When Cuban immigrants left their homes and businesses to escape the revolution and start over in the U.S. they moved to a neighborhood now known as Little Havana. It was a place for them to stay together, keep their culture, and keep their traditions. It was also an affordable area at the time because they could walk almost everywhere and didn’t need a car.
These immigrants were well-educated and successful people but when they arrived had to start over from scratch, many working two to three jobs. “And because we couldn’t go back…we had no other choice,” shared Jackie Llaguna who owns the Little Havana Visitor Center. “You had to sink or swim here and as Cubans, we’re not sinking.”
Walking the main street, Calle Ocho, you’re immersed in the Cuban culture. You’re surrounded and welcomed with food, coffee and music, and maybe even the smell of a Cuban cigar. One of the most recognizable spots is Domino Park where locals are busy playing rounds of intense dominos. Llaguna described it, “Playing dominoes is the equivalent of, you know, the NFL or the NBA. This is serious stuff.”
As you keep walking, you’ll see a Bay of Pigs Monument which honors the fallen of the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Along the same street, you’ll see the Tower Theater which was the first theatre in Miami to play dual language movies, and if you look down on the sidewalk you will see the Calle Ocho Walk of Fame.
When we asked Llaguna what Little Havana means to the Cuban community, she answered, “It shows how far we’ve come. We came here with nothing and settled here…we just turned into Americans, you know, but kept our culture from home.”
For more on the Little Havana Neighborhood, watch this:
Want more Miami history? Florida Road Trip: Miami, airs this Thursday at 8 p.m. on WUCF TV, onwucf.organd on the PBS app. WUCF Passport members will also get early access, starting Thursday at 8 p.m. to next week’s episode, Florida Road Trip: Miami Beach. For even more Florida history visitFloridaRoadTrip.org
- Follow us on social media -
Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Florida_RoadTrip
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@floridaroadtrip.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wucftv/