Miami Shores
Founded in 1932, Miami Shores has approximately 11,000 residents and 3,000 homes, many of which are historic. Its story began in the years after the devastation of the Civil War. In the postwar era, William Gleason served as Florida’s lieutenant governor, and in the early 1870s, he settled in the area that would become Miami Shores. Gleason named the community Biscayne, and in those days the new community temporarily served as the home of the Dade County Court and County Commission. In the early 1920s, developer Hugh Anderson decided it was the perfect place for a planned community. Anderson’s company, Shoreland Co., advertised the area as ”America’s Mediterranean” and managed to sell 400 acres of land for more than $22 million. In 1931, Miami Shores Village filed papers to incorporate but there was a problem. Another area had already incorporated as the town of Miami Shores. There was some dispute over the name, but the more heavily populated village won. With that obstacle cleared, Miami Shores Village was incorporated on Jan. 2, 1932, covering an area of 1,500 acres. With this came the Miami Shores Country Club, the Chamber of Commerce, several schools, its own police department, churches and a Women’s Club. In the decades that have passed since those early, formative years, the village has not visibly changed much.
