Events containing these keyword(s):

YearMonthDayEvent Related
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1819February22Spain ceded Florida to the United States. Although the two countries signed a treaty in this year, it was not ratified in the U.S. until two years later. 
1821  Temple Pent, a Bahamian immigrant, arrived in the area that would later come to be known as Coconut Grove. He failed in his attempt to officially homestead in the area, but his family settled there anyway and became its first permanent residents. He was nonetheless significant in early Dade County history, serving as Justice of the Peace and the keeper of the Cape Florida lighthouse. 
1823July03Monroe County was created. It not only included all of what would later be Dade County, but all of the land in Florida south of Lake Okeechobee as well. The county seat was in Key West.display
1825December17The Cape Florida Lighthouse was completed. The site was the southern tip of Key Biscayne.display
1835December The Second Seminole War began. One of the incidents that contributed most heavily to its start was the killing of 108 United States soldiers near Bushnell, Florida. The war lasted until 1842 and was the most significant of all the Seminole Wars. Some of the fighting occurred in southeastern Florida, some in the areas that would later be part of the City of Miami. During the war, Fort Dallas was established on the Miami River.display
1836January06Dade County was created. At the time, it included present-day Martin, Palm Beach, and Broward Counties, though Monroe County retained the western Keys. Indian Key was the county seat of the newly created Dade County. Despite these early beginnings, by 1870 the county still had fewer than one hundred residents.display
1836July23The Seminole Indians attacked the Cape Florida Lighthouse in the midst of the Second Seminole War. They set fire to the structure, but did not manage to completely destroy it. 
1838  Fort Dallas was established. Situated at the mouth of the Miami River, it served as a base for the United States Navy before Florida became a state. It was from this base that the U.S. launched attacks against Florida's Indian population in the Second Seminole War.display
1840  Simeon Frow arrived in Key West from Majorca. Later, he would become keeper of the Cape Florida Lighthouse, and his family would play a significant role in the history of early Coconut Grove. 
1842  The military abandoned Fort Dallas following the Second Seminole War. 
1842  William English acquired the Fort Dallas land formerly held by the military. 
1844March09Dade's county seat was moved from Indian Key to Miami. It would only be in Miami until 1889, when it was moved to Juno. 
1845March03Florida was admitted to the Union. It was admitted as a slave state, and at the time, almost one half of its 54,447 people were African American.display
1852  Temple Pent assumed the position of keeper of the Cape Florida Lighthouse. He held the position for one year, but he returned to it after the Civil War. 
1855  The United States reoccupied Fort Dallas. They did so for use in the brief fighting of the Third Seminole War (1855-1858). William English had already abandoned the property in the early 1850s as he headed west for California. This continued fighting discouraged settlement in the Miami area. 
1858June10The United States Army abandoned Fort Dallas. While they had already been forced to reestablish their presence there once before, the end of major fighting against the Seminole tribes marked the end of the fort's usefullness. 
1859  Simeon Frow became keeper of the Cape Florida Lighthouse. Having come recently from Key West and originally from Majorca, he held the post until the light went out during the Civil War. Later, one of his sons would hold the position. 
1866January Temple Pent returned to his position of keeper of the Cape Florida Lighthouse. The first keeper following the Civil War, he held the position for two years, until his death in 1868. 
1867  John Frow became Temple Pent's assistant keeper at the Cape Florida Lighthouse. Upon Pent's death a year later, Frow assumed his vacated position. Frow would also later be the first person to buy property in Cocoanut Grove. 
1868  John Frow became keeper of the Cape Florida Lighthouse. He took over upon Temple Pent's death. 
1868  Edmund D. Besly became the first person to apply for a homestead in the area that is today called Coconut Grove. It was comprised of 160 acres and stretched between today's Twenty-seventh Avenue and the Moorings. After his death, his widow Anna and the newly immigrated Dr. Horace Philo Porter disputed the validity of the claim. Ulimately though, Anna Besley won out and was awarded the homestead in 1875. 
1870  Henry Lum and his 15-year-old son Charles Lum make their initial visit to South Beach. Henry became very interested in raising coconuts. 
1871  The Brickell family arrived from Cleveland. William Brickell immediately purchased a vast stretch of land extending from the Miami River south to today's Coconut Grove.display
1873January06A post office was established in the area that is today called Coconut Grove. It was the first time that the larger area where the Pent's, Besley's, and Dr. Porter had settled was referred to by name. Some of the settlements had individual names, but the creation of this post office established the area's name as Cocoanut Grove (as it was spelled then). Dr. Porter was its first postmaster. 
1874February08The Cocoanut Grove post office closed when Dr. Porter left Miami to follow his wife to Boston. 
1875May20Anna Besley won control of her deceased husband Edmund's homestead in Cocoanut Grove. 
1876  The United States government began construction on five stations along Florida's southeast coast. Their purpose was to assist ships and aid shipwreck victims. 
1877  John Frow bought all of Anna Besly's land in Cocoanut Grove. Later, he would become the area's first land subdivider when he sold part of the 160 acres he obtained from Besly. 
1882  Hamilton Disston, a wealthy Philadelphian, purchased four million acres of swamplands in the Everglades. His engineers worked with the goal of draining the Everglades to serve man. Few at this time understood the crucial significance of this sprawing ecosystem. It would not be long before salt began to seep into Miami's drinking water due to sinking water levels in the Everglades.display
1882  J. William Ewan officially became the second homesteader in Cocoanut Grove. He had been in the area since 1874, arriving from Charleston, South Carolina. 
1883January06Henry Lum purchases two lots of land from the United States government along the ocean north of 11th Street. He paid between $0.75 and $1.25 an acre. 
1884  John Frow became Cocoanut Grove's first land subdivider. He sold parts of his land to his brother Joseph Frow, James A. Waddell, three of his sisters, and several others. He kept forty-three acres for himself. 
1885  Henry Flagler purchases his first Florida railroad, initiating rail service between St. Augustine and New York. 
1886  Charles Lum builds the first home on Miami Beach. It stood on the site of the present Tides Hotel. 
1886June27The first recorded board meeting of Dade County Schools was held. Charles Lum was appointed the first superintendent one year earlier. 
1889February19The Dade County seat moved from Miami to Juno. It would moved back to Miami ten years later. 
1890  The settlement of Lemon City began to take shape. It was two miles north of the Miami River on the shore of Biscayne Bay. The area - set roughly where today's Biscayne Boulevard and Sixty-first streets intersect - was then called Billy Mettair's Bight. The area had homes, hotels, saloons, and several other businesses. Sourcedisplay
1891  Julia Tuttle and her children arrived in Miami. They did so after purchasing 640 acres on the north bank of the Miami River. It was the old Fort Dallas land. Like the family of William Brickell, hers was from Cleveland. It was there that the two had met.display
1891February John Collins, along with two other investors, purchases land in southeastern Florida. Shortly thereafter, Collins invests $5,000 in a soon-to-fail coconut venture on Miami Beach. Sourcedisplay
1892  A road linking Lemon City with Lantana in Palm Beach County was completed. Lemon City thus became the first section of Miami to be linked to the cities and towns to the north. Source 
1893  The Florida legislature enacted a bill protecting manatees. Those who captured or killed the species were subject to fines of $500 and three months in prison. 
1893April16John Pent, Temple Pent's son, applied for a homestead in Cocoanut Grove. He was unable to prove his claim just northeast of today's Grand Avenue, however, his son Edward succeeded in doing so roughly a decade later. Even though this failed attempt at a homestead followed others that had been successful, the Pents were still the area's first permanent residents. 
1894  Henry and Charles Lum's coconut venture fails. They leave Miami Beach, and John Collins gains control of their plantation. 
