(WSVN) - One of the hottest areas in Miami is named after the family that literally put it on the map. Now, as we approach Brickell’s 100-year anniversary, we take a look the structure that started it all. Heather Walker has today’s 7 Spotlight.
When someone mentions Brickell, you probably think heavy traffic, hot restaurants and high rent. But did you ever wonder where the neighborhood got its name?
Heather Walker: “This is kind of hidden in plain sight.”
Cesar Becerra, historian: “It is hidden in plain sight.”
You may have gone right by this building and never noticed it.
Cesar Becerra: “We’re about arrive at the Greek marble temple.”
This small structure sits in a park off Biscayne Bay, next to the Icon building.
Cesar Becerra: “I get asked this a lot, ‘What is that marble building in the middle of the [Mary] Brickell Park?'”
There is no plaque, just the name Brickell carved at the top. So what is it? And why is it here?
Cesar Becerra: “That is really the original second resting place for Mary and William Brickell.”
Cesar Becerra has studied the Brickell family for more than 25 years.
This is the mausoleum where the founders of Brickell were laid to rest.
Back in the early 1900s, this stretch of the Brickell area was known as “Miami Millionaire’s Row.”
William and Mary Brickell were one of the largest landowners.
Cesar Becerra: “This is where their home was, where the Icon is.”
We went to the HistoryMiami Museum Research Center to see what William and Mary’s home once looked like.
Cesar Becerra: “She was very careful in how she developed her land.”
Their land went from the area that is now Brickell, all the way down to Coconut Grove. They helped grow the City of Miami.
Cesar Becerra: “There was a lot of things. They owned the first store, the first post office; everything was here.”
William and Mary Brickell’s remains were later moved from this mausoleum to Woodlawn Cemetery, their final resting place.
The mausoleum is now a protected historical site in Mary Brickell Park.
Cesar Becerra: “Mary Brickell had envisioned giving this park to the City of Miami, and she did so in her will.”
A fitting place for the last standing structure from the family who was instrumental in building the Miami we know today — a city that continues to grow and change, but the Brickell name is here to stay.
Heather Walker, 7News.
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