Hotel Miami Burned Down in 1899

The fire that ravaged Avenue D on November 12, 1899, represented the end of Hotel Miami which was constructed by Julia and Harry Tuttle in 1896 in the hopes of opening the first land-based inn.

Cover: Hotel Miami in 1897. Courtesy of Florida State Archives.

On November 12, 1899, the Hotel Miami burned to the ground, along with several other businesses including the Miami Metropolis. This was the second major fire in Miami's brief history which marked the end of the early Miami institution which opened less than three years earlier.

The construction of the Hotel Miami was started by Julia Tuttle and her son in early 1896 with the hopes of opening the city’s first land-based hotel following the announcement that Henry Flagler would extend his railway to what would become the city of Miami. It was Julia’s persistence and land donation, along with a comparable donation by the Brickell family, that convinced Flagler to extend his railroad to the banks of the Miami River.

However, Salem Graham, who arrived from Palatka in 1896, opened Graham’s Hotel in a house leased to him from William Brickell. Given delays and cost overruns of constructing Hotel Miami, the Tuttle’s sold the partially completed structure to Graham on July 10, 1896. Graham completed the inn which opened in January of 1897.

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The fire destroyed the following businesses on Avenue D (today’s South Miami Avenue): The Hotel Miami, the Metropolis Office, Greer’s Grocery, Mrs Knapp’s Boarding House, Flagler Machine Shop and Hainlin’s Laundry. The fire was started in one of the rooms of the hotel due to an accident involving an oil stove.

On borrowed presses, the Miami Metropolis told the story of Miami’s second major fire in its November 17 edition. Julia Tuttle did not live to see the end of Hotel Miami because she passed away on September 14, 1898.

Related Content:

• Article: Hotel Miami on Avenue D

Resources:

• Book: “Miami: The Way We Were”, by Howard Kleinberg (pages 44-45).