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 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.

The marker text reads:

The Coral Gables Woman’s Club is an icon of civic infrastructure in Coral Gables. After organizing in 1923, club members raised $10,000 to construct this clubhouse on land donated by the city. Designed by famed architect H. George Fink, the building was completed in 1936 by the Work Projects Administration using oolitic limestone (coral rock) from a local quarry. It was the first WPA project in Coral Gables. The clubhouse is one of the few remaining examples of Great Depression-era Moderne style architecture in Florida. One wing served as the first permanent location of the Library of Coral Gables. The other wing served as the clubhouse for the Woman’s Club, whose members organized the library in 1927. To advance community outreach, club members also established the Coral Gables Children’s Dental Clinic here in 1939. The Woman’s Club took over the entire building after the library relocated in 1969, and continued to use the building for group functions. This building reflects the culture, education, growth and history of Coral Gables, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.