El Portal, Florida

El Portal, Florida
Village
Village of El Portal
Typical street in El Portal
Seal
Location in Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida
U.S. Census Bureau map showing village boundaries
Coordinates: 25°51′18.62″N 80°11′39.01″W / 25.8551722°N 80.1941694°W / 25.8551722; -80.1941694Coordinates: 25°51′18.62″N 80°11′39.01″W / 25.8551722°N 80.1941694°W / 25.8551722; -80.1941694
Country	United States of America
State	Florida
County	Miami-Dade
Incorporated	December 6, 1937
Government
• Type	Commission
• Mayor	Omarr C. Nickerson
• Councilmembers	Anders Urbom
• Councilmembers	Luis Pirela
• Village Manager	Christia Alou
Area [1]
• Village	0.42 sq mi (1.09 km2)
• Land	0.41 sq mi (1.08 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.01 km2)  0%
Elevation	7 ft (2 m)
Population  (2010)
• Village	2,325
• Estimate  (2019)[2]	2,398
• Density	5,778.31/sq mi (2,230.28/km2)
• Metro	5,422,200
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Zip Codes	33138, 33150
Area code(s)	305, 786
FIPS code	12-20650[3]
GNIS feature ID	0282132[4]
Website	Village of El Portal

El Portal is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The village name is derived from the Spanish term for "the gate," after two wooden gates that once stood as a gateway to the village. El Portal was originally a neighborhood of the city of Miami when it was annexed into the City of Miami in 1925. With the arrival of the Great Depression, the City of Miami gave up its jurisdiction and El Portal was incorporated as its own village in 1937.

History[]

El Portal is a small, diverse enclave between Miami Shores and Miami. It was incorporated on December 6, 1937. The enclave was originally the capital of the Tequesta tribal area, and was visited by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in the 1560s.^{[5][citation needed]} Three small subdivisions (now neighborhoods)—Sherwood Forest, El Jardin (Spanish for "The Garden"), and El Portal—merged into the Village of El Portal.^[6] Its borders include 91st Street on the north, 85th Street on the south, Northeast Fifth Avenue on the east and Northwest Fifth Avenue on the west.

The village's name is a Spanish term meaning "the gate," referring to two huge wooden gates on Northeast Second Avenue that were taken down in the 1940s.^[5]

The village was also designated as a bird sanctuary by the state for more than 50 years, which means that the birds and trees cannot be harmed in any way. A nature trail winds its way through the village. El Portal also boasts links to prehistoric Indian life at the Little River Mound, a four-foot-high, innocuous grassy knoll that is actually an ancient burial ground. The Little River Mound, located in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood, is the first archaeological site to be publicly recognized and preserved in Miami-Dade County.^[7]

Geography[]

El Portal is located at

25°51′19″N 80°11′39″W / 25.85528°N 80.19417°W / 25.85528; -80.19417 (25.855173, -80.194168).^[8]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.4 square miles (1.0 km²), all land.

Surrounding areas[]

•   Miami Shores
•   Unincorporated Miami-Dade County Miami Shores
• Unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Pinewood   Miami Shores, Miami
•   West Little River Miami
•   West Little River, Miami

Demographics[]

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1940	365		—
1950	1,371		275.6%
1960	2,079		51.6%
1970	2,068		−0.5%
1980	2,055		−0.6%
1990	2,457		19.6%
2000	2,505		2.0%
2010	2,325		−7.2%
2019 (est.)	2,398	[2]	3.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[9]

El Portal Demographics
2010 Census	El Portal	Miami-Dade County	Florida
Total population	2,325	2,496,435	18,801,310
Population, percent change, 2000 to 2010	-7.2%	+10.8%	+17.6%
Population density	6,148.7/sq mi	1,315.5/sq mi	350.6/sq mi
White or Caucasian (including White Hispanic)	39.8%	73.8%	75.0%
(Non-Hispanic White or Caucasian)	19.0%	15.4%	57.9%
Black or African-American	50.1%	18.9%	16.0%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	28.6%	65.0%	22.5%
Asian	1.2%	1.5%	2.4%
Native American or Native Alaskan	0.1%	0.2%	0.4%
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian	0.0%	0.0%	0.1%
Two or more races (Multiracial)	4.8%	2.4%	2.5%
Some Other Race	4.0%	3.2%	3.6%

As of 2010, there were 939 households, out of which 9.8% were vacant. In 2000, 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.2% were married couples living together, 21.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.5% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.59.

In 2000, the village population was spread out, with 25.4% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.

In 2000, the median income for a household in the village was $39,681, and the median income for a family was $41,029. Males had a median income of $27,222 versus $22,409 for females. The per capita income for the village was $14,782. About 16.3% of families and 22.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.9% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2000, speakers of English was spoken as a first language by 51.96% of residents, while speakers of French Creole made up 23.72% of the populace, Spanish at 22.38%, French 1.08%, and Patois was the mother tongue for 0.86% of the population.^[10]

As of 2000, El Portal had the second highest percentage of Bahamian residents in the US, with 2.20% of the populace.^[11] It had the third highest percentage of Haitian residents in the US, at 23.00% of the village's population (tied with Spring Valley, New York,)^[12] and the sixty-seventh highest percentage of Dominican residents in the US, at 2.12% of its population.^[13] It also had the seventy-sixth most Cubans in the US, at 4.19% of the population,^[14] while it had the thirty-second highest percentage of Hondurans, at 1.24% of all residents.^[15] El Portal's Jamaican community had the tenth highest percentage of residents, which was at 8.50% of its residents.^[16] It's also home to the thirtieth highest percentage of Nicaraguan residents in the US, at 1.40% of the population.^[17]

Religion[]

Catholicism is the most prevalent practice religion in El Portal (24%) according to city-stats.org, with 4% Judaism.^[18]

There has been a Rader Methodist church, considered the oldest church in Miami, since the 1920s.^[19] In early 2016, two developers have plans to convert the church into mixed-used space to offer tenants affordable rent.^[20]

Neighborhood[]

Less than 10 miles away from El Portal, universities such as Barry University, Johnson & Wales, Miami International University of Art and Design, Miami Dade College, and St. Thomas University have over 2,000 students.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery[]

• 

  Typical street in El Portal

See also[]

• History of Florida
• Pedro Menéndez de Avilés

References[]

External links[]

• Village of El Portal