Converse Building in Downtown Miami

The history of the corner of SE First Street and SE First Avenue in downtown Miami. Once a residential sector, it evolved into a commercial district during the building boom years of the 1920s.

Cover: Converse Building in 2020

On the northeast corner of SE First Avenue and SE First Street sits a relic of Miami’s building boom of the 1920s. The Converse building was conceived and constructed in the mid-1920s, and it provides a window into the transition of SE First Street from a residential quarter to a prominent commercial sector of early Miami.

The occupant of the lot prior to the Converse building was one of Flagler’s Royal Palm Cottages. The residence that sat on this lot was home for several of Miami’s most prominent pioneer families. The alignment of cottages located on SE First and SE Second Streets provided much needed housing for the employees of the Florida East Coast consortium of companies, and the residence that preceded the Converse was located on the northwestern edge of Royal Palm Cottage row. This is the story of that prominent corner in downtown Miami which provides a glimpse of the Miami of yesteryear.