1894  Crops are destroyed as far south as Palm Beach when a severe freeze hits the east coast. Henry Flagler becomes convinced that the future of America's winter crops lay further south. He soon makes the decision to extend his railway to Biscayne Bay. Source 
1894February11Henry Flagler's Royal Poinciana Hotel opened in Palm Beach.display
1894April02Henry Flagler's railroad reached Palm Beach. 
1894April07The Lemon City Library opened.display
1895  In the winter of 1895, a severe blizzard hit New England. Solomon Merrick, the father of young George Edgar Merrick, lost his daughter Ruth during the accompanying flu epidemic. This loss was, according to George, crucial in his father's decision to purchase one hundred sixty acres of land in what would eventually become Coral Gables. Source 
1895  John N. Lummus arrived in Miami. He saw immediate promise for the area's development, and returned a year later to work as a train dispatcher for the Florida East Coast Railway. Source 
1895  Julia Tuttle offered Henry Flagler land if he would agree to extend his railroad to Miami. He accepted her proposal and a contract was signed that allowed for his Florida East Coast Railroad to reach Miami the following year. 
1896  Henry Flagler and Julia Tuttle created a district for Miami's black residents. It was between N.W. Sixth and Twelfth streets, and later became known as Overtown. By 1915, most of the city's 5,000 blacks lived in the general vicinity of this community. 
1896  The first known Cubans move to Miami. It is Eduardo Luis Gonzalez and his family who move to the young city at this time. 
1896February James E. Lummus arrived in Miami and opened a general merchandise store. He maintained the store until 1908. Sourcedisplay
1896April15The Florida East Coast Railway, owned by Henry Flagler, reached Miami and the first train arrived on this day. Prior to this date, most of the people in the area were homesteaders and the only "towns" were Coconut Grove and Lemon City. Sourcedisplay
1896May15Miami's first newspaper, The Miami Metropolis, made its debut, stating that, "This is the first paper ever published on the beautiful Bay Biscayne, the most southern newspaper on the mainland of the United States." It went on to describe the young settlement as "the coming metropolis of South Florida."display
1896July28The City of Miami was incorporated. 344 registered voters met for the vote, and elected John B. Reilly as the first Mayor. While only 344 votes were tallied, 368 voters were present at the meeting. Of those men (women were not allowed to vote), 206 were white and 162 were black. Source 
1896December25Miami's Christmas Day fire destroyed over three square blocks of businesses and houses. A witness to the blaze stated in the 1950s that there was, "nothing to do but throw stones at that fire. We had no equipment." 
1897  Captain William H. Fulford acquired a 160-acre land patent from President Grover Cleveland through utilization of the Homestead Act. The land surrounded a railroad depot just north of Miami that had been established by the Florida East Coast Railroad a year earlier. Though only a mile from Ojus, the two communities remained separated due to the poor roads and difficult travel conditions. Later, however, all of these lands would be incorporated into North Miami Beach. 
1897  In the 1890s, settlers established farms along the east side of the Oleta River. In this year, the area was named Ojus by Albert Fitch, a farmer who wanted to grow pineapples in the rich soil. The word Ojus is a Seminole word for "plenty" or "lots of", and at that time, farmers in Ojus grew peas, beans, sugar cane, and tomatoes. 
1897January Wilson Alexander Larkins settled in the area of today's South Miami. He came with his family and livestock, building for them a home and a barn. 
1897January16The Hotel Royal Palm opened for business fifteen days behind schedule. Henry Flagler built the hotel at a cost of $750,000 to draw passengers onto his new railroad line extending to Miami. The hotel stood until 1931. Sourcedisplay
1898  Wilson Larkins opened a dry goods store, and outpost, and established a post office near his home and farm. It was not long after this that people began to settle in the area in greater numbers. 
1898June24The first of 7,000 U.S. troops began to arrive in Miami. Some came to build fortifications on William Brickell's bluff, and some were on their way to fight against the Spanish in Cuba. A wide large area of the northern sector of today’s downtown became their home. Camp Miami, as it came to be known, was near the city's black area. The soldiers provoked several violent incidents there.display
1898August12The last units of Camp Miami dispersed. With the war in Cuba ending so quickly, the soldiers' stay in Miami had only lasted for six weeks and ended before they were ever needed in Cuba. 
1898October William Burdine and his family moved to Miami. "Burdine and Son" had been operating in Bartow, a central-west Florida town, but when William's son John found quick success selling wares to soldiers stationed in Miami, the father made the choice to move the store to the growing city. The store's first home was on South Miami Avenue close to Flagler Street. 
1899July06The post office request made by William Larkins was made official, and the area became known as Larkins. He had tried to name the area Manila, but the residents of the area that is today South Miami preferred the name of Larkins. 
1899November12A fire tore through much of white Miami. Among the buildings destroyed was the Lobby Pool and Billiard Parlor. It was the building in which voters met to incorporate the City of Miami only three years earlier. After this second severed fire in the city's history, higher standards were implemented throughout many neighborhoods. Black areas such as Colored Town, however, remain deprived of fire protection as well as other basic services, such as paved streets and sewage systems. 
1900  The Florida Audobon Society was founded. Early members and patrons included President Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Flagler, future Florida Governor William S. Jennings, and inventor Thomas A. Edison. Source 
1901  Dade County passed a wildlife protection act, prohibiting the killing, capturing, or shooting of deer, crocodile, and any wild bird. Source 
1903  The Army Corps of Engineers began dredging the first opening to the Atlantic Ocean, cutting through mangrove swamps at Government Cut. The project allowed for safer, more direct access to the port of Miami. 
1903September15The first edition of Frank Stoneman's Miami Evening Record was published. In 1907, it merged with the Miami Morning News to become the Miami Morning News Record, and in 1910, that paper was replaced by The Miami Herald. 
1903December11The Miami Metropolis became a daily newspaper, being published every day except Sunday. 
1904  Napoleon Bonaparte Broward was elected Governor of Florida. His campaign promise was to drain much of south Florida, creating an "Empire of the Everglades." 
1905  Henry Flagler decided to extend his Florida East Coast Railway further south, from Biscayne Bay in Miami to Key West. Source 
1905March14Government Cut was completed, linking the Biscayne Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Source 
1906  Frank Stoneman (the father of Marjory Stoneman Douglas) started the first morning newspaper, the Morning News Record. He was an opponent of Everglades drainage, and his editorials infuriated Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward. Sourcedisplay
1906January20The Halcyon Hall Hotel opened in Miami on the later site of the Dupont building.display
1906October18A major hurricane hit Miami and the Keys killing hundreds of people, many of who were workers on the Florida East Coast Railway.display
1907  John Collins discovered fresh water on the island of Miami Beach, leading him to plant avocados as well as other fruits and vegetables. 
1907  John Collins bought out one of his partners and became the sole owner of all land on today's Miami Beach between 14th and 67th Streets and from the bay to the ocean. Source 
1907  John Roop built an observation tower on Musa Isle. It allowed people a view out over the Everglades, which then started at what is today N.W. 22nd Avenue. 
1907July31The last edition of the Miami Evening Record was published as the paper merged with the Miami Morning News. 
1907December02The first issue of the Miami Morning News Record was published, after the Miami Evening Record had merged with the Miami Morning News. It was published every day except Monday. 
1908  T.V. Moore, also known in Miami as "The Pineapple King," took a leading role in defending farmers' rights. He helped to form the East Coast Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association in an effort to combat the heavy freight charges imposed by Flagler's FEC Railroad. 
1909April30Palm Beach County was created. It had been part of Dade County. 
1909October01The Everglades Land Sales Company opened its office in Miami. Much of the land it sold was purchased sight unseen. 
1910November30The last edition of the Miami Morning News Record was published. It became the Miami Herald the following day. 
