Miami's History

Henry Flagler, the railroad mogul of his period, was the leading power behind Miami's development and build-up.
One of the first residents of the area was Julia Tuttle, who permanently tried to persuade Mr. Flagler to extend the railroad down into south Florida. But since he didn't see any commercial potential in this area he declined her letters.
Not until 1895 when a harsh winter destroyed the entire crop in northern Florida she convinced him of the agrarian potential through sending him a couple of healthy orange blossoms. He thought again and got also the idea to develop the little village into a real city where people should be able to spend their

Around 1920 Miami eventually had evolved into one of the favorite vacation domiciles of the east coast. People particularly enjoyed and valued the mild and warm weather during winter. The development and growth of the city brought also a lot of workers into the region - first the whites, then blacks and later in 1959 the first Cubans, who fled the Castro regime.
After them the next immigration wave was the one when Puerto Ricans, South Americans and Mexicans came.
All these people made-up the multi-ethnic and -cultural mix of Miami.