Allapattah

Allapattah
Allapattah
305, 786
Website	Allapattah neighborhood

Allapattah is a

LeJeune Road, is being annexed by the city proper.^[1]^{[needs update}

]

A stretch in the neighborhood along NW 17th Avenue was nicknamed Little Santo Domingo in 2003, in an effort spurred by former Miami mayor and longtime city commissioner Wilfredo "Willy" Gort to honor the sizable Dominican American population in the community.^[2]

History

The name is derived from the

Miami Jackson High School presently stands. Development ensued from 1896 and into the 20th century in the area with the completion of the Florida East Coast Railroad (FEC).^[3]

While most of Allapattah was populated by whites until the late 1950s, an African American neighborhood named Railroad Shops Colored Addition existed between NW 46th Street to the south and NW 50th Street to the north, from NW 12th Avenue on the east to NW 14th Avenue on the west. The neighborhood had been established at the end of the 19th century when the Florida East Coast Railroad built servicing facilities nearby. In the late 1940s the entire neighborhood was condemned under eminent domain, and the residents forced to leave. The area was used as a site for a new white school (originally named Allapattah Elementary, since renamed Lenora B. Smith Elementary in honor of an educator who once lived in the Railroad Shops neighborhood) and a park.[4]^[5]^[6]

There was a large influx of

Cuban American populations. The 1980s brought influxes of Dominican Americans, Nicaraguans, Hondurans, and Haitians in the aftermath of various refugee crises in those nations. Now, a melting pot of residents from all across the Caribbean, Central America, Latin America

more broadly, and African Americans who historically lived throughout the South, reside in the area.

Geography

Allapattah is northwest of downtown, and about five miles (8 km) east of Miami International Airport. It is located at 25°48′54″N 80°13′26″W / 25.815°N 80.224°W / 25.815; -80.224, with an elevation of 10 feet (3.0 m).^[7]

Many of the businesses and educational institutions in the neighborhood are generally located on

Northwest 36th Street (US 27). The boundaries are roughly the Airport Expressway (SR 112) to the north, the Miami River and the Dolphin Expressway (SR 836) to the south, I-95 to the east, and Northwest 27th Avenue (SR 9)

to the west.

Economy

A thriving

textiles market is located along Northwest 20th Street between Northwest 17th and 27th Avenues, with several garment manufacturing and wholesale outlets from Latin America and the Caribbean makers along the row. The Produce Market, the largest open-air food distribution center in Miami, serves local supermarkets and bodegas with the freshest variety of South Florida produce, tropical fruits

and many other products.

The industrial district of the city of Miami is located in an area straddling the Health District and Allapattah, along a former FEC corridor^{[clarification needed]} just north of Northwest 20th Street. Trades ranging from clothing manufacturers, auto repair, carpentry and upholstery shops. Additionally, several shipyards and dry docks located along the neighborhood's banks of the Miami River.

Education

Miami-Dade County Public Schools operates all area public schools:

Public schools

Elementary schools

Comstock Elementary School
Maya Angelou Elementary School
Santa Clara Elementary School
Melrose Elementary School
River Cities Community Charter School

Middle and high schools

Mater Academy Middle School of International Studies (charter)
Brownsville Middle School
Georgia Jones Ayers Middle School
Miami Springs Middle School
Miami Jackson Senior High School
Miami Springs Senior High School
Miami Northwestern Senior High School

Libraries

Miami-Dade Public Library

operates all area public libraries:

Allapattah Library
Medical Center Library

Demographics

As of 2000^[update],

Other races (non-Hispanic)

.

The zip codes for Allapattah include 33136, 33125, 33127, and 33142. The area covers 4.653 square miles (12.05 km²). As of 2000^[update], there were 23,967 males and 19,894 females. The median age for males was 33.9 years old, while the median age for females was 36.0 years old. The average household size had 2.8 people, while the average family size had 3.4 members. The percentage of married-couple families (among all households) was 36.4%, while the percentage of married-couple families with children (among all households) was 16.6%, and the percentage of single-mother households (among all households) was 14.5%. 8.0% of the population were in correctional institutions, 1.0% of the population were in nursing homes, and 1.2% of the population were in other group homes. The percentage of never-married males 15 years old and over was 24.5%, while the percentage of never-married females 15 years old and over was 12.4%.^[9]

As of 2000^[update], the percentage of people that speak English not well or not at all made up 33.0% of the population. The percentage of residents born in Florida was 30.5%, the percentage of people born in another U.S. state was 9.2%, and the percentage of native residents but born outside the U.S. was 4.3%, while the percentage of foreign born residents was 56.1%.^[9]