History of Miami

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History of Florida
The seal of Florida reflects the state's Native American history
Topics Cities - Counties - Politics
Timeline Pre-history, until 1497 Spanish Rule, 1513–1763 British Rule, 1763–1783: American Revolutionary War, 1775–1783 Spanish Rule, 1783–1821: War of 1812, 1811–1814 First Seminole War, 1817–1818 U.S. Territorial Period, 1822–1845: Capitol moved to Tallahassee, 1824 Second Seminole War, 1835–1842 Constitutional convention, 1838 Statehood, 1845–present: Third Seminole War, 1855–1858 Ordinance of Secession, 1861 Civil War, 1861–1865 3rd Constitution, 1865 Reconstruction, 1865–1868 4th Constitution, 1868 5th Constitution, 1885 Great Migration, 1910–1930 Land Boom, 1925–1929 6th Constitution, 1968 Gore v. Harris, Presidential Election, 2000 COVID-19 pandemic, 2020–present
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Thousands of years before Europeans arrived, a large portion of south east Florida, including the area where Miami, Florida exists today, was inhabited by Tequestas. The Tequesta (also Tekesta, Tegesta, Chequesta, Vizcaynos) Native American tribe, at the time of first European contact, occupied an area along the southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. They had infrequent contact with Europeans and had largely migrated by the middle of the 18th century. Miami is named after the Mayaimi, a Native American tribe that lived around Lake Okeechobee until the 17th or 18th century.

The Spanish established a mission and small garrison among the Tequesta on Biscayne Bay in 1567. The mission and garrison were withdrawn a couple of years later.^[2] In 1743 the governor of Cuba established another mission and garrison on Biscayne Bay. As the mission had not been approved by the Council of the Indies, the mission and garrison were withdrawn the following year. The Spanish recorded that the inhabitants at the site of the 1743 mission were survivors of the Cayos, Carlos (presumed to be Caloosa) and Boca Raton people, who were subject to periodic raids by the Uchises (native allies of the English in South Carolina).^[3] Fort Dallas was built in 1836 and functioned as a military base during the Second Seminole War.^[4]

The Miami area was better known as "Biscayne Bay Country" in the early years of its growth. The few published accounts from that period describe the area as a wilderness that held much promise.^[5] The area was also characterized as "one of the finest building sites in Florida".^[5] After the Great Freeze of 1894, the crops of the Miami area were the only ones in Florida that survived. Julia Tuttle, a local landowner, convinced Henry Flagler, a railroad tycoon, to expand his Florida East Coast Railway to Miami. On July 28, 1896, Miami was officially incorporated as a city with a population of just over 300.^[6]

Miami prospered during the 1920s, but weakened when the real-estate bubble burst in 1925, which was shortly followed by the 1926 Miami Hurricane and the Great Depression in the 1930s. When World War II began, Miami played an important role in the battle against German submarines due to its location on the southern coast of Florida. The war helped to increase Miami's population to almost half a million. After Fidel Castro rose to power in 1959, many Cubans emigrated to Miami, further increasing the population. In the 1980s and 1990s, various crises struck South Florida, among them the Arthur McDuffie beating and the subsequent riot, drug wars, Hurricane Andrew, and the Elián González affair. Despite these, Miami remains a major international, financial, and cultural center.

The city's name is derived from the Miami River, which is ultimately derived from the Mayaimi people who lived in the area at the time of European colonization.

Though spelled the same in English, the Florida city's name has nothing to do with the Miami people who lived in a completely different part of North America.