Little Havana
Miami's Cuban exile heart, home of Calle Ocho.
Little Havana is a Miami neighborhood just west of downtown, running about two and a half miles west from the Miami River. Named for Cuba's capital, it is home to many Cuban exiles and to immigrants from Central and South America, and is the world's best known Cuban exile district.
Quick Facts
- City
- Miami, Florida
- Main street
- Calle Ocho (SW 8th Street)
Lore & Background
In the 1930s it was a lower-middle-class Southern and Jewish area; Cubans gathered there from the 1960s, and by 1970 more than 85 percent of residents were Cuban, as exiles who had expected a short stay settled for good. Its landmarks include Calle Ocho (SW 8th Street), a Walk of Fame for Latin stars such as Celia Cruz and Gloria Estefan, the Tower Theater and Máximo Gómez Park, better known as Domino Park, where people meet for coffee, cigars and dominoes. Festivals like the Calle Ocho Festival and Cultural Fridays reach TV audiences worldwide. The National Trust for Historic Preservation put it on its list of 11 most endangered places in 2015 and named it a national treasure in 2017.
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