Events

Brady's Grocery & Bank of Bay Biscayne on Avenue D in 1896.

Miami’s Christmastime Fire of 1896

As joyous as the holiday season of 1896 was for the South Florida community, there was foreboding on the part of its lone newspaper, the Miami Metropolis, over the damage a fire could bring to its wood frame buildings, and…


Royal Palm Hotel under construction in 1896

MIami’s First Christmas in 1896

Christmas 1896 in the newly-incorporated city of Miami was euphoric for many of its estimated 1,000 residents, who exhibited feelings of pride in for the transformation of a wilderness into an instant municipality in less than one year. In fact, some were already calling it the “Magic City.”


Soldiers Drilling at Royal Palm Park in 1898

Miami and the Spanish American War – Part 3 of 3

As noted in the previous installment of this study, conditions in Camp Miami in the summer of 1898 worsened for 7,000 soldiers under the onslaught of heavy rainstorms, high temperatures, and humidity.  One solider complained: “Here at Miami we have…


Soldiers Marching on Flagler Street in 1917

Armistice Day in Miami (1918)

Miami residents woke up to a perfect fall day on Monday, November 11, 1918, as they prepared for the start of a new week. The low in the morning was sixty-eight degrees and the day would top off at eighty-degrees…


Soldiers marching on Royal Palm Park in 1898.

Miami and the Spanish American War – Part 2 of 3

As noted in part one of this series, Miami finally secured a military training camp in June of 1898 as fighting continued in Cuba between the United States and Spain over the issue of Cuban independence. The work of the…