Miami-Dade County history

THE PERRINE GRANT One of the early acts that brought Dade County before the general public was the act of Congress in 1838 which made a grant of one township of land to Doctor Henry Perrine, a noted scientist, for the purpose of introducing purely tropical plants and trees from the tropics.

Devoted to tribal customs, he is usually kind to his women and children, and reverences the Great Spirit. It was ended in 1842 by the banishment of the hostile red men into the fastness of the Everglades.

Miami, city, seat (1844) of Miami-Dade county, southeastern Florida, United States A major transportation and business hub, Miami is a leading resort and Atlantic Ocean port situated on Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River.

Julia D. Tuttle came here from Cleveland, Ohio, in 1870, and purchased the property of the Biscayne Bay Company.

Julia Tuttle moved to the area in 1891 and purchased the Fort Dallas land to build her home.

In 1894, Flagler’s railway entered West Palm Beach.

Conditions were almost unbearable when the news came that Joseph A. McDonald, John B. Reilly, John Sewell and E. G. Sewell would arrive in Miami the next day (February 15, 1896), and that the work of building the Royal Palm Hotel would be commenced immediately.

Judge H. F. Atkinson came here from Altoona, Florida, in January, 1897, and opened a law office.

First Presbyterian Church, Miami Occupied in February, 1900

The church building was commenced in 1901, the work being completed as rapidly as the building committee could secure the funds.

The writer was installed superintendent of schools in January, 1905, and held the office continuously for 16 years.

The State of Florida embarked on an ambitious program of Everglades drainage in 1906.

By 1910, Miami’s population had soared to nearly 5,500, while the number of tourists and new business establishments rose sharply.

Miami’s boisterous 15th birthday celebration in 1911 featured an aerialist soaring in a Wright Brothers airplane over a Flagler-built golf course west of Colored Town.

Twelfth Street’s cachet continued to rise with the opening of the Burdine department store’s new five-story building, the city’s first “skyscraper,” in 1912.

Two years later, a dredge started digging a drainage ditch near the headwaters of the Miami River, and by 1913, the Miami Canal connected the river with Lake Okeechobee, while the water from the swampland was carried out to sea along connecting waterways.

The Miami Seaquarium, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens (1916; estate of industrialist James Deering), Bayside Marketplace, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, and Jungle Island (formerly Parrot Jungle and Gardens) are among the area’s many attractions.

In 1920 the Congregationalists built a large and handsome church edifice of native stone.

In 1921 the electorate of Miami voted to adopt the commission-manager form of government.

The annexation of Lemon City, Coconut Grove, and other historic communities and neighborhoods in 1925 led to the expansion of the city of Miami from 13 to 43 square miles.

The boom began dissipating in 1926.

The Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima in August 1945.

Opened in 1955, the 38-acre (15-hectare) park provides marine life exhibits and several daily animal shows.

In the 15 years following the Cuban Revolution in 1959, it is estimated that some 500,000 Cubans fled to Miami; many of these immigrants received assimilation aid from the United States federal government.

In 1960, Dade County Junior College, today’s Miami Dade Community College, opened its doors for the first time in the Magic City.

Emigration helped the County’s population surpass one million in 1962.

Florida International University, which opened in 1972, has already carved an enviable place for itself among America’s institutions of higher learning.

By the time of their termination in 1973, more than 3,000 “Freedom Flights” had delivered 150,000 Cubans to America, primarily to Miami and its environs, and in the process had instituted the radical transformation of the city into a Latin American capital.

Another riot in May 1980, following the acquittal of several white policemen by an all white jury in the brutal killing of Arthur McDuffie, a black businessman, resulted in the loss of eighteen lives and property damages in excess of $50 million.

In 1998 archaeologists uncovered the “Miami Circle,” a series of holes cut into the oolitic limestone forming a 38-foot diameter circle located on the south side of the mouth of the Miami River.

In January 2007, the Mayor was given additional powers providing for the oversight of the day-to-day operations of Miami-Dade.

In November 2012, the Miami-Dade County Term Limit Amendment was approved, modifying the County charter to establish term limits of two consecutive four-year terms.

MIA set a new all-time record for annual passenger traffic with 45 million passengers in 2018, over 122,000 passengers each day