Miami native Dr. Paul S. George is the resident historian at HistoryMiami Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate in Downtown Miami.

Downtown Miami is one of the most historic neighborhoods in Greater Miami & Miami Beach. For thousands of years, the north bank of the Miami River was home to a large indigenous Tequesta settlement, followed by Spanish missions and, later, an army fort built by enslaved people on plantations, the home of Julia Tuttle (modern Miami’s “mother”) and American industrialist Henry M. Flagler’s magnificent Royal Palm Hotel.

In 1896, Flagler brought his Florida East Coast Railway to Miami and soon thereafter started to build on land given to him by Tuttle and the Brickell family, starting the transformation of the tiny riverside community into an incorporated city.

Today, the area has evolved into what is now considered Downtown Miami, studded with towering new buildings housing offices, condos, hotels and stores. With its vast archaeological heritage and breathtaking architectural styles, Downtown Miami’s buildings tell the story of its stunning saga.

Aerial view of The Miami Circle — View of The Miami Circle

20 Architecturally Significant Buildings in Downtown Miami:

1. The Miami Circle

Located on the South bank of the Miami River near the river’s mouth

The 38-foot-diameter Miami Circle was discovered in the summer of 1998 during a routine archaeological survey that was conducted before the construction of high-rise condos. Archeologists believe it to be part of a structure built by the Tequesta people who occupied the river’s banks more than 2,000 years ago. Miami-Dade County paid the developer $26.7 million for the site, largely with state funds. Now a public park managed by HistoryMiami Museum, the site can be viewed from the Brickell Avenue Bridge. The actual circle is buried to protect it.

2. Royal Palm Cottage

64 SE 4th St.

Built in 1897 by Henry Flagler, the Royal Palm Cottage was one of about 30 houses Flagler built for people working on his Royal Palm Hotel. The wood-framed, Folk Victorian-style cottages eventually would be bought by wealthy people who wanted a winter home. The cottages, fashioned from wood from the area and painted “Flagler Yellow” – the railroad magnate’s favorite color – were later rented for $15 to $22 per month. Over time, all the other cottages slowly disappeared. In 1979, the last cottage was moved, via the Miami River, to waterfront Fort Dallas Park. The Royal Palm Cottage was designated as a historic site by the City of Miami in 1983 and was placed on the National Register of Historic places in 1989. Today, it is boarded up and stands between a hotel and a Metromover station.

3. McCrory’s

18-24 NE 1st St.

Built in the early 1900s, this building originally served as the McCrory Hotel and later as McCrory’s 5 and 10 Cent Store. In 1938, the commercial architect William F. Simpson redesigned the façade in a classic Streamline Moderne style, and the expanding 5 and 10 Cent Store took over the hotel alongside an adjoining property to the rear. In addition to its Art Deco features, the building has an arcaded walkway, typical of early 1900s buildings in Downtown Miami. The old 5 and 10 Cent Store has been gone for more than 25 years and in its place now are jewelry stores, offices and a restaurant.

4. The Old Federal Building

100 NE 1st Ave.

Designed under the supervision of architect James Knox Taylor and completed in 1915, this ornate Neo-Classical building with Florentine details housed the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse until the early 1930s. Kiehnel & Elliott, a prominent architecture firm at the time, designed an addition to the building on its west side. In the late 1930s, the building became the home of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Miami, the nation’s first savings and loan. This building was replaced by the courthouse at 300-346 Northeast First Avenue (see number 15 below.)

5. The Ralston Building

40 NE 1st Ave.

Completed in 1917, the eight-story Ralston Building was one of Miami’s first skyscrapers. Designed by architect August C. Geiger, it was named after the prominent local businessman who built it. Before its completion, all 42 offices had been leased. The building was purchased and restored by a jewelry company in 2001 and is now being used for short-term rental apartments.

6. Gesu Church

118 NE 2nd St.

Gesu Church is the oldest institution in Miami still standing on its original site, a nine-lot area provided by Henry M. Flagler, Miami’s “Godfather,” in 1896. A year later, the original wood-framed church was built on that lot and later was replaced in 1924 with the present structure, which was designed by Owen Williams of Palm Beach and built at a cost of more than $450,000. Since the church’s Jesuit priests were known for their stirring oratory, the architect was asked to design an interior without posts or pillars so there would be no obstructions between the priest and his congregation. The church’s singular stained-glass windows were made by Franz Mayer in Munich, Germany.