1910December01The first edition of the Miami Herald was published by Frank Shutts. He was assisted by the financial backing of Henry Flagler and the paper's editor Frank Stoneman. The paper replaced the Miami Morning News Record. It was published six days a week, every day except Monday.display
1911  John Collins began construction on the Collins Canal. He wanted a more efficient way to bring his avocados directly to the city. Sourcedisplay
1911  The Florida East Coast Canal (later called, the Intracoastal Waterway) was completed from Jacksonville in North Florida to Biscayne Bay in Miami. Sourcedisplay
1911February13The Miami Herald published its first Monday edition, making it a true daily newspaper. 
1911November A color line was drawn along certain streets throughout Miami. The city's white residents wished to restrict the expansion of areas inhabited by blacks. A year earlier, the 1910 census reported that 42% of the city's residents were black, and at the time, racial conflicts were becoming more common. 
1912  Carl Fisher arrived in Miami Beach late in the year. He wanted to develop a new city in and of itself, separate from Miami.display
1912  Lafe Allen and an associate purchased Captain Fulford's original grant plus additional property with the idea of developing and selling lots. Eventually, they purchased 557 acres of land. 
1912January22The Florida East Coast Railway reached Key West, crossing 91 miles of road and 38 bridges. Sourcedisplay
1912May Before the start of construction linking Miami Beach by bridge to the mainland, the Lummus Brothers acquired 500 acres to the south of Collins, from 14th Street to Government Cut. The land was bought from Charles Lum and Edmund Wilson for $80,000. The two brothers established the Ocean Beach Reality Company with a vision of a modest city composed of single-family residences fronting the ocean. The brothers became pioneers of beach-front property sales. Source 
1912May The U.S. War Department gives developers permission to construct a bridge spanning Biscayne Bay. Realty firms prepared for what they believed would be a surge in population upon the bridge's completion. The bridge would be named the Collins Bridge. Source 
1912July01Thomas Pancoast arrived in Miami. He was secretary and treasurer of the Miami Beach Improvement Company. John Collins was the company's president. Together, both men pursued loans from the Lummus brothers, both of whom were involved in banking. Sourcedisplay
1912July09The Ocean Beach Realty Company filed the first plots of land on the beach. The Lummus brothers' plots preceded those filed by John Collins and Carl Fisher five and six months later respectively. Sourcedisplay
1912July22Construction of the Collins Bridge began. It was slated to cost $75,000, though the final cost was nearly twice that. Source 
1913  Joe Weiss, a Jewish waiter from New York, arrived in Miami and opened a lunch stand at Smith's Casino on in Miami Beach. In 1920, he and his wife, Jennie, opened their own restaurant called Joe's on the tip of Miami Beach that specialized in seafood and, eventually, Stone crab. 
1913June12The Collins Bridge was completed. It connected Miami and Miami Beach and was awarded the title of "the longest wagon bridge in the world."display
1914  The W.J. Brown Hotel opened on Miami Beach. It was the first hotel to open on the island. 
1914  Collins Avenue, the first paved road on Miami Beach, opened. It was the first road on the island suitable for automobiles.display
1915  J.N. and J.E. Lummus sold some of their oceanfront property to Miami Beach for $40,000. To be named Lummus Park, the land was dedicated as both a public park and beach. 
1915  Carl Fisher cleared Lincoln Road.display
1915January01The Miami Chamber of Commerce was founded.display
1915March26John Collins, the Lummus brothers, and Carl Fisher consolidated their efforts and successfully incorporated the Town of Miami Beach. At the time, the Beach had three hundred residents, but a mere thirty-three registered voters. They elected J.N. Lummus as the first mayor of Miami Beach. Source 
1915April24Father Theodore R. Gibson was born to parents who had immigrated to Miami from the Bahamas. By the early 1960s, he had become rector of the Christ Episcopal Church in Coconut Grove. He used his power in the church and the Coconut Grove community to become the most significant leader in Miami's civil rights movement. 
1915April30Broward County was created. It had previously been part of Dade County. 
1915December04The Miami Traction Company began service with "Battery Cars". At the same time, other operators began to spread across the city. Winslow Bus Lines served Hialeah and Northwest Miami, the Miami Transit Company - operated by Freeman & Sons - served the section of the city north and east of Flagler, and the Dunn Bus Company served the area south of Flagler into Coconut Grove. 
1916  The Lummus brothers offered free lots to anyone who promised to build homes on their land. 
1916  Fisher opened the Lincoln Hotel. It stood at the corner of Washington Avenue and Lincoln Road.display
1916  Miami residents voted on Ordinance 199, the "Color Line Ordinance." It did not pass, but through racism and intimidation, whites severely restricted the movements of blacks out of "colored town." 
1917  The status of Miami Beach was changed from town to city. 
1917  Lafe Allen made plans for a "perfect city" calling for 80-foot wide residential streets and 100 and 125-foot wide business thoroughfares. Today, the area's street layout is as the pioneer pictured it then with wide avenues named Fulford Boulevard (now known as NE 172nd Street) and Flagler Boulevard (now known as NE 19th Avenue). Then referred to as Fulford-by-the-Sea, today the area is North Miami Beach. Source 
1917  The Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Drainage District was created. The project's goal was to drain and reclaim a half million acres in Broward and northern Dade Counties.display
1917July15A group of whites bombed the Odd Fellows Hall, which was at the time the largest structure found in the city's black community. The guilty parties were never arrested. 
1917October The U.S. government purchased thirty-one acres of lowlands at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove. They immediately began filling in the marsh in order to create an instructional facility for the Navy.display
1918  The County Causeway was completed and the mainland and Miami Beach were connected at 5th Street. It was called the County Causeway until 1942 when the city renamed it the MacArthur Causeway.display
1918  The Tamiami Trail began to extend further west. In this year, forty-three miles were completed. Sourcedisplay
1918  Christian Hospital opened at 1218 NW First Place. It was the first hospital that treated blacks in Miami. 
1919  The lower southeast coast of Florida opens to automobile traffic for the first time when Dixie Highway was completed through Broward County. Source 
1919  Carl Fisher and other investors formed the Miami Beach Electric Company and the Miami Beach Railway Company. 
1919March18Cocoanut Grove residents voted to incorporate their town. In doing so, they decided to drop the "a" from the original spelling, changing the town's name to Coconut Grove.display
1920  The Miami Beach land boom began in roughly 1920. Over the next nine years, a host of millionaires built mansions along Collins Avenue's "Millionaire's Row." 
1920  Carl Fisher's Roman Pools and Casino open at 22nd Street and the Ocean.display
1920  Carl Fisher's Miami Beach Railway Company helped to link Miami and Miami Beach. A single line connecting downtown and south Miami Beach ran via the County Causeway. 
1920  5th Street, Alton Road, Collins Avenue, Washington Avenue, and Ocean Drive, the Miami Beach's main arteries, are all suitable for automobile traffic.display
1920  The construction of Star Island was begun by the Army Corps of Engineers.display
1920October06The City of Miami renamed all its streets based on the quadrant system. 
1920December04Joe and Jennie Weiss open their restaurant on Collins Avenue in Maimi Beach, later to be called Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant. 
1920December31The Flamingo Hotel opened at 15th Street and the Bay on New Year's Eve.display
1921  James Bright and Glen Curtis platted the subdivision of Hialeah. They soon began selling their plots on the Miami Canal.display
1921March20The Miami Beach Congregational Church was dedicated. It was the island's first church, and was later renamed the Miami Beach Community Church.display
1921May24The Ku Klux Klan held a parade in honor of their arrival in Miami.display
1921July02The Ku Klux Klan kidnapped a black minister from Coconut Grove. They carried out the act in response to his message aimed at racial equality. He was released after promising to return to the Bahamas. 
