Downtown Miami Historic Core

Walk among the soaring early 20th-century skyscrapers, grand Mediterranean Revival facades, and historic civic halls of Miami's original urban center. This route reveals the dramatic stories of early booms, bust cycles, and deep-seated community legacies that forged the city's modern identity.

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1. Freedom Tower at Miami Dade College

The Freedom Tower stands apart with a yellow Mediterranean facade and an octagonal lantern tower that mimics the Giralda in Seville. Built in nineteen twenty-five as the headquarters for the Miami News, it housed the newspaper until…

2. Gesù Church

The Church of the Gesu stands apart on Northeast Second Avenue with its twin towers and a weathered, tan facade that stretches above the surrounding glass high-rises. Founded in eighteen ninety-six, it is the oldest Catholic parish in…

3. Old United States Post Office and Courthouse

The Old United States Post Office and Courthouse features a distinct, boxy Mediterranean Revival style with a three-story arcade of recessed arched windows and a heavy, overhanging tile roof. Completed in nineteen twelve, this building…

4. Seybold Jewelry Building

The Seybold Jewelry Building rises ten stories in a distinct shade of cream, covered in repetitive, small-paned windows that define the facade. John Seybold built this in nineteen twenty-five to house his own office and a fleet of doctors.…

5. The Historic Alfred I. duPont Building

The Alfred I. duPont Building rises seventeen stories above downtown Miami, distinguished by its white limestone facade and the intricate, hand-painted floral ceilings inside its banking hall. When it opened in nineteen thirty-nine, the…

6. Olympia Theater

The Olympia Theater wears a towering vertical marquee that spells out its name in glowing letters above Flagler Street. When it opened in nineteen twenty-six, the building served as a Mediterranean revival palace, featuring clouds painted…

7. Miami-Dade County Courthouse

The Miami-Dade County Courthouse is a wedding-cake structure of limestone that climbs twenty-eight stories above the city streets. When it opened in nineteen twenty-eight, its tower made it the tallest building in Florida. During the Great…

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