Coconut Grove is Miami's oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood, occupying a stretch of Biscayne Bay shoreline in southern Miami-Dade County roughly bounded by South Dixie Highway (US 1) and LeJeune Road, with the Rickenbacker Causeway carrying traffic across the bay to Key Biscayne. Settlers clustered near the Cape Florida Lighthouse as early as the 1820s, and the neighborhood's modern identity was shaped in large part by Bahamian immigrants who arrived in the late 1800s — a heritage now recognized in the area's "Little Bahamas" designation. The railroad's arrival at the turn of the 20th century turned the Grove into an important farming and shipping point before it was absorbed into the growing city of Miami. The Grove has long balanced two identities: a working waterfront community and a leafy, artistic enclave. Its tree-lined streets, historic cottages, and bayside parks set it apart from Miami's denser urban core, while CocoWalk and the surrounding Center Grove provide a compact dining and retail hub. Institutions such as Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and The Kampong reflect an early-20th-century era of grand estates, and the Barnacle Historic State Park preserves the neighborhood's pioneer past. Today Coconut Grove attracts a mix of longtime residents, families drawn to its schools, and professionals who value the Metrorail connection and proximity to downtown Miami, Brickell, and Coral Gables. The waterfront includes gated communities such as The Moorings, The Cloisters, Grovenor House, and Grove Isle, while inland blocks hold early-20th-century cottages, mid-century homes, and newer condominium buildings. Through its growth, the Grove has retained a slower, greener, distinctly neighborhood-oriented character that sets it apart from much of the rest of Miami.