1921November27The first lots were sold in Coral Gables. Conceptualized by George Edgar Merrick, the city began with the Merrick family grove and a Mediterranean architectural style. By 1926, the city covered 10,000 acres and had netted $150 million in sales with over $100 million spent on development.display
1922  The Bayshore Golf Course is completed.display
1922  The Miami Herald is the heaviest newspaper in the United States as a result of its extensive land advertisement section. Source 
1922  Lafe Allen's Fulford-by-the-Sea Company began selling lots. During the Florida land boom of the 1920's, lots were sometimes sold eight times before ever being recorded. 
1923  The Tamiami Trail encounters financial problems. Supporters of the project, calling themselves the "Tamiami Trail Blazers," drove a caravan of Fords, tractors, and wagons over the still incomplete Trail. Source 
1923  Barron Collier pledged millions to the Tamiami Trail project. In exchange for this, Collier County was created in southwestern Florida. Source 
1923June29A group of whites threw bombs into several unoccupied black homes. Those responsible were never apprehended. 
1924  The LaGorce Golf Course is completed. Fisher names it after his friend, Rockwell LaGorce.display
1924January10The Nautilus Hotel opened for business on the present site of the Mount Sinai Hospital.display
1925  The Kelly Air Mail Act of 1925 made possible the growth of commercial aviation in Miami and South Florida. 
1925  The Floridian Hotel was built.display
1925February18The Olympia Theater opened. It was the first building in Miami to be air conditioned. The theater hosted a variety of acts, but its specialty was the vaudeville show. It drew large crowds through the 1950s, but later faced demolition until being purchased by Maurice Gusman in 1971.display
1925April27Coral Gables was incorporated. 
1925June11The town of Deerfield was incorporated. 
1925September05Greater Miami was created. Residents had voted three days earlier to annex Coconut Grove, Silver Bluff, Allapattah, Lemon City, Buena Vista, and Little River. 
1925November16The town of Davie was incorporated. 
1926  The Florida Legislature refused to provide Coral Gables' founder George Merrick with a university. In turn, he established the University of Miami, the largest private university in the South. Bowman Ashe was appointed the university's first president. Sourcedisplay
1926  Solid tire buses went into use on both sides of Biscanyne Bay after Florida Power and Light acquired Carl Fisher's causeway trolley line - the Miami Beach Railway Company - and contracted with the City of Miami for trolley and bus service on the mainland. 
1926  Elmer A. Ward arrived in Miami. Upon arrival, he opened the Economy Drug Store at 1101 NW Third Avenue. Years later, he fought for civil rights in Miami as the leader of the city's chapter of CORE (the Congress on Racial Equality). 
1926January The Roney Plaza Hotel was completed and opened for business.display
1926January The Biltmore Hotel was completed after ten months of construction for a cost of $10 million. Source Sourcedisplay
1926January10The 241-foot barkentine Prins Valdemar overturned in Miami's harbor blocking the ship channel for several weeks. Construction stalled across the city, as much-needed lumber sat on ships that were unable to access the port. Source 
1926February05The town of Miami Shores was incorporated. The area had formerly been called Arch Creek, and was later renamed North Miami. Another town called Miami Shores was incorporated in 1930. 
1926February28Venetian Way (now called the Venetian Causeway) opened to traffic. It was built over what had been the route for the Collins Bridge.display
1926March02Larkins was incorporated as the town of South Miami. Soon after, John Opsahl constructed the town's first concrete block building on Sunset Drive. 
1926May The first Coral Gables rapid transit cars operated from downtown Miami to Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables via Coral Way.display
1926July04The Ku Klux Klan opened their headquarters in downtown Miami. The building stood at SW Fourth Street and Eighth Avenue. It was destroyed in the hurricane of September 1926. 
1926September18A devastating hurricane hit Miami in the early morning of September 18. Storm forecasting had improved in 1926, but was nowhere near as accurate as it is today. South Florida residents had little warning about the storm, which killed more than one hundred people and caused millions of dollars in damage.display
1926November11Biscayne Boulevard was extended to Thirteenth Street. 
1927  The Million Dollar Pier is completed at the southern tip of Miami Beach.display
1927  The Kennel Club opens at the southern tip of Miami Beach.display
1927  Temple Beth David opens at 3rd and Washington Avenue. It is Miami Beach's first Synagogue. 
1927February11Biscayne Boulevard was extended to Twenty-ninth Street. 
1927June01The town of South Miami adopted a new charter and changed its name to the City of South Miami. 
1927June06The town of Miami Shores changed its name to North Miami. 
1927July28The Greater Miami Airport Association was created. 
1927October28Pan American World Airways is born on this day with the flight of a Fokker tri-motor F-7 from Key West to Havana. By 1935, the airline was connecting Miami and thirty-two other Central and South American countries.display
1928  A motorcade of 500 cars journeyed from Ft. Myers to Miami to celebrate the completion of the Tamiami Trail and the first paved connection of Florida's two coasts. Sourcedisplay
1928  The continued construction of the Tamiami Trail, aimed at providing settlers with easier access to lands further and further inland, hastened the collapse of the frontier Seminole economy, threatening the Florida Indians with assimilation and extinction. Source 
1928January04The first nonstop flight from Miami to New York took place. 
1928January16The first scheduled passender flight from south Florida to Cuba took place. It was a Pan American Airways flight from Key West to Havana. 
1928September15Pan American Airways established its base of operations in Miami. It had previously been in Key West. 
1929  The city of Miami Beach acquires Flamingo Park and dedicates it as a public facility. 
1929  Father John E. Culmer arrived in Miami from Tampa to lead Saint Agnes Episcopal Church in Colored Town. Years later, he became one of the most notable leaders in the city's civil rights movement. 
1929  The North Bay Causeway opened. It linked Miami Beach with the mainland at what is today Seventy-ninth Street. The intersection at Seventy-ninth and Biscayne Boulevard subsequently gained importance, and as Miami emerged from the Great Depression and later World War II, it and its outlying areas experienced a period of intense development. Many of the buildings near this intersection built in the 1950s and 1960s were designed along classic Modernist lines. Source 
1929November14A Sears Roebuck store opened in downtown Miami at the corner of the County Causeway (later renamed the MacArthur Causeway) and the newly redesigned Biscayne Boulevard. The building was designed by the Chicago firm of Nimmons, Carr, & Wright, and is today remembered as the first Art Deco building in the city. The facade has been incorported into the design of the Performing Arts Center, due to open in 2006. Source 
1930  Miami Beach's Art Deco boom began as a host of developers began to build in that style. 
1930  The population of Miami Beach reaches 6,500. 
1930  The Boulevard Shops on Biscayne Boulevard were built. One block away from Miami's first Art Deco building - the Sears Roebuck store - this group of upscale retail shops was another fine example of this type of architectural design. They were designed by Robert Law Weed. Source 
1930January13The Miami Civic Center opened on Biscayne Boulevard. It was later renamed the Mayfair Art Theater. 
1931  An extreme dry spell in South Florida lowered water tables, threatening the municipal wells of Miami and other coastal cities with seawater intrusion. 
1931  The City of South Miami Chamber of Commerce was established. 
1931  Colonel Henry L. Doherty purchased the Miami-Biltmore, the Roney Plaza, and the Key Largo Angler's Club. In doing so, he formed the Florida Year Round Club. This move aimed to counteract the negative impacts of the Great Depression and establish Miami and Miami Beach as year-round tourist destinations. 
1933January01Miami hosted its first Orange Bowl, even though it was not referred to as such. The University of Miami and Manhattan College played in "The First Annual New Year's Day Football Classic," which was held at Moore Park.display
1933February15President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited Miami, and was greated by 18,000 Miamians at the Bayfront Park bandshell. 
