Liberty Square (Miami)
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General
Liberty Square Housing Project is a public housing 753-unit apartment complex located on 1415 NW 63rd St., in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, Florida. The Liberty City area got its name from the Liberty Square Housing Projects. The complex is often called the Pork 'n' Beans Projects. Liberty City native, Maurice "Trick Daddy" Young, reveals that the housing projects received its name because of the paint that used to be on the doors. Sometime back, the projects were split up into three different projects, each with different color doors to distinguish which project was which for county workers who had to do plumbing and yard work. This made it easier to find addresses. Each project lasted for a three block radius. There was the Pork ‘n Beans, the Green Machine, and the Blueberries. The Blueberries bared blue painted doors; the Green Machine bared green painted doors; and the Pork ‘n Beans bared orange painted doors. However, in the 90’s the entire Liberty Square was renovated and only the Pork ‘n Beans name stuck. Currently, the Liberty Square Housing Projects all have white painted doors.[1] Alternatively, the name Pork 'n' Beans, is believed to come from an inexpensive meal believed to be a diet staple for some tenants.[2]
History
Built in the late 1930s for Miami's low-income African-Americans, the LSHP was the second of its kind in the South and the first public housing project in the state of Florida. Liberty Square Project resulted from an attempt by Episcopalian priest Rev. John E. Culmer to relieve overcrowding in Overtown. The area was known as Liberty City was first developed in the 1920s by Floyd Davis who purchased the land. He hired Alonzo Kelly, an African American, to sell the land to other African Americans. A large exodus from Overtown, didn’t begin, however, until Liberty Square was built in the late 1930s. The attraction: concrete structures with indoor plumbing. Even well-off African Americans sold their homes in Overtown and moved to Liberty Square.[3]
The Wall
The “Wall” rose about four or five feet on the edge of Liberty City and separated the Black and White communities. It was built on the eastern boundary of Liberty Square, stretching along NW 12th Avenue from 62nd Street to 71st Street. Torn down in the 1950s, today, the remnant of the Wall stands as a reminder of that era’s prevailing racial attitudes. [4]
Famous Alumni
Liberty Square's alumni include former Miami Commissioner M. Athalie Range, funeral director and businessman Tony Ferguson, Miami Herald columnist Bea Hines, state NAACP President Adora Obi Nweze and former federal district Judge Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. [5]
Also, many of Miami's rap stars, including Trick Daddy, come from these projects and the Liberty City area itself.
See Also
References
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