Crandon Park is an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, occupying the northern part of

Key Biscayne Key Biscayne ( es, Cayo Vizcaíno, link=no) is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies sout ...

. It is connected to mainland Miami via the

Rickenbacker Causeway The Rickenbacker Causeway is a causeway that connects Miami, Florida to the barrier islands of Virginia Key and Key Biscayne across Biscayne Bay. Background The Causeway is a toll road, owned and operated by Miami-Dade County. Automobiles tr ...

History

The land Crandon Park occupies was once part of the largest

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

plantation in the United States, operated by

William John Matheson William John Matheson (1856–1930) was an American industrialist. Born in Wisconsin, he was educated in Scotland where he learned about recent breakthroughs in the development of aniline dyes. Matheson became an early importer and distributor of s ...

and his heirs. In 1940 the Matheson family donated of their land to Dade County (now Miami-Dade County) for a public park. In return, county commissioner Charles H. Crandon promised that the county would build a causeway to Key Biscayne. World War II delayed construction, but the causeway opened in 1947. At one time Crandon Park also included a zoo, occupying of the park. The first animals in the zoo, including some lions, an elephant and a rhinoceros, had been stranded when a circus went out of business in Miami. Some Galapagos tortoises, monkeys and pheasants were added from the Matheson plantation. Other animals were added, including a white Bengal tiger. In 1981 the Crandon Park Zoo was moved from the park to a location south of Miami, and became the Miami MetroZoo, later renamed the Miami-Dade Zoological Park and Gardens.

Facilities

The park is more than in size, and has of beach on the Atlantic Ocean side. Crandon Boulevard extends from the end of the Rickenbacker Causeway through the length of the park, providing access to the Village of

and

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Area occupies approximately the southern third of the island of Key Biscayne, at coordinates . This park includes the Cape Florida Light, the oldest standing structure in Greater Miami. In 2005, it was ran ...

. The park has a variety of facilities, including a marina, a golf course, the

Tennis Center at Crandon Park The Crandon Park Tennis Center is a tennis facility in Key Biscayne, Florida. It features a 13,800-seat venue named Stadium Court as its centerpiece, and was home of the Miami Open from 1987 until 2018. The Miami Open used twelve courts for comp ...

, a family amusement center, picnic shelters and a nature center. There is parking for more than 3,000 vehicles in the park. Part of the park is set aside as the Bear Cut Preserve, a designated natural Environment Study Area. Guided tours through the preserve are available.Miami-Dade Park and Recreation - Crandon Beach
- URL retrieved September 12, 2006

Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center, also known as Biscayne Nature Center, is located at the north end of Crandon Park. Features include natural history exhibits, demonstration lab classroom facilities, an audio visual presentation room and a gift shop. The center is a project of

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is a public school district serving Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida. Founded in 1885, it is the largest school district in Florida and the Southeastern United States, and, , the fourth la ...

, Miami-Dade County Parks and Recreation Department and the not-for-profit community support group.

Gallery

Image:Miami3194.jpg, View of

Fisher Island Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...

and

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard. This area was the fi ...

from Crandon Image:Crandon Park beach, FL.jpg, View of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

from the beach

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *Blank, Joan Gill. 1996. ''Key Biscayne.'' Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. . *Crandon, Charles H. (no date, circa 1976). ''Country Bumpkin.'' Miami: Johnson Press. *

External links

Crandon Park
- official site
Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center
- official site {{Greater Miami Key Biscayne, Florida Parks in Miami-Dade County, Florida Beaches of Miami-Dade County, Florida Nature centers in Florida Beaches of Florida