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South Florida has stories that span over a century. Many still define our communities today. Hidden treasures like the Bonnet House, Cauley Square and the Gold Coast Railroad Museum are testaments to the rich history in our area.
The Bonnet House Museum & Gardens sits in a quiet tropical haven in Fort Lauderdale. The Bonnet House’s history dates back to 1919 when Chicago-born artist Frederic Bartlett received the land as a wedding gift from Hugh Taylor Birch, his second wife’s father. It was once part of an enormous beachfront estate and served as the Bartlett’s winter home.
“It’s like walking into a painting, each room in the Bonnet House is a story not just of art, but of the people who made this piece of Florida history,” Patrick Shavloske, CEO of the Bonnet House, said.
Construction of the house started in the 1920s. Open-air verandas and handcrafted woodwork were used throughout the Bonnet House.
“Fredric really wanted the architecture here to be different from the typical Spanish revival style often seen in Coral Gables and Boca Raton,” Shavloske said. “Everything about the Bonnet House was a personal artistic vision. It was seen more as a canvas than a home.”
The Bartlett family saw the Bonnet House as a way to express their artistic talents. Frederic had a room dedicated to all his treasured artisan sets and paintings. Frederic’s wife, Evelyn Bartlett, also had a music room where she often played the piano. Fredric was a man of design so everything in the Bonnet House had symmetry.
“In keeping with classical principles, the Bonnet House has perfectly balanced proportions with mirrored design elements that give the home the order and elegance of old Southern homes,” Rose Gonzalez, a volunteer at the Bonnet House said.
Cauley Square in Southwest Miami-Dade was once a railroad village built in 1903 to serve workers on Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast railroad. The village was nearly lost to hurricanes, but has been restored with the original cottages and oak-lined walkways. Cauley Square now has shops, tea rooms and artistic spaces that celebrate a legacy of endurance and preservation.
“Cauley Square reminds us that history is in the places we protect, not in books. Each path and porch holds a memory,” Francis Varela, a longtime shop owner, said.
The preservation of Cauley Square is largely due to Mary Ann Ballard, a local historian and cultural value assessor, who saw the village on the verge of being lost. In the 1940s, after years of neglect , Ballard bought the property. Hurricane Andrew swept through in 1992, causing seevere damage. Now the original cottages havce been restored. Visitors can find a peaceful atmosphere versus a busy urban pace.
“Cauley Square stands today because one woman saw its historical value before anyone else did. Mary Ann Ballard saved more than buildings, she saved a piece of Florida’s early railroad history,” Abigail Gonzalez, current staff member, said.
There are also live music events, seasonal festivals and antique markets for both locals and tourists year round. Some business owners say they feel a responsibility to keep the village spirit alive.
“We’re not just maintaining a village, we’re protecting a piece of Florida’s early 20th-century history so that future generations can walk those paths and feel what once was too,” Gonzalez said.
The Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Southwest Miami-Dade is dedicated to one of Florida’s most transformative forces. The museum traces how locomotives shaped South Florida by bringing in new residents and industries. One of the popular attractions is the Ferdinand Magellan railcar for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
“This railcar carried a president, but the tracks beneath it carried the dreams of a growing state,” said David Lackey, a museum guide. “Florida was built by the iron lines connecting its people and possibilities.”
The trains from back then show how crucial the railroad was in connecting communities and driving the economy in South Florida. They moved goods and people around the region and helped South Florida develop rapidly in its early days.
“The tracks carried more than trains; they carried opportunity as well,” Lackey said. “Towns developed where the rails ran and South Florida benefited from that momentum early on.”
The museum now offers seasonal events, train-themed activities for children and different historical exhibits. Voluntary workers and staff members preserve and restore the railcars for visitors to see how preservation works.
These three spaces represent resilience, creativity and transformation. They hold the stories of those that came before us in a changing region and help preserve them for those that will come. Every site offers a window onto a different page in our collective history for us to look at, reflect and connect.
This story is part of a collaboration between Miami’s Community Newspapers and the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media at Florida International University.
