VIRGINIA KEY BEACH STATE PARK
Posted by: 
unimoggers
N 25° 44.100 W 080° 09.378
17R E 584625 N 2846607
Beware: your eardrums will be blown out on any given weekend with the loud rap music coming from the snack bar!! I had to hightail it outta there.
Waymark Code: WM408R
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 06/16/2008
Views: 79
MARKER TEXT:
Title: VIRGINIA KEY BEACH STATE PARK
Location:Miami
County: Miami-Dade
City: Miami
Description: Virginia Key Beach Park is an environmental and historic landmark on a barrier island in Miami. Its earliest recorded history is of an 1838 skirmish during the Second Seminole War in which three Seminoles were killed on this site. From the early 1900s onward, during the era of segregation laws, this location became a popular unofficial "Colored recreation area known as Bears Cut. In response to a bold protest led by attorney Lawson E. Thomas and others demanding an officially designated beach, Virginia Key Beach opened for "the exclusive use of Negroes" on August 1, 1945. The new park, at first accessible only by boat, was an immediate success, attracting over 1,000 visitors on any given weekend. In addition to the baptisms and sunrise services which regularly took place, churches, organizations, and families gathered here for memorable picnics and social events. The park brought together all neighborhoods and social classes of the Colored community. By the early 1960s, another courageous protest brought segregation to an end. The beach park symbolizes the struggle of Black Miamians who persevered to bring about change for future generations.
Marker Number: F-573
Date: 2006
County: Miami-Dade
Marker Type: Roadside
Sponsored or placed by: A Florida Heritage Site, Sponsored by the City of Miami Parks and Recreation Department and the Florida Department of State
Website: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:
In your log, please say if you learned something new, and if you took any extra time to explore the area once you stopped at the historic marker waymark.
Please post a photo at the marker location.