Miami Beach, Florida is a famous vacation resort area that many seniors enjoy visiting.

Miami Beach FL History

Miami Beach is on an island located across Biscayne Bay from Miami. In 1870, Henry and Charles Lum purchased 165 acres on South Beach for 75 cents an acre to plant and harvest coconuts. Charles Lum built a home on Miami Beach in 1886, but the coconut plantation was unsuccessful. The Lums gave control of their land to John Collins in 1894. Collins acquired more acres in 1907.

The Miami Beach area was originally a mangrove swamp. In 1903, the Army Corps of Engineers dredged the first opening to the Atlantic Ocean, cutting through mangrove swamps to form an island measuring 7.4 square miles with an 8-mile beach.

In 1912, Miami businessmen, the Lummus brothers, bought 400 acres on Miami Beach to build a city fronting the ocean. Carl Fisher also bought land on the island. Fisher built a wooden bridge, the longest wagon bridge in the world, connecting the island to Miami in 1913. The next year, the first hotel on the island opened for business. In 1915, the town of Miami Beach incorporated. Development was slow until the 1920’s when millionaires that included Harvey Firestone and J.C. Penney built mansions on a three-mile stretch known as "Millionaire's Row."

Miami Beach Florida – Popular Resort Area

Connected to Miami by four causeways, today Miami Beach, Florida is a popular resort area, famous for its hotel strip, palatial estates, and recreational facilities.