Inside The Newsroom

MIAMI (CBS4) ― Miami recently celebrated its 113th birthday, which is pretty young for a major city in America. Think about it. Boston was founded in 1630, making it 379 years old. New York City is 345 years old; founded in 1664. Chicago became a city in 1836, making it 173 years old. Heck, even Los Angeles is older than Miami at 159 years. To celebrate its birthday, Miami city leaders threw a party, complete with cake and ice cream.

This got me thinking about the past, about this city, and about how we got to where we are now. You know the saying, "in order to know where you're going, you have to know where you've been." So with that in mind, here is a small history lesson on the Magic City.

The Tequesta Indians were the first inhabitants. Then came the Spanish, Bahamian wreckers, then Europeans.

In 1842, a man named William English bought the land that is Miami. He might have been the first person to really have a vision of "Miami." He actually laid out plans for the "Village of Miami," and began to sell lots. But eventually English fell victim to bad luck. He died after he accidentally shot himself while dismounting from his horse. There went his dream of Miami.

For a time, Miami was an Army fort named Fort Dallas. The Army left in 1858.

For years, the land that would be Miami was refuge to various unsavory, dubious characters. It was basically the Wild, Wild West, or in this case, the Wild, Wild South.

In 1870, the Brickell family, Mary, William, and eventually their seven children, set up a trading post on the mouth of the Miami River. You know, the Brickells: Brickell Avenue, Mary Brickell Village, Brickell Key. All of that is named after them.

In 1889, there was the battle over the county seat between Juno, which is now Juno Beach, and Miami, then an unincorporated village. An election was held and Juno won. The county seat would move to Juno. But people in Miami said they weren't giving up the seat and they weren't handing over the county records. So the men of Juno came down to Miami and in the middle of the night, stole the county records which were technically theirs anyway.

Then came a key figure in Miami's history, Julia Tuttle. You know, the Julia Tuttle Causeway?

A widow from Cleveland, Ohio, Julia moved her kids and all her belongings to the Bay in 1891. She had a vision, the same vision as it turns out, as William English.

Helen Muir, a local author wrote a book titled, "Miami, U.S.A." In it she quotes a letter Julia Tuttle wrote to a friend:

"It may seem strange to you, but it is the dream of my life to see this wilderness turned into a prosperous country."

Well, she laid the foundation to do just that.

Julia Tuttle convinced Henry Flagler to bring the railroad to Miami.
At that time the railroad stopped north of Miami. Tuttle had been trying, unsuccessfully, to convince Flagler to bring the railroad all the way south. Then came the Big Freeze of 1894-95. It devastated orange groves all over Florida; but not in South Florida. Tuttle, seeing an opportunity, boxed up a fresh orange blossom and sent it to Flagler. And that did it. The tracks were laid, and the first railroad train pulled into Miami in April 1896. A little over two months later, about 300 people voted for a new city and they called it Miami.

And so it began, the endless parade of unique characters, major events, and often unbelievable tales that really make up the fabric of Miami.

There was the birth of Miami Beach, of Coral Gables. There was the time Miami annexed Coconut Grove while the majority of Grove residents were up North for the summer. Miami apparently needed the taxes. There was a fisherman named Cap'n Charlie who planned to open a company called Ocean Dairy Products. Word was he wanted to sell Sea Cow Milk.

Oh, here's a good one.

In the early 1900s, the U. S. Postal Service actually threatened to stop delivering the mail to the City of Miami. The reason: Miami's street-naming system or lack there of. At the time, anyone could name a street whatever they wanted and they could change it whenever they wanted. So a person would walk down a street and every three blocks the name of the street would change. As you can imagine, the poor postal carriers were having a really hard time delivering the mail. Well the city ignored the threat. Finally a citizen took matters into his own hands and came up with a system that everyone agreed upon. And folks, that's one big reason why today, some streets have four or five different names.

There were booms, busts, more booms, more busts, rebuilds, tear downs, political scandals, gangsters, drug wars, hurricanes, riots, celebrities and celebrations, art deco and TV shows, you name it, it's happened here.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this city, in my opinion, is the most unique city in the country. There's no place like it. And I've lived in several other cities, so I do have perspective. Miami has been called The New Casablanca, The Magic City, even Paradise Lost. No matter the nickname, when you hear the word "Miami," it conjures up different emotions for all of us. I recently asked our CBS4 Facebook Fan Group what they thought when they heard the name, "Miami."

Jorge Cabrera wrote:
"I remember Old Peacock Park in the Grove, the wood pier at South Beach I used to jump off of at night as a youngster; old Bayfront Park with the Freedom Torch and all those busts long before Bayside."

Mark Banow wrote:
"When I think of Miami, I am reminded of the way it was back in the 70's when I would come down from NY to visit my grandparents. Wolfie Cohen's, Lums, seeing Jackie Gleason perform on the beach, and going to all those Kosher butchers along Washington Avenue in what is now South Beach. That to me is the real Miami."

Eddie Martinez wrote:
"Miami is unique because of the different cultures that live, work, and vacation together. What I cherished the most as a kid was the month long vacations at hotels like the Aluho, now a high-rise condo, the Sahara, sold as condos, the Colonial Inn, now Trump Towers, the Thunderbird, alive and kicking. Used to fish under the bridge at Haulover Park and watch the Kelly's fleet come in and out of the inlet."

Kelly Izquierdo said:
"Salsa and Meringue."

And finally, Gussie Flynn simply said:
"The weather, the people, and the culture."

Gussie summed it up. Miami is unique because of the people who live here. There are people here from all walks of life, all cultures, all living together under the sun. And we all have a pioneering and passionate spirit that really is the soul of Miami.

So I said it before and yes, I'll say it again; there's no city in the country like Miami. Happy Birthday, Miami. Here's to another 113 years!

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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