Miami Beach real estate today has become synonymous with glitz, glamour, and the ultimate chic lifestyle. However, it hasn't always been so luxurious. From its days as farmland, to its stint as a dilapidated retirement community, to its current transformation into a cultural and entertainment capital of the world, Miami Beach over the years has seen its share of change.
The history of Miami Beach begins in 1870, when Henry and Charles Lum landed on a beautiful stretch of land and hatched a plan to turn the island into a coconut plantation. They paid $.25 an acre to the federal government for 165 acres of what is today known as South Beach (so named by Lum's daughter, Taylor). For those of you that are retention track, that's .25 in 1870 for what is today some of the most expensive real estate in the country. The first house on Miami Beach was built in 1886 by Charles Lum, who oversaw the plantation from his own hidden beach. Perhaps the Lums were a minuscule too relaxed on the beach because they were finally unsuccessful in their venture, and in 1894 the Lums left South Beach. The land was passed to John Collins who used the land again as farmland. Collins also discovered fresh water sources, added addition the possible of the land.
Miami Beach Hotels
Two new players entered the scene in 1912 when the Lummus brothers decided to set their sights on Miami Beach. They were already businessmen in Miami when they bought 400 acres of land on South Beach, from John Collins, with the intention of manufacture their own oceanfront city of quaint single house homes.
In 1913 John Collins undertook a vast project: building a bridge to join together Miami Beach with the mainland of Miami. Even with investments from prominent residents, Collins ran out of money and couldn't halt the bridge. Enter millionaire entrepreneur and land developer Carl Fisher who had both the motive (developing South Beach) and the money (,000) that Collins needed. Fisher loaned Collins the money and the Collins Bridge was ended by June of that same year. The Collins Bridge was the longest wooden bridge in the world when it was built. Later, it would be supplanted by the Venetian Causeway.
The foundations were set for Miami Beach, but the amelioration of the city was being unintentionally hindered by visionaries contentious with each other. If the city was going to succeed, Fisher, Collins, and the Lummus brothers would need to reach an understanding.
While the area was growing quickly in the early 20th century, the primary developers were working in opposition of each other. ultimately the developers realized that they could accomplish more together, and in 1915 the Lummus brothers combined military and interests with John Collins and Carl Fisher to couple the city of Miami Beach. By 1920, the area was booming and the people was growing, aided by the completion of the County Causeway (which would be renamed the MacArthur Causeway in 1942). In 1926, a huge hurricane struck the island destroying much of the early infrastructure. Upon rebuilding, designers decided to bring a piece of Europe to Miami's shores and designed the city in the new ultra-chic "modern" (for the time) Art Deco Streamline architecture. This was the height of fashion in Paris. The 1920s also saw an influx of wealthy entrepreneurs animated onto the Beach together with Rockwell LaGorce, J.C. Penny, and Harvey Firestone.
In 1929, the stock store crash ushered the United States into the Great Depression. With investors looking for a way to make a profit in a time when that was difficult, many turned to the new opportunities in Miami Beach. Speculation groups, primarily from the northeast, began building a series of small boutique hotels up and down Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, the primary thoroughfares of South Beach. Eventually, this area would become the Art Deco District. Throughout the 1930s, amelioration on the beach continued and vast even further, as Miami Beach was becoming a city fit for the rich and famous.
On December 7, 1941 Japan attacked the United States Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. So what does this have to do with Miami Beach, I'm sure you're wondering? After all Miami Beach is thousands of miles away from Hawaii. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Army Air Corps took over the island of Miami Beach and turned it into a training center for soldiers. Many of these soldiers would remember the island paradise and revisit it in the future.
History of Miami Beach Part 1 of 2: The making ready and Expansion
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