Brickell Avenue
Brickell Avenue Miami Florida 33131
 
William Brickell -- Brickell moved to the Miami area from Cleveland, Ohio in 1871. He and his family opened a trading post and post office. They owned large tracts of land stretching from the Miami River to Coconut Grove, some of which he later contributed to the railroad company for the rails that put Miami on the map.

Brickell Avenue website

Brickell Avenue
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Brickell Avenue is the name given to the stretch of U.S. Route 1 in Miami, Florida just south of the Miami River.
It is the main road through the Brickell district of Downtown Miami, and is considered to be one of the most prestigious avenue names, as it is associated with big business, wealth and finances.

It is an off-grid plan main north-south thoroughfare through the south part of downtown Miami.

From the Miami River south it continues south-southwest and upon crossing Broadway it curves southwest and continues in that direction until it terminates at Southeast 26th Road/Rickenbacker Causeway, becoming South Federal Highway for a short distance (about 1/4 mile) until it becomes South Dixie Highway.

Brickell (pronounced "BRICK-uhl") is a neighborhood partly within Downtown Miami, Florida. It lies south of the Miami River, extending south to SE 26th Road (the Rickenbacker Causeway), and is mostly mixed financial and residential north of Broadway, and mostly residential south of Broadway.

Brickell Avenue is home to Miami and South Florida's financial district as well as the site of many high-rise luxury condominium and office towers that constantly redefine the Miami skyline. Referred to as the "Manhattan of the South", Brickell is home to the largest concentration of international banks in the United States, mostly along Brickell Avenue, Brickell's main north-south avenue and along Miami Avenue, home to many of Miami's top restaurants, shops and places of entertainment. A few hundred feet east of the northeastern side of Brickell is Brickell Key, an island of upscale, high-rise residential and hotel towers.

The area of Brickell south of Broadway and is mainly low and mid-rise residential buildings west of Brickell Avenue and high-rise residential to the east of Brickell Avenue. This area of Brickell includes the "Millionaires' Row" section of Brickell Avenue, home to many expensive residences, and home to many of Miami's most expensive apartments and condominiums, as well as some iconic Miami skyscrapers, such as the Atlantis Condominium.

Although Brickell Avenue has traditionally been known as a financial district, in recent years, construction of numerous condominium and apartment towers in Brickell, has extended the upscale residential neighborhood feel of lower Brickell into upper Brickell. Recent construction in Brickell has also enlarged the urban core of Brickell from Brickell Avenue west to the Metrorail line, with new office and residential towers, such as Axis at Brickell Village and Mary Brickell Village, built west of Miami Avenue. Today, over 25,000 residents live in Brickell.

At the center of Brickell Avenue , is Mary Brickell Village with an assortment of restaurants, boutiques, services that create a gathering area for high-class retail and restaurants. Some the best and most well-known names are leasing space in the project. The project is designed after a French style village and attracts social gathering and entertainment.
Brickell Avenue History
Just over 135 years ago, William and Mary Brickell bought this chunk of land south of the Miami River and from that point forward, helped define how our city grew and developed. Their original property stretched as far south as Coconut Grove and west to present day Little Havana. A thick and tangled hammock, they carved out tracts from the live oak and strangler figs and opened a trading post on the south bank at the mouth of the river.
Brickell Avenue
Mouth of Miami River - 1884

Nineteenth century Brickell was far different than the concrete canyons that cover the landscape today. Imagine a rich knotted land of mangroves, hardwood hammocks and pine and palmetto prairies on the higher elevations. According the U.S. Department of the Interior, the land was originally part of a 640-acre grant received by Rebecca Egan shortly after Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1821. Rebecca was the widow of John Egan, a land surveyor from St. Augustine who, in 1808, had received his own grant from the Spanish government of 100 acres on the north bank Mouth of Miami River - 1884

In 1831, Rebecca Egan's land was sold to Richard Fitzpatrick, who also acquired over three square miles of additional land immediately north and south of the Miami River. Fitzpatrick established a short-lived plantation that spanned both sides of the river where slaves raised a variety of crops and livestock. Fitzpatrick was forced to abandon the plantation in 1836 at the outbreak of the Second Seminole War, and the Seminoles subsequently destroyed it.

With the end of hostilities in 1842, Fitzpatrick sold his land to his sister's son, William English, who optimistically platted out the Village of Miami on the south side of the Miami River as settlers began trickling back into the area. In 1844, the seat of the fledgling county of Dade was moved to the south side of the Miami River west of Brickell Point (the Miami Circle property), on property owned by Robert Fletcher. An 1849 U.S. Coast Survey map of the mouth of the Miami River shows only one structure, labeled Duke, near Brickell Point. This was the residence of Reason Duke, who acted as keeper of the Cape Florida lighthouse on Key Biscayne. Duke had acquired this house and an acre of surrounding land from William and Harriet English by trading lands he owned several miles south of the river.

Brickell Avenue
Silver Bluff and Brickell Hammock - 1890

Circa 1870, William and Mary Brickell moved from Cleveland, OH and acquired most the land we consider Brickell today. By 1871, they had established their residence and a general store just south of the mouth of the Miami River. The store became a major site of Seminole Indian trade in southern Florida during the last three decades of the nineteenth century. They lived on about a quaint 7 acres of land that included the Miami Circle site and the area south where the Icon development and Brickell Park now stand.

Brickell Avenue
Brickell Avenue - 1898

Most historians agree that William Brickell was more of a recluse while Mary was the power player in the marriage. She typically handled the business and earned a reputation as a cantankerous and stubborn woman. After William's death in 1908, Mary set her sights on developing the neighborhood and laid out her vision of what it should look like. She had a very definitive idea for how the region should be developed all the way down to the current landscaped median in the middle of Brickell Avenue. In December 1921, the year before she died, Mary Brickell wrote an open letter to the people of Miami describing what she wanted to do with her still ample property: "Many times in the past I have been urged to sell this tract to subdivides but I have not cared to part with it for a number of reasons. The average real estate operator has but one object in view: to develop the land to be subdivided as quickly and cheaply as possible, and to get it off his hands at an inflated value, and reap an exorbitant profit. But I have always had a vision of a subdivision 'de luxe' for Brickell Hammock." She definitely wasn't against development - she only wanted it done her way.

Brickell Avenue
Millionaire's Row and Brickell - 1915

From the creation of Millionaire's Row to the sale of the Vizcaya property to James Deering, Mary Brickell defined early Miami history. Unfortunately she also died before her dreams were realized, but her legacy certainly lives on. Back then, just as today, wealth is concentrated near the bay where the Brickell's owned their land. While only a few of the spacious mansions from Millionaire's Row still exist, in their place have sprouted the high rises offices and luxurious condos of Miami's modern landscape. It's an amazing transformation in short period of time - from a Seminole trading post on the outskirts of nowhere to the financial and business gateway to the world that is Brickell today.