Facade of the Freedom Tower — Explore the history behind the Freedom Tower

7. Miami News/Freedom Tower

600 Biscayne Blvd.

A Boom-era structure built in 1925, the building housed The Miami News, the city’s first newspaper, for more than 32 years. Designed by Shultze & Weaver, a New York firm, the building is patterned after Spain’s great medieval Seville Cathedral and its magnificent Giralda tower. From 1962 to 1974, nearly 300,000 Cuban refugees received federal assistance at the Cuban Refugee Emergency Center in this building, earning it the additional name: the Freedom Tower. Occupied today by Miami Dade College, the building has been stunning restored and is currently undergoing structural renovations. Its magnificent façade is illuminated nightly.

8. Security Building/Capital Building

117 NE 1st Ave.

Currently known as the Capital Building, this structure was designed by New York architect Robert Greenfield and named after its first occupant, the Dade County Security Company. Erected in 1926 at an estimated cost of $300,000, the Capital Building is the only Second French Empire-style structure in Downtown Miami. In recent years, the building’s original façade was restored.

9. Huntington Building

168 SE 1st St.

Designed by Louis Kamper, along with Pfeiffer & O’Reilly, this tall office building was built in 1926 by Frederick Rand, who named it after his sister, Elizabeth Huntington Rand. Rand was an accomplished developer who envisioned East Second Avenue, where he owned numerous parcels of land, as the future “Fifth Avenue of the South.” The Huntington Building replaced a beautiful Queen Anne-style home on the site and its most unique features are the sculptured busts on its parapet.

10. Shoreland Arcade

120 NE 1st St.

Designed by Pfeiffer & O’Reilly in 1925, this building was erected by the Shoreland Company, developers of Miami Shores, as its main sales offices during the 1920s real estate boom. The developer’s original intent was to erect a “skyscraper” of 20 stories atop the arcade, but the collapse of the building boom and of the Shoreland Company in the mid-1920s halted that plan. The building is designed in Masonry Vernacular style, with Neo-Classical, Mediterranean and Art Deco details, with bas-reliefs on the inside and outside. Today, its ground floor and a portion of its ornate arcade are home to stores and a popular Italian restaurant.

Olympia Theater's gold and red interior — Check out Miami's historic Olympia Theater

11. Olympia Theater

174 E. Flagler St.

Designed by John Eberson as an atmospheric movie theater and vaudeville house, this magnificent cinema includes twinkling stars, rolling clouds and 12-foot-long chandeliers. The Olympia Theater and the 10-story adjoining office building were Miami’s first air-conditioned buildings when they opened in early 1926. The theater was saved from demolition in the early 1970s, after businessman Maurice Gusman purchased it and hired Miami architect Morris Lapidus to renovate the main auditorium. Since then, the theater has undergone several restorations, the last a million-dollar effort, which has restored it to its original splendor. The theater has hosted the likes of Elvis Presley, Luciano Pavarotti, Desi Arnaz, Ella Fitzgerald, Sophie Tucker and Milton Berle.

12. Ingraham Building

25 SE 2nd Ave.

Designed by Schultze & Weaver in a style typical of the Chicago School, the Ingraham Building remains one of Downtown Miami’s most elegant office buildings. It features polychromed Florentine eaves, bronze doors and a hand-painted lobby ceiling. Built in 1927 for $2 million by Florida East Coast Properties, the real estate division of Henry Flagler’s railroad empire, it was named for James Ingraham, one of Flagler’s top lieutenants.

13. Miami-Dade County Courthouse

73 W. Flagler St.

Designed by Albert Anthony Ten Eyck Brown and August Geiger, the courthouse was built on the site of a pre-existing courthouse. Constructed at 28 stories high and costing $4 million, the new courthouse opened in 1928. Said to be the tallest building south of Baltimore at the time, it dominated the skyline and housed both county and city offices, along with the jails of both jurisdictions, for 35 years. Brown, the lead architect, also designed Los Angeles City Hall, which bears a striking resemblance to this Neo-Classical building. The beautiful mezzanine has undergone a sensitive restoration, as has Courtroom 6-1, the venue for many high-profile trials.