1933March04Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office as President of the United States. Shortly thereafter, 16,000 Miamians received direct financial assistance from one of his "alphabet soup agencies" - the Federal Emergency Relief Agency (FERA). The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) also went to work in Miami in the months that followed. 
1933August13The government of Gerardo Machado was overthrown in Cuba. The ousted leader was subsequently flown to Miami for safety.display
1933August17The Miami Herald wrote that, "Miami's gates will always remain open to Cubans." This came four days after the violence that resulted in the fall of Machado and the departure of a number of Cubans for South Florida. 
1934  The Everglades National Park was created. Congress authorized 2,164,480 acres to be acquired for the park through public and private donations. Some of the largest landowners in the Everglades sought a minimun price for their land. The price of $5.00 per acre was chosen.display
1935  Coral Gables' high speed transit service ended. It had lasted nine years, but damage from a storm in 1935 was so extensive that it was permanently shut down. Thereafter, Coral Gables switched to an all bus system. 
1935  The Public Works Administration (PWA) began operating in Miami. As a result, buildings such as the Miami Beach post office, the Miami Shores golf club, the Coral Gables fire station, a hospital building, and others were constructed by thousands of unemployed workers. 
1935  The Miami area began to emerge from the Great Depression. The recovery in South Florida preceded that which occurred in other cities. By the mid-1930s, a string of new hotels built in the Art Deco style began to rise from the ruin caused by not only the Depression, but the hurricane of 1926. Source 
1935September02A Labor Day hurricane hit the Florida Keys, killing 408 people. Damage to the railroad connecting Miami and the Keys was so severe that service between the two points on Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway ended.display
1936December20Parrot Jungle Island opened. Started by Franz Scherr and originally located on Red Road, one hundred visitors paid twenty-five cents admission to see twenty-five birds and the flora and fauna of his park on this first day. Today, Parrot Jungle is home to over one thousand birds and has moved to a site along the MacArthur Causeway between Miami and Miami Beach. The original grounds on Red Road remain, and the park has renamed as Pinecrest Gardens. 
1937  Voters rejected a ballot to unify all transit services in Miami except its jitneys. 
1937June01Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan departed from Miami beginning their 29,000-mile journey around the world. With 7,000 miles remaining, they disappeared over the Pacific on July 2. 
1938March23Fairchild Tropical Garden was dedicated. In 1935, Colonel Robert M. Montgomery and his wife Nell Foster Montgomery had purchased eighty acres and founded a public botanical garden, setting the stage for the establishment of the tropical garden that still exists today. Source 
1938March29The Overseas Highway to Key West was completed.display
1939  The Clevelander Hotel opened at 10th and Ocean Drive. 
1939  Voters approved a second ballot - two years after the first - that unified the City of Miami's transit system. 
1939  The City of Miami discontinued using its streetcars over the course of two years. The city granted an exclusive franchise to the Miami Transit Company.display
1939May The Ku Klux Klan organized a rally of more than 2,000 persons in opposition to black voter participation. On election day that year, nearly 1,000 blacks went to the polls. It was the first time that the city's black residents banded together as a major voting bloc in a city election. 
1939May10Florida's state legislature passed a bill barring blacks from voting in primaries. 
1939June12The town of Hillsboro Beach was incorporated. 
1940  The population of Miami Beach reaches 28,000. 
1940  The Cadillac Hotel was built. Its name was changed to the Courtyard Oceanfront after a renovation in 2003.display
1940  The National Hotel opened in Miami Beach. Designed by Roy France, it was one of the last large hotels built in the Art Deco style. Source 
1940  The Deco Grossinger Beach Hotel opened. Later to be called the Ritz Plaza Hotel, it was designed by L. Murray Dixon in classic Art Deco style. Seven years later, the Delano Hotel opened directly across the street. 
1940November14George B. Dunn contributed to the consolidation of Miami transit services. Using the name of the Miami Transit Company, he took over the city-owned lines and merged Dunn Bus Service into the combined operation resulting in a fleet of 208 buses (half of which were new Macks) covering 193 route miles. 
1940November16Miami's trolley cars were used for the last time.display
1941April United States Army soldiers began to arrive in Miami Beach, where many were to be housed throughout World War II. Many facilities were used, including hotels, restaurants, and golf courses.display
1941April10A memorial to Carl Fisher was dedicated. It was in Miami Beach at Fifty-first Street and Alton Road. 
1941June A large group of white Coconut Grove residents protested the move of two black families into white sections of the community. The group succeeded in the blocking the two families, but shortly thereafter blacks began moving into white areas of Coconut Grove. 
1941August Five-hundred whites in northwest Dade County actively opposed the construction of a 250-acre black development on NW Seventh Avenue. They were supported by the Ku Klux Klan and carried banners to the county courthouse where they presented a petition with over 1200 hundred signatures in opposition to the development. 
1941December07The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor.display
1942February The Army Air Corps began sending the first of what was to be 4,000 men to Miami Beach - the site chosed for their officer training. 
1942February19A German U-boat sank the the tanker Pan Massachusetts twenty miles south of Cape Canaveral. The ship was carrying one hundred thousand barrels of gasoline, and its sinking illustrated to South Floridians that the war in Europe had crossed the Atlanic. 
1942February24A German U-boat sank the Republic off West Palm Beach. This came only five days after the sinking of another ship off Cape Canaveral. 
1942March03The Dade County Commission voted to change the name of the County Causeway to the MacArthur Causeway in honor of the general whose troops were then fighting in the Philippines. 
1942April15Formerly called Municipal Pier, the Serviceman's Pier opened to recreation-seeking soldiers. The Miami Beach Pier Association's first president, Kay Pancoast, worked tirelessly to raise funds for the project, and within one year, over 200,000 servicemen visited the pier. 
1942April20Construction began on the Richmond Naval Air Station. It was on the site of today's Metroozoo. 
1942May14The Portero del Llano, attacked by a German U-boat close to the shores of Miami Beach, burned and sunk within sight of the city. 
1943May27The Dade County public health system was created. 
1943June14The Greater Miami Port Authority was created. 
1943August The United States government had appropriated at least 188 Miami Beach hotels, 109 apartment houses, and 18 private homes. 
1944  The City of Miami hired its first black police officers. They were only assigned to patrol in areas where blacks lived. 
1944  Six blacks were allowed to vote on the Democratic ticket at a precinct in Tallahassee. This was the first step in greater political participation for all Florida blacks, including those in Miami. 
1944November Only 68 Miami Beach hotels and 11 apartment houses remained as appropriated property of the United States government. 
1945  The Mayor of Miami, Leonard K. Thompson, began pushing to consolodate Dade County into a singular entity. Voters rejected his plan, but many services, including sewage, education, and transportation, were already consolidating on their own. 
1945June11The Dade County Port Authority was created. It replaced the Greater Miami Port Authority, which had been created two years earlier. 
1945August01The first ferry traveled to Virginia Key. 
1945August08Dade County established Virginia Beach as a black-only beach. The Virginia Key beach remained as such for years.display
1945September15A major hurricane hit southern Dade County. Many structures were destroyed. Several buildings on the Richmond Naval Air Station were among those destroyed, including the base's blimp hangars in a large fires. 
1945December01The Serviceman's Pier in Miami Beach closed. 
1946  The Sherry Frontenac opened in Miami Beach. The construction of this hotel, designed by Henry Hohauser, marked a shift in the epicenter of tourist activity from the Lincoln Road area of Miami Beach to an area just north where hotels such as the Sherry Frontenac, the Delano, and the Fontainebleau were being built. There were certain aspects of the hotel's design, such as its smokestacks and "gangplank" bridge, that were quintessentially Art Deco.display
1946January01The Dade County Port Authority bought the airport on NW Thirty-Sixth Street. They purchased it from Pan American Airways for $2.5 million.display
1946January06The Miami Herald began offering "the Clipper edition." It was a smaller version of the Herald that they sent by air to the countries of Latin America. 
