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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.
