| Environmental Awareness |
| Year | Month | Day | Event | Related
Resource |
| 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 |
| 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. | |
| 1899 | November | 12 | A 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. | |
| 1901 | | | Dade County passed a wildlife protection act, prohibiting the killing, capturing, or shooting of deer, crocodile, and any wild bird. | |
| 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." | |
| 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. | display |
October | 18 | A 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 1909 | October | 01 | The Everglades Land Sales Company opened its office in Miami. Much of the land it sold was purchased sight unseen. | |
| 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. | |
| 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 |
| 1926 | September | 18 | A 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 |
| 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 |
| 1936 | December | 20 | Parrot 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. | |
| 1947 | | | The Everglades National Park was dedicated. President Harry Truman was there for the dedication. | |
| | 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 | | 1965 | September | 08 | Hurricane 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. | |
| 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 |
| 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." | |
| 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. | |
April | 22 | The 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. | | | 1972 | | | The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 was passed. It was aimed at protecting all marine life, specifically Florida's manatees. | display |
| 1976 | | | Florida's state legislature created the South Florida Water Management District. | display |
| 1979 | | | The Everglades were designated as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. | display |
| 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 |
July | 07 | The Metrozoo opened. This first section was twenty-five acres. | display | | 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 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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