grove street
The Grove Street Neighborhood is located between NW 8th-16th Avenues and North Main-NW 6th Street. It gets its name from the main boulevard that runs north-south through it that bore the name Grove Street before Gainesville changed from street names to street numbers. Within its boundaries are single and multi-family homes, three churches and a number of businesses. A rail-trail traverses through from NW 8th Avenue to NW 16th Avenue.
It is home to an eclectic group of people. Best described as a Bohemian neighborhood, it is connected to a rich history that ranges from Arredondo, a Cuban aristocrat owning much land in North Florida, to Major James E. Bailey, a Plantation owner who donated 60 acres of his farmland to the County of Alachua thereby allowing the County Seat to move from Newnansville to Gainesville then known as Hogtown. It has been home to native Americans, slaves, farmers, firemen, storeowners, intellectuals, students, white- and blue-collar workers, University of Florida School of Journalism professor Dr. Hugh Cunningham, and Shorty Bean one of Gainesville’s first electricians. Mr. Bean worked out of a large warehouse behind his home, serving Gainesville for well over 60 years.
For the last 22 years, it has held a grassroots Grove Street Festival in late November, an annual Jack Kerouac reading since 2000, and it is home to the charming Dreamers Garden, all conceived of by Maria Huff Edwards who moved to the neighborhood in 1987. Numerous murals came to life in 2017, a cooperative achievement between Ms. Edwards, and curator Iryna Kanishcheva.
The historic African-American owned Chestnut Funeral Home has been part of the neighborhood since 1914 and is recognized as part of the Heritage Historical Trail. Pofahl Studios, Gainesville’s honored ballet school and home of Dance Alive! National Ballet, was established in the 1950s and came to the neighborhood in the 1960s. The Bailey House, now an early childhood learning center, was placed on the National Register of Historic Structures in 1973.
Other businesses found in Grove Street include the Gainesville Shopping Center--the city’s first, Gainesville’s oldest Asian grocery store--Chun Ching Market, Mo’s Garage & Salon Experience, the Plant Shoppe Florist, Warrington’s Furniture Repair/Refinishing, Signs By Tomorrow, Downtown Tabby (originally Earth Pet), Good Bike, Haven Hospice Attic, Cypress and Grove Brewery (in a building that originally housed one of Gainesville’s two ice plants), Afternoon Restaurant, Superette Wine + Provisions, and many others. A Monday afternoon farmer’s market was begun in 2020.
The Grove Street Neighborhood is like no other in Gainesville, with a nonconformist quality very dear to the hearts of those who make it their home. It could be said that the Grove Street Neighborhood is a microcosm of the world. Therein lies its strength.
Maria Huff Edward, February, 2021
Photographs by David J. Edwards except as noted.
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