1946January13Grattan Ellesmere ("G.E.") Graves Jr. arrived in Miami to practice law. He worked to rally all of the city's blacks to fight for equal rights, often times inserting himself at the forefront of the battle. He was a crucial part of the battle for civil rights in Miami. 
1946January22The Democratic Party of Florida eliminated the color barrier for voting in the party's primaries. There had been a color restriction on voting rights in the state since 1904. 
1946April Developers broke ground for what would be the extremely exclusive residential community of Bal Harbour. Robert Cabel Graham, a wealthy Detroit truck manufacturer and farmer, hired the firm of Harland and Bartholomew and Associates to design the community. Its exclusivity lay in the original agreement that required no lot be "sold, conveyed, or leased to anyone not a member of the Caucasian race, not to anyone having more than one-quarter Hebrew or Syrian blood." 
1946April The Florida Supreme Court ruled that Dade County's segregation of black residential districts was illegal. They were largely following the lead of other courts around the nation that had already banned such practices. 
1946May The Miami Housing Authority used a 24-acre tract of land in Coconut Grove to provide low-rent housing for blacks. When white residents of the community began to protest, a deal was struck. A seventy-four-foot buffer strip and a wall - parts of which still stand today - were constucted to divide the two populations. 
1946May07Voters approved the transfer of Jackson Memorial Hospital from the City of Miami to Dade County.display
1947  The Delano Hotel opened on Miami Beach next door to the National Hotel. The hotel was designed in the Art Deco style by Robert M. Swarthburg. 
1947  The Everglades National Park was dedicated. President Harry Truman was there for the dedication. 
1947  Marjory Stoneman Douglas released The Everglades: River of Grass. It was a landmark book in educating people on the significance of preserving and protecting the Everglades ecosystem.display
1947April17Miami Beach enacted an ordinance banning signs containing discriminatory phrases such as "Gentiles Only" or "Restricted Clientele." The act came at a time when the city was undergoing an increase in its Jewish population. 
1947July21Miami and Miami Beach adopted a tourist tax. It was a tax of 5% on hotel and apartment bills. 
1947August01The City of Miami evicted a number of black residents from their homes. Their homes were destroyed to make way for Allapattah Junior and Elementary schools. 
1947October16A major hurricane hit south Florida. After hitting land, it crossed from Homestead to Plantation. Eleven inches of rain were recorded in Broward County and much of the drinking water was polluted. In the end, 80% of Dade and Broward were flooded. 
1947December06President Truman dedicated Everglades National Park.display
1947December29Life magazine published a story on Miami Beach containing over twelve pages of color photos and text. The article referred to the city as "the crown jewel of the Miami area." 
1948  The Saxony Hotel opened in Miami Beach. It was designed by Roy France, who also designed the National Hotel of 1940. The Modernist Saxony was part of a new generation of hotels built in Miami and Miami Beach. It and many of the other new buildings lacked the ornamental Art Deco motifs that were to be seen for the last times in the designs of the Sherry Frontenac and the Delano hotels. Sourcedisplay
1948March31The Greater Miami Crime Commission was established. 
1949  Florida's first television station, WTVJ, began broadcasting in Miami. 
1949  The Cosmopolitan Golf Club tried to break the color barrier on the city's links. The group of fourteen black individuals showed up to play golf at a course near Miami Springs. They were allowed to play that day, but thereafter the city tried to force its black residents to play on the single day each week that the course was closed for maintenance. Led by attorney and civil rights activist G.E. Graves, blacks sued the city for equal use of public golf facilities. Source 
1949  The Casablanca Hotel opened. Roy France designed the hotel, which was named after the famous film staring Humphrey Bogart. The hotel can be described as Modernist in its design, but it also incorporated elements of the International Style and Hollywood-themed kitsch. The latter of these came to influence the way developers in Las Vegas, Nevada designed their resorts decades later.display
1949October29The town of Hacienda Village was incorporated. It was to serve as a casino town. 
1949December The Sans Souci Hotel opened at 3101 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. The hotel's partners had hired architect Roy France to design the structure. When they became disappointed with his work, however, they brought in someone else. The Sans Souci would become the first hotel in the Miami area designed by the architect Morris Lapidus. While the exterior was left much as France had originally intended, the interior was infused with the style of Lapidus.display
1950  After World War II, Miami remained a segregated city. In this year, an all-black municipal court appointed L.E. Thomas, a black attorney, judge. It was also the first year that blacks were allowed in the Orange Bowl Stadium. 
1950October The United States Supreme Court ruled that the City of Miami's segregated public golf courses were unconstitutional. The ruling overturned a Florida Supreme Court decision that stated the opposite. Source 
1950October17Hurricane King struck south Florida. Six people were killed. 
1950December29Dade County bought the Venetian Causeway. They purchased it from the Miami Bridge Company. 
1951  The Bombay Hotel opened. The hotel's name was later changed to the Golden Sands Hotel. It was the first hotel in Miami Beach to offer its guests a parking garage. Norman M. Giller designed the building. On why his was the first hotel to have a garage, Giller said that, "in the Art Deco days we were in a Depression, so nobody was thinking about cars, because not too many people had them." Source 
1951September23A group of racist Miamians bombed a black apartment house in the community known as Carver Village. A Catholic Church and Jewish Centers were also targeted, but the bombing of the apartment house stood out as it came just as a number of blacks were ready to move into the all-white community. Authorities believed that the Ku Klux Klan was to blame for the attacks.display
1952  The Dade County Auditorium was integrated. The change followed world-renowned contralto Marian Anderson's refusal to sing for segregated audiences. 
1953  The Lido Spa opened on Belle Isle along the Venetian Causeway. 
1953April30The town of Plantation was incorporated. 
1953July16The Miami City Commission voted to establish a temporary City Hall. The old Pan American Airways terminal on Dinner Key was chosen as the site. 
1953December07Miami's municipal pier collapsed. 
1954December20The Fontainebleau Hotel opened for business on Miami Beach at 4441 Collins Avenue. It was one of the Miami Beach hotels designed by architect Morris Lapidus.display
1955  The Eden Roc Hotel opened on Miami Beach. The hotel was designed by architect Morris Lapidus. Source 
1955May26The town of Miramar was incorporated. 
1955May30The town of Margate was incorporated. 
1956  The Hotel Americana opened in Bal Harbour. It was designed by Morris Lapidus, architect of several already significant Miami Beach hotels.display
1956January03George Engle unveils the Coconut Grove Playhouse. It was a renovated movie theater, yet resembled a Broadway playhouse with its lavish quarters for star actors and actresses, gold plumbing fixtures, and top-notch dining rooms and bars. It opened with the American premier of "Waiting for Godot." Source 
1956June07Miami's chapter of the NAACP threatened a boycott of the Miami Transit Company if the city's buses did not desegregate. Whites had always been entitled to seats at the front of the bus. Source 
1956June13The town of Lighthouse Point was incorporated. 
1956July25Florida's House of Representatives upholds segregation by a vote of 89-1. Miami's Jack Orr is the sole dissenter. 
1957  The Deauville Miami Beach Resort Hotel opened on Miami Beach. It stood on the site of what had been the McFadden Deauville Casino, and hosted acts such as the Beatles, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin. Melvin Grossman, a protege of the renowned Modernist architect Morris Lapidus, designed the hotel. 
