Preparing the Grounds for the City of Miami

The preparation for the construction of Henry Flagler's iconic Royal Palm Hotel constructed along the Miami River in today's downtown Miami, Florida.

Cover: Preparing Grounds of Royal Palm Hotel on March 15, 1896

In the Fall of 1895, John Sewell was in Palm Beach, Florida, working for Joseph A. McDonald who was the head of the construction arm of the Florida East Coast Railway. It was during a brief meeting that McDonald informed Sewell that he had been selected to go south to begin work on the development of a new city located where Biscayne Bay meets the Miami River. Sewell gladly agreed and expected to get word soon thereafter on when he needed leave for this new venture.

However, Sewell did not hear anything until February of 1896 when McDonald summoned him to meet with Henry Flagler, the principal owner of the Florida East Coast consortium of companies. John would later find out that the delay was due to the complexity of getting title for land that was being given by Julia Tuttle. The claim to the land had at one time been part of Spanish grants and the perfection of the title for this property took more time than everyone expected.

When Sewell arrived in the boss’s office, Flagler informed him that he was ready for Sewell to leave for Biscayne Bay, which was how most people referred to Miami before it was incorporated as the city of Miami. Flagler advised Sewell not to take too many men because he would have trouble housing them. Along with his brother, Everest G. Sewell, John selected twelve of his most trusted black workers to join him for the trip south from West Palm Beach. He referred to this group as his “black artillery”.