Key Biscayne, once home to tree snails, Tequesta Indians, pirates, seafarers and coconut plantations, has come a long way in a short time since a causeway linked island to mainland on Nov. 9, 1947. Some of the first settlers on the island started arriving in 1842 and began clearing the land and building wooden homes. […]
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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 […]
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Seminole and Calusa Indians were the first occupants of Key West. Sixteenth-century Spanish settlers found the beaches littered with the detritus of Indian battles and thus named the place Cayo Hueso (Island of Bones). In the 1830s, Key West was the wealthiest city per capita in the country. First, islanders made money by salvaging cargoes […]
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Hialeah was named by a Seminole Indian named Willie Willie, when pioneer developer James Bright asked him to describe the property. He called it Hi-ale-ah, which means pretty prairie or high prairie. Bright, a cattleman from Missouri, came to Miami in 1909 and bought 640 acres of submerged land northwest of the city. Within a […]
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The Wynwood neighborhood, a local arts mecca and one of Miami’s hippest neighborhoods, was once known as the “golden gate” for Hispanic immigrants. A melting pot of Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Haitians, African-Americans, Nicaraguans and Dominicans that had been crippled by a bad image and a deteriorating economy. In the 1950s, Wynwood — originally spelled Wyndwood […]
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Biscayne Park, a tiny triangle-shaped patch of land in Northeast Dade County, is one of Miami’s best kept secrets. In 1931, there were some 85 homeowners in the quiet community, which was the third stage of a development called Griffing-Biscayne Park Estates. Both Miami Shores and North Miami, larger municipal neighbors to the north and […]
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Built on the crest of the 1920s land boom, Biscayne Boulevard was designed to be Miami’s most beautiful shopping street. Royal palms, 900 of them, lined the sidewalks in front of turreted Mediterranean buildings with shops downstairs and apartments above. The standards of beauty were exacting for the stretch between 12th and 36th streets. A […]
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The historic district of Buena Vista started as a pineapple plantation that became a town with its own town hall and post office. It once was home to ambassadors, business magnates and doctors, and frequented by novelists and Miami’s elite. In the 1920s, wealthy residents built estates of mosaic tile, coral rock and Dade County […]
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Coral Gables is well-known for its many historic landmarks and as the first municipality in Miami-Dade to pass a historic preservation ordinance in 1973. City founder George Merrick carefully planned and designed his dream village in Mediterranean style with elegant plazas, fountains, entrances and public buildings. His creation was a major real estate attraction during the […]
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Built in 1925 from fill, Bayfront Park was graced with abundant, flowering gardens and a lush tree canopy, serving both as central gathering spot for important events like political rallies and speeches, and in the 1940s and 1950s especially, as a tourist attraction. Over the years, it was home to a popular band shell, fishing […]
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