Historic Miami Lecture Notes by John William Bailly

HISTORIC MIAMI BAILLY LECTURE NOTES

MIAMI
“Miami is the most maddening, stimulating, life-encouraging city in the world. Nothing human is foreign to it.” Marjory Stoneman Douglas as quoted by Avra Moore Parks. https://www.miamiandbeaches.com/things-to-do/history-and-heritage/a-look-back-at-miamis-pioneers

HISTORY
The Tequesta inhabited an area from present-day Palm Beach County to the Northern Keys from approximately 500 BCE to 1763. The main town of the Tequesta was at the mouth of the Miami River.

Historians generally agree that Spaniard Ponce de Leon entered Biscayne Bay on the 13 May 1513. This dates marks the initiation of the cultural and biological exchange between the Western Hemisphere and Europe, which already had deep influences from Africa and Asia. This Transatlantic Exchange is known at the Grand Exchange (previously referred to as the Columbian Exchange) and is one of the most significant events in world history.
Read an early account of Ponce de Leon’s 1513 journey here.

In 1567, Florida Governor Pedro de Menendez established a mission at the mouth of the Miami River. Jesuit Brother Francisco de Villarreal managed it and wrote what is considered the first letter written in Miami.
Read Francisco de Villarreal’s letter here.

The Tequesta form an alliance with the Spaniards, and remain in power in Miami until 1763, when Florida becomes part of the British Empire. Florida then returns to Spain in 1783, and then becomes a US state in 1820.

Julia Tuttle, in 1894, developed the concept and initiative to incorporate the area around the Miami River. This makes Miami one of the only cities in the US to have been founded by a woman.

On 28 July 1896, 344 men voted to incorporate the City of Miami.

Julia Tuttle had offered parts of her property to a railroad company that would extend their line to Miami. In 1890, Tuttle was quoted as saying to James Ingraham “Some day somebody will build a railroad to Miami. I hope you will be interested in it, and when they do I will be willing to divide my properties there and give one-half to the company for a town site.”

When two devastating freezes descended on Florida in December 1894 and February 1895, the only geographic area to escape the crop loss was the “Biscayne Bay Area.” When Henry Flagler received a box of preserved fruits and vegetables from Julia Tuttle and Mary Brickell, he immediately decided to extend his railroad to the mouth of the Miami River.

The first registered citizen on the charter of City of Miami was Silas Austin, a man of color.

Read the National Register of Historic Places report on the Downtown Miami Historic District

HISTORIC MIAMI LECTURE NOTES
Due to Miami’s urban design and continuous need to reinvent itself, much of the traces of our ancestors are scattered, buried, lost, or…hidden. With considerable walking and use of our imaginations, however, we will be able to connect with the Tequesta, Spanish, Seminoles, Bahamians, escaped slaves, and Northern Settlers.

Open the links to see more detailed information on the respective sites.