Allapattah, Florida

Allapattah is a neighborhood mostly in the city of Miami, Florida, and partly in metropolitan Miami, United States., the county-owned portion of Allapattah, from State Road 9 to LeJeune Road, is being annexed by the city proper.The neighborhood was nicknamed Little Santo Domingo in 2003 an effort spurred by former Miami mayor and longtime city commissioner Wilfredo "Willy" Gort to honor the sizable Dominican American population in the community.HistoryThe name is derived from the Seminole Indian language word meaning alligator. The initial settlement of the Allapattah community began in 1856 when William P. Wagner, the earliest documented white American permanent settler, arrived from Charleston, South Carolina and established a homestead on a hammock along the Miami Rock Ridge, where Miami Jackson High School presently stands. Development ensued from 1896 and into the 20th century in the area with the completion of the Florida East Coast Railroad (FEC).