henry flagler

Banyan tree in parking lot on November 28, 1954

Last Remnant of the Royal Palm Gardens

On Saturday, December 10, 1955, the last tree that once stood in the Royal Palm gardens was felled and removed from a parking lot in downtown Miami. Years earlier, the banyan tree was rooted along the west wall of the…


Residences on Avenue B in 1903

Residences on Avenue B in Downtown Miami

The downtown Miami of yesteryear was just as likely to feature blocks of residential single-family homes as it was commercial structures. A good example of a prominent residential section in the downtown area of the early 1900s was the two-block…


Roper Building on October 19, 1950

Roper Building in Downtown Miami

A caption found in the Miami Daily News on October 18, 1949, announced that the First Presbyterian Church in downtown would be razed that week. It suggested that citizens can get one last look at the historic church before it…


Gate Posts on October 16, 2021

Entrance to Nowhere

On the periphery of the east-west expressway along NW Tenth Avenue stands two old gate posts seemingly to nowhere. They appear to be what they are, relics of an era long forgotten. The gate posts were constructed by pioneer John…


Hotel Miami in 1897

Hotel Miami on Avenue D

In early 1896, Julia Tuttle and her son, Harry, were intent on opening the first hotel in what would become the city of Miami on July 28, 1896. The mother and son duo decided to expand a building that was…