1957  The United States federal court issued a ruling that ended bus segregation in Miami. Bus segregation was declared to be not only unconstitutional, but unenforceable as well. Source 
1957January25The Sunshine State Parkway opened. Later to be called the Florida Turnpike, it opened on this day between Miami and Fort Pierce. Leroy Collins, Florida's governor, dedicated the road at the Fort Lauderdale exit. At this time, the speed limit was 60 miles per hour and the cost of traveling its length was $2.40. 
1957December10Pembroke Park was incorporated. 
1958  CORE (the Congress on Racial Equality) challenged Dade County's exclusion of blacks from the largest of the city's whites-only beaches, Crandon Park. While Father Theodore R. Gibson tried to be heard by the Dade County Commission regarding the matter, a group of blacks took it upon themselves to use the park's facilities. Police arrived, took no action, and thus Crandon Park remained desegregated from that day on. Source 
1958January01Pembroke Pines was incorporated. 
1958December07Pope Pius XII established the Diocese of Miami. The Diocese of Saint Augustine had previously covered the entire state. 
1959  The City of Miami's schools were desegregated. This took place five years after the United States Supreme Court's ruling on school segregation. 
1959January01Fidel Castro assumed control of the island of Cuba. The exodus of Cubans refugees moving to Miami began. 
1959January24Miami International Airport was dedicated.display
1959February01The 20th Street terminal at Miami International Airport opened. 
1959May21Voters approved a new county government. It was called the Dade County Metro Government. 
1959June20Cooper City was incorporated. 
1959June20The town of Lauderhill was incorporated. 
1960  The Lincoln Road Mall was built in Miami Beach. Lincoln Road business owners felt threatened by the trend towards building large tourist hotels with their own selection of upscale shops, such as the Fontainebleau, that were blocks away from Lincoln Road. They taxed themselves in order to raise the necessary funds for a large revitalization project. Morris Lapidus, designer of the Fontainebleau and other Miami Beach hotels, was hired for the project. Soon, the Lincoln Road Mall became one of the most significant arena for Modernist architecture in Miami Beach.display
1960March11The Reverend Edward T. Graham and six other black clergymen attempted a sit-in at the Burdines store in downtown Miami. The police denied them entrance. When a boycott of downtown stores was threatened, city leaders sat down to negotiate a settlement. In April, it was agreed that all stores would open to black customers simultaneously in August later that year. Source 
1960May03Dade County voters approved a new county-wide road system. With their vote, they allowed a $46 million bond to be issued for what would be a six year project. 
1960August01Six blacks - all CORE (the Congress on Racial Equality) members - were served at several department store lunch counters. While the color barrier was only broken at three stores on this day, it fell elsewhere soon after. Source 
1960August02The Metropolitan Dade County Transit Authority was created. 
1960September Miami's black residents were allowed to use the city's public swimming facilities. In a suit filed by the local NAACP, a United States federal court ruled that desegregation in the city's pools was unconstitutional. Source 
1960December20Operation "Pedro Pan" began. These flights from Cuba brought 14,000 children to the United States by 1962. 
1961  Developer Steve Muss arrived in Miami Beach. His father, Alexander Muss had established the family as developers with the founding of Alexander Muss & Sons in 1952. Steve would come to have dramatic influence in the ways that Miami Beach developed. 
1961April01The first major Miami hotel that had previously been segregated admitted blacks. Six black players in town with the Chicago White Sox stayed at the Biscayne Terrace Hotel in downtown Miami. 
1961June The University of Miami admitted three black students. They were the first to attend the private university. 
1961July22The town of Sunrise was incorporated. 
1962February20Dade County's population reached one million. The man who was recognized as the city's millionth resident moved to Arizona four months later. 
1962October01Dadeland Mall opened. At this time, it was only an outdoor strip-mall with fifty-eight tenants. One of them was a Burdines. 
1963  The Bacardi U.S.A. building at 2100 Biscayne Boulevard was built. The building, which was designed by Enrique Gutierrez of Puerto Rico's firm of Sacmag International, is one of the many examples of Modernist architecture along Biscanye Boulevard. Unlike others, however, the Bacardi U.S.A. building incorporates a number of Latin American and Spanish motifs, such as Meso-American ball courts and mosaics done in tiles glazed in Spain. Source 
1963June Black and white teachers met together at Convention Hall in Miami Beach. This was the first time that both groups joined to discuss professional issues. 
1964February16The Beatles stayed at the Deauville Hotel. Their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan show was broadcast from there. 
1964March31The first Coconut Grove Festival was held. Now called the Coconut Grove Art Festival is one of the largest art fairs in the nation. 
1965  Mary Athalie Range became the first black person to occupy a seat on the Miami City Commission. She was appointed to the position by the mayor after electoral fraud in her race for another seat on the commission, but went on to win two subsequent elections after her appointment. 
1965August1965The National Football League (NFL) awarded the City of Miami a franchise. Joe Robbie and Danny Thomas, the teams owners, were the individual recipients. 
1965September08Hurricane Betsy hit south Florida. Thirteen people died during the storm that caused a barge to sever Rickenbacker Causeway. Collins Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard were severely flooded. 
1965October10Fidel Castro opened the port of Camarioca in Cuba. By November 15, 5,000 would depart for Miami. 
1965October25The Disney Corporation announces plans for Walt Disney World. The company plans to establish it in central Florida. 
1965December "Freedom flights" from Cuba began to arrive in Miami. These twice a day flights from Varadero, Cuba resulted in over 100,000 Cubans being brought to Miami in one year. 
1965December12The first group of Haitian refugees arrived in south Florida. They were treated as political refugees and given asylum in the United States. Source 
1966  The Jackie Gleason Show began broadcasting from Miami Beach. Sourcedisplay
1966April11Martin Luther King Jr. visited Miami. He spoke at a rally attended by 1,200 people. 
1966September02The Miami Dolphins played their first NFL game. They lost to the Oakland Raiders 23-14 at the Orange Bowl. 26,766 fans attended the game. 
1966December19The maiden voyage of Ted Arison's "MS Sunward I" marked the beginning of Miami's cruise industry. Arison owned this boat that departed Miami for the nearby port of Nassau, Bahamas. Over time, hundreds of cruise ships would call at Miami's port on their way to destinations around the globe. 
1967  Several Florida species were put on the federal endangered list. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service placed Florida panther, the snail kite, and the Cape Sable seaside sparrow on the list.display
1967February19The town of Coconut Creek was incorporated. 
1968  Biscayne Bay was listed as a national monument. Congress cited its "rare combination of terrestrial, marine, and amphibious life in a tropical setting of great natural beauty." 
1968January14The first NFL Super Bowl was played in the Orange Bowl. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Oakland Raiders. 
1968May08The Vatican elevated the status of the Diocese of Miami to an Archdiocese. 
1968August05The Republican National Convention was held in Miami Beach. It lasted through August 8.display
1968August07A riot took place in Miami's Liberty City. After a rally organized by the Congress of Racial Equality and the Black Panthers, a man with a bumber sticker reading "George Wallace for President" was attacked. Shortly thereafter, a number of youths and other individuals vandalized and looted areas of Liberty City. The violence continued through the night, taking place during the Republican Party convention.display
1968August08The riot beginning on August 7 continued after City of Miami officials took no action to address the concerns of those rioting in Liberty City. After Miami police opened fire on the crowds, two black men were killed and a black child was wounded. Over the next two days, two more black men were killed by police.display
1968December29The passenger terminal at the Port of Miami was dedicated. 
1969January24Feeder ramps opened from downtown Miami to Interstate-95. They allowed for traffic to flow more freely between the city and the highway at a variety of points downtown. 
1970  Extreme droughts across South Florida though this year and the next heightened awareness of the looming threats to the regions water supply. In addition, the Governor's Conference on Water Management in South Florida found that the quality of water was also declining. 
