Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Side One: David Thomas Kennedy (April 7, 1934 – Sept. 4, 2014) was an attorney and politician born in Baltimore, Maryland. He was elected to the City of Miami’s City Commission in 1961. Kennedy served as Mayor of Miami from 1969-1973. He enjoyed the outdoors and idolized 19th century American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Kennedy envisioned a green city with parks along its shores highlighting Miami’s natural resources. This inspired Kennedy to create Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami from the Miami River to the Miami Herald site (I-395). Kennedy campaigned for the 1972 “Parks for People” bond program, which helped develop many of the city’s waterfront parks. “The David Kennedy Park encapsulates my father in a lot of ways,” said son David Kennedy, Jr. “He was a dog lover and the fact it’s a dog-friendly park is not coincidental. The park was closest to Dinner Key and one of the most used parks for fitness. And the beauty of South Florida, the oaks, the mangroves, being right there on the bay. That park encapsulates a lot of the spirit of my father.” Kennedy’s accomplishments were recognized in 1974 by his successor, Mayor Maurice Ferre, by naming this park in his honor. Side Two: Located on the shores of Biscayne Bay, the site of this park shows the natural beauty and geology of South Florida. The park is situated just below the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, a rocky geological outcrop that rises along the shores of southeast Florida. This topography can be seen along Bayshore Drive and Main Highway. The porous limestone rock ridge separated the coastal ecosystem from the Everglades ecosystem. The original coastal shoreline would have been covered in mangrove trees, similar to the center of this park. Biscayne Bay was a shallow, brackish body of water with natural fresh water springs bubbling through sea grass beds that both filtered the water and provided ecological habitat. The lush upland tropical vegetation drew many to Coconut Grove and inspired authors, photographers, environmental leaders, and others. Coconut Grove is characterized as one of the last places where glimpses of the original lush vegetation, rocky ridgeline, coral rock sinkholes, springs, and clear calm bay can be seen. This diversity is also shown in the people that inhabit this area. David Thomas Kennedy’s legacy endures in this park and its preservation of Miami’s natural coastline habitats.