as Charles Avenue. The first house built on Evangelist Street was the Brown’s home. Mariah died in the 1920s, but the house remained in the Brown’s family until the 1930s when it was purchased by Sarah Gardner.

With three exceptions the house remains as it was built in 1890. Changes are: a rear addition that was built circa 1910; electrical wiring that was first added in the late 1920s; and a rear exterior stairway that was removed (dated unknown).

Currently the house is being restored as a historic site by the Coconut Grove Cemetery Association which recently purchased it. It sustained considerable damage to the house during Hurricanes Andrew in1992. Initial funds for the restoration have been acquired from Dade County and the State of Florida, Department of State.