Overtown is one of Miami’s earliest historically black communities. The area we now know as Overtown was originally called Colored Town and was designated by Henry Flagler and Julia Tuttle as the location for black laborers and their families to live. Overtown was both nationally and international recognized. It was commonly referred to as “Miami’s Little Broadway” and rivaled the Harlem night scene of New York. Famous artists’ of the day, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughn, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, and a host of others performed and stayed in Knight Beat Lounge and Hotel, The Carver Hotel, The Rockland Palace, The Dorsey, The Marsha Ann and The Lord Calvert.
Annual Overtown Music and Arts Festival is an event organized to promote economic development, community enrichment and bring excitement to Overtown.