1970April22The first national "Earth Day" was celebrated in Miami. A teach-in at the University of Miami was held, as was a "Dead Orange Parade" on Biscayne Boulevard. 
1970June15The "rotten meat" riot occurred in the section of Miami known as Brownsville. Protesters had been picketing at a white-owned Pic-and-Pay since June 12, when the owners were accused of overpricing poor quality meet and other goods. When police arrived firing tear gas several days later, rioting ensued and continued for three days, extending into Liberty City and some sections of Coconut Grove. Source 
1971  Maurice Gusman purchased the Olympia Theater. Architect Morris Lapidus was hired to restore the historic building. It was later transferred to the City of Miami and renamed Gusman Hall. 
1971October01Walt Disney World opened in central Florida. 
1972  Father Theodore R. Gibson succeeded Mary Athalie Range on the Miami City Commission. Gibson served until 1981 and never lost an election. 
1972  The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 was passed. It was aimed at protecting all marine life, specifically Florida's manatees.display
1972July06Manolo Reboso was appointed to the Miami City Commission. He was the first Cuban exile to serve as such. 
1972July10The Democratic National Convention was held in Miami Beach.display
1972August21The Republican National Convention was held in Miami Beach. 
1972October20The Gusman Philharmonic Hall opened. 
1972December A second boatload of Haitian immigrants arrived in south Florida. Over the next several decades, thousands more would follow. At this point in time, the most common way of dealing with Haitian immigrants was to detain them for a short period of time before dropping them off at local black churches. As the U.S. government began extending these detentions, they came under fire for providing Cubans with such a considerably easier road to citizenship than Haitians. Source 
1973January14The Miami Dolphins won the NFL Super Bowl, completing their undefeated season. Source 
1973April07Freedom Flights from Cuba to the United States ended. 
1973November06Maurice Ferre was elected mayor of Miami. He was the city's first Hispanic mayor. 
1976  Florida's state legislature created the South Florida Water Management District.display
1976March30The Miami Herald first published El Herald, a Spanish language supplement paper. 
1976June The Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) was established. Five designers were responsible, and their goal was to preserve the Art Deco style and all historic well-built buildings in Miami Beach.display
1977January18The Dade County Commission passed a human rights ordinance. It protected individuals against discrimination based on sexuality. 
1977June07Dade County voters repealed the human rights ordinance passed by the county commission less that one half year earlier. The vote came following a fervent anti-gay rights campaign led by Anita Bryant. 
1977December02The Fontainebleau Hotel was purchased by a group led by Steve Muss. It was part of a deal that Muss made with Hilton Hotels. The hotel's new name was the Fontainebleau-Hilton, and for the first time since it opened in 1954, a sign displayed its name. 
1978March12The first Calle Ocho Festival was held in Little Havana. Called Open House 8, over 100,000 people attended the event. 
1979  The Everglades were designated as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.display
1979  Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Nicaragua's ousted dictator, fled to Miami. Along with other members of his fallen government, roughly 15,000 wealthy Nicaraguans moved into or purchased residences in Miami during the late 1970s. The primary areas of concentration for these moves and purchases were Key Biscayne, Brickell Avenue, and the western suburb of Sweetwater. Source 
1979May14The Miami Beach Art Deco District was listed as an historic landmark in the United States national register. It was the first district created in the twentieth-century (largely in the 1930s and 1940s) to receive this designation. Sourcedisplay
1979December16Arthur McDuffie was brutally beaten by a group of Dade County police officers. He died four days later as a result of the beating. The acquittal of all the officers involved sparked a riot in Miami that caused what came to be known at the "Miami Riot of 1980." Source Source 
1980  Biscayne Bay National Park was established. As the status was changed from a national monument to a national park, Congress authorized the acquisition of new keys and reefs in the bay.display
1980April21The Mariel boatlift from Cuba to the U.S. began as the first boats began to reach Key West. By the end, nearly 140,000 Cubans would be brought to South Florida. 
1980May17A group of Dade County police officers was acquitted in the beating that left Arthur McDuffie dead the previous December. After the verdict was reached by an all-white Tampa jury, Miami descended into violence and what came to be known as the "Miami Riot of 1980." The riot cost tens of millions of dollars in damage. Source Source 
1980May20The INS detention center on Krome Avenue opened. It had previously been used as a missile base. 
1980July07The Metrozoo opened. This first section was twenty-five acres.display
1980September26The Mariel boatlift ended. Source 
1980November04An "English Only" referendum passed in Dade County. 
1981  A Haitian boat traveling to the United States sank just offshore and thirty-three bodies washed up on the shores of South Florida that fall. 
1984  The City of Miami's Metrorail began operating. 
1984September16"Miami Vice" debuted. The television series by Peter Yerkovich and Michael Mann brought visions of a rich, vibrant, and lush tropical paradise to the entire United States. 
1986  The Metromover began running in downtown Miami. This addition to the city's mass transit system came two years after the establishment of the Metrorail system. 
1987  Bayside opened along the bay in downtown Miami. Full of shops, restaurants, and other attractions, its creation gave the city its first bayfront gathering place since the 1920s. 
1987  The Everglades were designated as a Wetland of International Importance. An intergovernmental treaty, the Convention on Wetlands, aimed to promote conservation and wise use of the area.display
1988  Lummus Park is listed as an historic landmark in the United States historical register. Source 
1988  Barbara Baer Capitman's Deco Delights was published. She had fought since the late 1970s to preserve the Art Deco style in Miami Beach and historic buildings throughout Miami.display
1988February01The American Airlines Arena was built with dredging from the bay. 
1988July The Miami Arena opened in the Overtown/Parkwest area. Julio Iglesias performed at the first event held at the arena. It was also to serve as the first home of the Miami Heat from the time of the team's debut later in the year. The city had received an NBA franchise one year earlier. 
1988October12The Senator Hotel was demolished. Author and preservationist Barbara Baer Capitman had called it a "symbol of the Deco District." Nevertheless, the Royale Group proceeded to raze the strcture as the nearly seventy year-old Capitman was taken away by Miami Beach police. The company was seeking to build a parking garage on the site to service their other nearby properties. 
1989  The Everglades National Park Protection and Expansion Act of 1989 was passed. The act authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to restore, as much as possible, the park's natural hydrological conditions, and the purchase of 107,000 additional acres of land to increase water flow on the park's eastern side. 
1990February Miami's Holocaust Memorial was dedicated. South Florida's large Jewish population raised the funds for Ken Triester to design the memorial that was placed on Miami Beach. 
1992August24Early on the morning of August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida. Following the storm more than 1.4 million families were left without electricity; more than 107,000 private homes were damaged or destroyed; 49,000 were uninhabitable and 250,000 people were left homeless. Damages from the storm were estimated at $20 to $30 billion, making it the most costly natural disaster in American history until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Source 
1993April The Florida Marlins brought professional baseball to Miami. They played in Joe Robbie Stadium, which like the Dolphins, was in part owned by the man who owned the city's new MLB team - Wayne Huizenga. Source 
1993August24Groundbreaking for the Homestead-Miami Speedway took place one year after Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida. After Hurricane Andrew devastated South Dade, particularly the City of Homestead, longtime Miami motorsports promoter Ralph Sanchez met with Homestead's then-city manager Alex Muxo to negotiate a deal that would bring the facility to town with hopes of aiding in the revitalization of the city. Before completion of the project, H. Wayne Huizenga, owner of the Miami Dolphins, joined the team as a partner. 
1994  The Everglades Forever Act was passed. Passed by Florida's state legislature, this act underwrote $685 million for construction, land acquisition, and water treatment. $320 million was to come from sugar farmers to clean up farm runoff, and the rest was to come from taxpayers.display
2000  Miami Beach was named the #1 Urban Beach by the Surfrider Foundation. 
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