Lummus Park Historic District

Lummus Park Historic District. Miami River Greenway. This land on the north side of the Miami River was developed as a residential area soon after the City Park opened in 1909. Along NW 3rd and NW 4th Streets a mixture of single-family and multi-family structures were built that were made of strong Dade County pine. They were designed in architectural styles popular at that time, i.e., Frame or Masonry Vernacular using native elements, and Mediterranean Revival., One of the first houses was that of Frank Gallat, a Miami jeweler. His Masonry Vernacular style home was built in 1913 at 453 NW 3rd Street. A year later he built the three-story Gallat Court Apartments at 431 NW 3rd Street. A four-story annex was added in 1918. The Gallat buildings became the Temple Court Apartments after the Scottish Rite Temple opened nearby., The imposing three-story structure that introduces the area on NW North River Drive is the Scottish Rite Temple. The temple was built to house all the Masonic organizations in Miami. It is of Egyptian design (undoubtedly inspired by the 1922 discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb) with elements of early art deco, and was created by the architectural firm of Kiehnel and Elliot. John B. Orr, a pioneer Miami contractor who donated his services, built it over two years. The Scottish Rite Temple was dedicated with much fanfare on March 12, 1924. During World War II the US Army used it as an air raid shelter. It was completely restored after being damaged by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. In 2004 it joined Lummus Park and the houses and apartments along NW 3rd and NW 4th Streets to become the Lummus Park Historic District., North of the historic district, near NW 5th Street, African Americans would board a ferry that went to Bear's Cut (today Viginia Key Beach). During Segregation, this was the only beach accessible to South Florida's African American community., (captions) , Figure 1 Gallat Court Apartments, ca. 1919 , Figure 2 The Scottish Rite Temple, ca. 1920s