Culture and history info

Spaniards in the 16th century found a village (perhaps 2,000 years old) of Tequesta Indians on the site. The name Mayaimi, probably meaning “big water” or “sweet water,” may have referred to Lake Okeechobee or to local Native Americans who took their name from the lake. In 1567 the Spanish established a mission there as part of a futile attempt to subdue the Tequesta. They ceded the area to Great Britain in 1763 but regained it in 1783. After the United States acquired Florida from Spain in 1821, Fort Dallas was built (1836) as a base during the Seminole Wars. A few settlers—among them Julia D. Tuttle, known as the “mother of Miami,” and William B. Brickell—gradually moved into the area.

In 1896 Henry M. Flagler extended his Florida East Coast Railway to the site after Tuttle and Brickell each gave him half of their landholdings for the project. Flagler had been convinced to extend the railroad after a freeze during the winter of 1894–95 killed most of Florida’s citrus crop; Tuttle reportedly sent him a fresh orange blossom to prove that the freeze had not reached Miami. Flagler dredged the harbour, started constructing the Royal Palm Hotel, and promoted tourism. Miami was incorporated the same year.