14. Central Baptist Church

500 NE 1st Ave.

The Central Baptist Church is one of the city’s centennial churches, having been established on July 27, 1896, one day before Miami’s incorporation as a city. It is the third religious structure to have occupied the site. Built in 1927, the building is a magnificent evocation of the Neo-Classical style. As of early 2023, the building was a Christ Fellowship house of worship and was closed for renovation. The reopening is planned for the summer of 2023.

15. The David W. Dyer Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse

300-346 NE 1st Ave.

Designed by architects Phineas Paist, Harold D. Stewart and Marion Manley, Florida’s first licensed woman architect, the courthouse is a marvelous fusion of Mediterranean and Neo-Classical styles. Completed in 1934, the building is faced with oolitic limestone (coral rock) and its central courtroom has a magnificent mural by Denman Fink. It has been the venue for many major court cases as well as U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver’s Select Committee on Crime hearings in the 1950s. It replaced the courthouse building at 100 NE 1st Ave. (See number 4, above.)

16. Burdines/Macy’s

22 E. Flagler St.

In 1898, the first Burdines store in Miami opened on the west side of South Miami Avenue. By the early 1900s, William Burdine had moved the business to East Flagler Street. Its Streamline-style façade, designed by Henry Lapointe, was completed in the late 1930s. The store received a two-phased Streamline Moderne makeover in 1936 and 1946, creating an elegant International Style presence at the prime intersection of Flagler Street and Miami Avenue. The explosive growth of Downtown Miami in the years following World War II included the construction of a Burdines’ west wing, which was connected by a tri-level bridge across South Miami Avenue. The company was renamed Burdines-Macy’s in 2004, and Burdine’s name was dropped a year later. The store closed permanently in 2018.

17. Alfred I. Dupont Building

169 E. Flagler St.

Designed by Marsh & Saxelbye in 1937 and completed in 1939, this structure is Miami’s only Art Deco skyscraper and a representation of Depression Modern architecture. It is named after Alfred I. du Pont, who owned the Florida National Bank and was the building’s principal tenant. It resembles the buildings comprising Rockefeller Center in New York City, which were created in the same era. The Historic Alfred I. Dupont Building and the Rockefeller Center complex buildings share a common interior design aesthetic. Evidence of this can be found in the polished black granite base and the lavish lobby featuring bronze bas-relief elevator doors sporting egrets, herons and ibises. A grand escalator leads to the second-level banking hall, with scenes of Florida’s history adorning the high ceiling. During World War II, the building served as headquarters for the Seventh Naval District, responsible for guarding against Nazi submarine attacks. Now the mezzanine level of the beautifully restored building is a collection of event spaces.

18. Walgreens/La Epoca

200 E. Flagler St.

The building that housed La Epoca and Walgreens was originally constructed in 1936 by Walgreens as one of its “superstores” of that era. Many years later, from 2005 to 2016, this great Streamline Moderne building was home to La Epoca, a well-known department store. An example of the International Style, the factory-like appearance was designed by Zimmerman and MacBride. The interior soars three stories high and has a grand staircase with exquisite Deco railings in the rear.

Sculpture in front HistoryMiami — Enjoy history & culture at HistoryMiami Museum

19. HistoryMiami Museum

101 W. Flagler St.

You can explore 10,000 years of Miami’s history and culture through the permanent exhibit titled “Tropical Dreams: A People’s History of South Florida” at HistoryMiami Museum. The museum and research center are located in the Spanish-Mediterranean-Italian buildings of the Miami-Dade Cultural Center, designed by Philip Johnson, which also is home to the main Miami-Dade Library.

20. The Brickell Avenue Bridge

Crossing the Miami River near its mouth

The Brickell Bridge, designed by Portuondo Perotti Architects, is named in honor of the pioneer Brickell family that operated a trading post on the south bank of the Miami River and owned vast amounts of land between the river and what is now Coconut Grove. On the east side of the bridge, overlooking Brickell Park and the Miami Circle, is an imposing sculpture by renowned international artist Manuel Carbonell called the “Pillar of History.” The top of the pillar includes a statue of a Tequesta family. Carbonell used bas-reliefs on the column to tell the story of Florida’s native people as portrayed by French artist Jacques Lemoyne, who came to Florida in 1564. Carbonell also created bas-reliefs on the bridge’s pillars honoring six people who left their imprint on the city: Julia Tuttle, Henry M. Flagler, William and Mary Brickell, D.A. Dorsey and Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

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