Tourist Places in Parrot Jungle Island
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Wednesday, 30 April 2008 |
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History of Parrot Jungle Island Parrot Jungle was a world famous animal theme park south of Miami on twenty acres of property on the corner of Southwest 111th Street (Killian Drive) and Southwest 57th Avenue (Red Road) in the area now known as the village of Pinecrest. It was founded in 1936 by Franz & Louise Scherr. It was one of the first tourist attractions established in the Miami area and was known as Parrot Jungle and Gardens. The idea for Parrot Jungle began after Scherr, who owned and operated a feed and supply store in Homestead, became intrigued with the idea of building an attraction where birds would “fly free.” To bring his vision to life, he rented twenty acres of hammock land for an annual fee of $25. Parrot Jungle was built as a winding nature trail dug through the coral rock and hammock land, indigenous to the area. All the natural plants were left undisturbed. The entrance was built on Red Road. The attraction opened on December 20, 1936, to about 100 visitors. Each paid 25 cents admission to see and hear Scherr talk about his birds, trees and flowers. Since 1936, Parrot Jungle attracted over a million visitors and became a world-famous tourist attraction. Among its many famous visitors was Sir Winston Churchill. On December 17, 2002, the Village of Pinecrest purchased the Parrot Jungle with the aim of developing the site as Pinecrest Gardens. On March 8, 2003 the Pinecrest Village Council dedicated Pinecrest Gardens and officially opened it to the public as the Village’s newest municipal park. The actual attraction moved to a new waterfront location on Watson Island between downtown Miami and Miami Beach. It opened its doors on June 28, 2003 as Parrot Jungle Island. Parrot Jungle Island's logo was an evolving one. The word 'Parrot' became increasingly smaller, and the word 'Island' larger. The park's owners did not want to abandon the tradition of the Parrot Jungle name, but recognized that it limited the public's view of what the park offered. Even though it was home to orangutans, tigers, crocodiles and many other animals, local residents and tourists alike assumed that the park only had parrots. It became evident that with 'Parrot' in the park's name, it would be impossible to change people's perception of the park. To that end, majority owner Dr. Bern Levine, tested the name "Jungle Island" on cruise ship brochures and saw the attendance from those ships quadruple. Tourist Attractions in Parrot Jungle Island Homestead
Homestead is a rather small-sized city. At its greatest north-south points - along SW 137th Avenue (Speedway Boulevard) - its city limits extend only 4 miles - from SW 288th Street (Biscayne Drive) at the north end to (theoretical) SW 352nd Street at the south end. At its greatest east-west points - along SW 328th Street (North Canal Drive / Lucy Street) - its city limits extend 6 miles - from (theoretical) SW 132nd Avenue at the east end to SW 192nd Avenue at the west end. U.S. 1 - known as Homestead Boulevard within the city limits - extends through a rather narrow northeast / southwest corridor of the city from SW 304th Street (Kings Highway) at the north end to SW 328th Street (Lucy Street) at the south end. It is at this point at the south end that Homestead and Florida City share a common border. (North of the north end at SW 304th Street is known as Unincorporated Miami-Dade County, but it is locally known as the community of Leisure City). Major east-west streets within Homestead include SW 304th Street / NE & NW 15th Street (Kings Highway), SW 312th Street / NE & NW 8th Street (Campbell Drive), SW 320th Street (Mowry Drive), SW 328th Street / SE & SW 8th Street (North Canal Drive / Lucy Street), and SW 344th Street / SE 24th Street (Palm Drive). The original Homestead Air Force Base was once located several miles to the northeast of Homestead, but due to annexation of formerly unincorporated land immediately to the east and northeast of the original city limits during the late-1990s the city and the far southwestern perimeter of the (now) Homestead Air Reserve Base share a common border for a small portion along SW 137th Avenue (Speedway Boulevard).
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