Mary Brickell, a trailblazing landowner and one of many unique architects of recent Miami, has been named to the Florida Ladies’s Corridor of Fame, the Miami-Dade County Fee for Ladies (CFW) introduced. She is one in every of solely three girls throughout the state chosen for induction this yr.
The nomination, submitted by CFW management, displays the fee’s dedication to honoring girls whose legacies have lengthy been underrecognized in South Florida historical past.
“Mary Brickell’s management, compassion, and imaginative and prescient helped lay the foundations of Miami’s civic and financial life—at a time when girls couldn’t vote, but nonetheless formed the course of historical past,” stated Dr. Rose Martin, director of the Miami-Dade County Fee for Ladies. “Her recognition on the state degree affirms the lasting affect of her contributions.”
Born in England in 1836, Brickell emigrated to america and settled in South Florida within the 1870s together with her husband, William. The couple acquired massive parts of land on the south facet of the Miami River, establishing a buying and selling submit and serving to lay out the early grid of the town. After William’s loss of life in 1908, Mary Brickell independently managed the household’s actual property ventures—negotiating land offers and dealing with key builders, together with Henry Flagler, to help Miami’s growth.
The Brickell neighborhood—now a world monetary hub—and Mary Brickell Village, a preferred purchasing and eating vacation spot, each bear her household’s title. Whereas traditionally credited to the couple, fashionable efforts by historians and advocates have targeted on restoring recognition to Mary’s particular person affect in shaping the town’s id.
Brickell’s official induction will happen in September 2025 on the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, the place a commemorative plaque in her honor will probably be put in within the Capitol Rotunda.
The Florida Ladies’s Corridor of Fame was created by the state legislature in 1982 to acknowledge girls who’ve made lasting contributions to Florida’s communities and public life. For extra particulars and a full record of inductees, go to flwomenshalloffame.org.
