Miami Beach, Florida City Guide
For over 20 years, Pamela Lanier's Miami Beach, Florida Travel Guide has been your connection to Miami Beach's tourism community with invaluable details on local attractions, restaurants, shopping, museums, history, outdoor recreation and more.
Miami Beach History
 The Tequesta Indians, the first inhabitants of South Florida, who called the area home until the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. In the early 19th century people from the Bahamas came to South Florida in search of wreckage from ships that crashed into the Great Florida reef. A war broke out at that time when the Seminoles arrived with a group of runaway slaves and fought to stay in the area. The war lasted more than 20 years and the Bahamians who remained helped create South Florida’s first real community, Coconut Grove. Julia Tuttle, a visionary widow from Cleveland, bought 640 acres along the Miami River in 1891. Tuttle became known as the “Mother of Miami,” having convinced oil tycoon Henry Flagler to bring his railroad to Miami, build a luxury hotel, and layout a new town. The city of Miami was incorporated on July 28, 1896, the same year the railroad arrived. Miami was never an ordinary Southern town, and in 1931 a bridge was started across the bay and Miami Beach was born. During the Depression a predominantly Jewish group came to Miami and built a great number of small hotels along Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive. The boom helped the city out of the Depression and later became known as the historic Art Deco District. After Fidel Castro took over Cuba in 1959 more than a half-million Cuban exiles fled to greater Miami, dramatically changing the city and its culture. Greater Miami and the City of Miami Beach thrive today as a hot-spot for travelers looking for world-class entertainment and art, incredible international cuisine, pristine beaches, and unique bed and breakfasts. |
