An early pioneer of our neighborhood was “Jolly Jack” Peacock, an Englishman who settled in the south part of the Grove. He persuaded his brother Charles, owner of a wholesale meat business in London, to join him. Charles Peacock, his wife Isabella and their three sons eventually settled in Coconut Grove and in 1882 opened the Bay View House, which later was called The Peacock Inn, the first hotel in the area. Black workers came from the Bahamas to work at the Inn and established the first Black community
in Miami, along Charles Avenue. The Peacock Inn attracted all kinds of visitors including scientists, authors, and nobility, many of whom remained to make Coconut Grove their permanent home.
Reference: activerain.com/blogsview/19295/coconutgrove-history-as-a-native-it-is-my-passion
