1890s: Fast growth and formation History of Miami

julia tuttle, founder of miami



the barnacle historic state park, or barnacle, built in 1891, oldest house in original location in miami.

in 1891, cleveland woman named julia tuttle decided move south florida make new start in life after death of husband, frederick tuttle. though having financial difficulties, purchased 640 acres on north bank of miami river in present-day downtown miami.

she tried persuade railroad magnate henry flagler expand rail line, florida east coast railway, southward area, declined. in december 1894, florida struck freeze destroyed virtually entire citrus crop in northern half of state. few months later, on night of february 7, 1895, northern part of florida hit freeze wiped out remaining crops , new trees. unlike of rest of state, miami area unaffected. tuttle wrote flagler again, asking him visit area , see himself. flagler sent james e. ingraham investigate , returned favorable report , box of orange blossoms show area had escaped frost. flagler followed own visit , concluded @ end of first day area ripe expansion. made decision extend railroad miami , build resort hotel.

on april 22, 1895, flagler wrote tuttle long letter recapping offer of land him in exchange extending railroad miami, laying out city , building hotel. terms provided tuttle award flagler 100-acre (0.4 km) tract of land city grow. around same time, flagler wrote similar letter william , mary brickell, had verbally agreed give land during visit.

while railroad s extension miami remained unannounced in spring of 1895, rumors of possibility continued multiply, fueling real estate activity in biscayne bay area. news of railroad’s extension officially announced on june 21, 1895. in late september, work on railroad began , settlers began pouring promised freeze proof lands. on october 24, 1895, contract agreed upon flagler , tuttle approved.

collins bridge, first bridge connect miami miami beach.

with railroad under construction, activity in miami began pick up. men throughout florida flocked miami await flagler s call workers of qualifications begin work on promised hotel , city. late december 1895, seventy-five of them @ work clearing site hotel. lived in tents , huts in wilderness, had no streets , few cleared paths. many of these men victims of freeze, had left both money , work scarce.

on february 1, 1896, tuttle fulfilled first part of agreement flagler signing 2 deeds transfer land hotel , 100 acres (0.4 km) of land near hotel site him. titles brickell , tuttle properties based on spanish land grants , had determined clear of conflict before marketing of miami lots began. on march 3, flagler hired john sewell west palm beach begin work on town more people came miami. on april 7, 1896, railroad tracks reached miami , first train arrived on april 13. special, unscheduled train , flagler on board. train returned st. augustine later night. first regularly scheduled train arrived on night of april 15. first week of train service provided freight trains; passenger service did not begin until april 22.

on july 28, 1896, incorporation meeting make miami city took place. right vote restricted men resided in miami or dade county. joseph a. mcdonald, flagler’s chief of construction on royal palm hotel, elected chairman of meeting. after ensuring enough voters present, motion made incorporate , organize city government under corporate name of city of miami, boundaries proposed. john b. reilly, headed flagler s fort dallas land company, first elected mayor.

initially, residents wanted name city flagler . however, henry flagler adamant new city not named after him. on july 28, 1896, city of miami, named after miami river, incorporated 502 voters, including 100 registered black voters. blacks provided primary labor force building of miami. clauses in land deeds confined blacks northwest section of miami, became known colored town (today s overtown).