Historical Marker

Club Dedicates State Historical Marker

Recognizing the club’s enduring cultural history and civic contributions, the Coral Gables Woman’s Club dedicated a State of Florida Historical Marker in front of its iconic coral rock clubhouse on Aug. 17, 2016.

“This historic marker is a bold statement of our club’s past accomplishments and a permanent reminder of our dedication and sense of civic duty to our community,” Robin V. Burr, who spearheaded the marker project, said at the unveiling ceremony.

Also attending the dedication was then-Mayor Jim Cason, former Mayor Dorothy Thomson, a longtime club member, and historian and preservationist Arva Moore Parks.

The marker is installed in front of the south wing of the clubhouse, which for more than three decades housed the city’s first library, initially organized by club members in 1927.

As the marker text notes, club members raised $10,000 to construct the clubhouse on land donated by the city. Completed in 1936 from oolitic limestone mined from a local quarry, the L- shaped building was the first Works Progress Administration project in Coral Gables. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Under Burr’s leadership and with the support of three club presidents, club members held numerous fundraisers, including a History Hunt through Coral Gables, to raise the funds for the marker.

Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason, project chair Robin Burr and former Mayor Dorothy Thomson unveil the marker.