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. Three small subdivisions —Sherwood Forest, El Jardin, and El Portal—merged into the Village of El Portal. 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. 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.
Geography
El Portal is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of, all land.
Surrounding areas
Miami Shores
Unincorporated Miami-Dade County Miami Shores
Unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Pinewood Miami Shores, Miami
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 couplesliving 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. As of 2000, El Portal had the second highest percentage of Bahamian residents in the US, with 2.20% of the US populace. It had the third highest percentage of Haitian residents in the US, at 23.00% of the village's population and the sixty-seventh highest percentage of Dominican residents in the US, at 2.12% of its population. It also had the seventy-sixth most Cubans in the US, at 4.19% of the population, while it had the thirty-second highest percentage of Hondurans, at 1.24% of all residents. El Portal's Jamaican community had the tenth highest percentage of residents, which was at 8.50% of its residents. It's also home to the thirtieth highest percentage of Nicaraguan residents in the US, at 1.40% of the population.
Religion
Catholicism is the most prevalent practice religion in El Portal according to , with 4% Judaism. There has been a Rader Methodist church, considered the oldest church in Miami, since the 1920s. In early 2016, two developers have plans to convert the church into mixed-used space to offer tenants affordable rent.
