Timeline of Miami

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States.

19th century

1870 – William Brickell establishes a trading post on the south side of the Miami River.
1880 – Population: county 100.
1884 – The first hotel, The Peacock Inn, is established in Coconut Grove.
1886
* Ralph Munroe builds a home on the bay in Coconut Grove.
* Kirk Munroe establishes a home in Coconut Grove.
1889 – Teaching begins in the first school building in Coconut Grove.
1891 – Julia Tuttle moves to Miami.
1895 – The first public library is established in Coconut Grove by the ladies of the Pine Needles Club.
1896
* Miami incorporated; John B. Reilly becomes mayor.
* Florida East Coast Railway arrives in Miami.
* Miami Metropolis newspaper begins publication.
* Biscayne Hotel built.
1897
* Royal Palm Hotel in business.
* City of Miami Cemetery established.
1898
* Burdines in business.
* David Fairchild establishes the USDA Plant Introduction Garden.
1899
*Dade County seat relocated to Miami from Juno.
*Telephone service begins in Miami.
1900
* Flagler Public Library, Miami Board of Trade, and Woman's Club founded.
* Population: 1,681.

20th century

1900s-1940s

1902 – Carpenters Local 993 labor union established.
1903
* John Sewell becomes mayor.
* Ransom Everglades School is established in Coconut Grove.
* The Miami Herald newspaper begins publication.
1906
* Streetcars begin operating.
* Automobile parade.
1909
* City Hall built.
* Lummus Park opens.
1910 – Population: 5,471; county 11,933.
1912 – Airport established near Miami.
1913
* Bridge to Miami Beach constructed.
* Lyric Theater opens.
1914 – Construction of Vizcaya begins.
1915
* Miami Chamber of Commerce established.
* Town of Miami Beach incorporated near Miami.
1916 – David Fairchild establishes The Kampong, his winter home in Coconut Grove.
1917 – Elser Pier opens.
1918 – Airdrome Theatre and Strand Theatre open.
1919
* Coconut Grove is incorporated.
* Great Miami Employers' Association established.
* Seybold Canal Bridge built.
1920
* Universal Negro Improvement Association chapter established.
* Population: 29,549; county 42,753.
1921
* Commission-manager form of government adopted.
* WQAM [List of List of radio stations in Florida|radio stations in Florida|radio] begins broadcasting.
* Tamiami Canal Bridge built.
1923 – Miami Times newspaper begins publication.
1924
* Buena Vista becomes part of Miami.
* Miami River Canal Swing Bridge built.
* Fotosho Theatre opens.
1925
* Allapattah, Coconut Grove, Lemon City, Silver Bluff, and West Little River become part of Miami.
* Bayfront Park opens.
* Towns of Coral Gables and Hialeah incorporated near Miami.
* University of Miami established in Coral Gables.
1926
* January 10: Prinz Valdemar ship sinks offshore.
* September: Hurricane.
* WIOD radio begins broadcasting.
* Player's State Theater built.
* Booker T. Washington High School, Olympia Theater, and Tower Theater open.
* Town of Miami Shores incorporated near Miami.
* Wometco – first movie theater, the Capital, opens.
1927
* Flagler Theater opens.
* E. G. Sewell becomes mayor.
* Greater Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church built.
* Jewish Floridian newspaper begins publication.
1928
* Pan American Field begins operating.
* Dade County Agricultural High school built.
* Al Capone buys a home in Miami Beach.
1929 - Sears, Roebuck and Company Department Store opens.
1930
* Miami Civic Center opens.
* Population: 110,637.
1933
* February 15: Chicago mayor Anton Cermak killed by anarchist in Bayfront Park.
* E. G. Sewell becomes mayor again.
* Ryder, the truck leasing company, founded in Miami.
1935
* January 1: Orange Bowl football contest begins.
* November: Hurricane.
1936 – Parrot Jungle established.
1937 – Burdine Stadium, and Liberty Square open.
1938 – Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden opens to the public.
1939 – E. G. Sewell becomes mayor yet again.
1940
* Historical Association of Southern Florida established.
* Population: 172,172; county 267,739.
1941 – Dorsey Memorial Library opens.
1942
* May: Portero del Llano ship sinks offshore during World War II.
* Submarine Chaser Training Center established.
1943 – Urban League of Greater Miami established.
1946 – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch established in Liberty City.
1948 – Coconut Grove Citizens Committee for Slum Clearance and Civil Rights Congress chapter organized.
1949 – WTVJ begins broadcasting.

1950s-1970s

1950 – Population: 249,276; county 495,084.
1952 – Museum of Science and Natural History opens on Bayshore Drive.
1953
* Diario Las Américas Spanish-language newspaper begins publication.
* Howard Hughes Medical Institute founded in Miami.
1954 – Burger King founded in Miami.
1955 – Miami Seaquarium established.
1956 – WCKT begins broadcasting.
1957
* WPST-TV begins broadcasting.
* DuPont Plaza Hotel opens for business.
* Robert King High elected mayor of Miami.
1958 – Catholic Diocese of Miami established.
1959
* City public schools racially desegregated.
* Dade County Junior College and Centro Hispano Católico founded.
* Miami International Airport dedicated.
1960 – Population: 291,688; county 935,047.
1961 – Colegio de Belén relocates to Miami from Cuba.
1962 – Historical Museum of Southern Florida and Cruzada Educativa Cubana established.
1964
* February 25. Cassius Clay defeats Sonny Liston for heavyweight champion of the world.
* Chuck Hall becomes mayor of Dade County.
1965
* Cuban exiles begin to arrive in city via U.S.-sponsored "freedom flights".
* Florida International University established.
* Ediciones Universal in business.
1966 The Miami Dolphins enter the American Football League as an expansion franchise
1968
* August 5–8: 1968 Republican National Convention held in nearby Miami Beach.
* August 7–8: 1968 Miami riot.
* Miami Pop Festivals held near city in May and December.
1970
* David T. Kennedy becomes mayor of city; Stephen P. Clark becomes mayor of Dade County.
* Population: 334,859; county 1,267,792.
1971 – Latin Chamber of Commerce established.
1972
* July: 1972 Democratic National Convention is held in nearby Miami Beach.
* August: 1972 Republican National Convention is also held in Miami Beach.
* September: Florida International University opens.
* One Biscayne Tower is built.
* Miami Dolphins have their undefeated "perfect" season.
* Jack Orr becomes mayor of Dade County.
* November: "Decade of Progress" bond is passed, providing the funding for the Center for the Fine Arts.
1973
* April: U.S.-sponsored "freedom flight" arrivals to Miami of Cuban exiles ends.
* Barnacle Historic State Park established.
* Maurice Ferre becomes city mayor.
1974
* Stephen P. Clark becomes mayor of Dade County again.
* Spanish American League Against Discrimination headquartered in city.
1975
* The Bee Gees move to Miami Beach.
1976
* El Miami Herald Spanish-language newspaper begins publication.
* Bicentennial Park opens.
1977
* Foreign trade zone established.
* Black Archives History & Research Foundation of South Florida headquartered in city.
* Omni International Mall in business.

1980s-1990s

1980
* May: race riots in Overtown and Liberty City after the death of Arthur McDuffie.
* April–October: Cubans arrive in city via Mariel boatlift.
* Miami MetroZoo opens near city.
* Population: 346,865;
1981
* Palace apartment building constructed.
* Cuban American National Foundation headquartered in city.
1982
* Knight International Center opens.
* Facts About Cuban Exiles organization established.
* 1982 Overtown riot occurs.
1983
* The movie Scarface, which is set in Miami, is released.
* Christo unveils Surrounded Islands.
1984
* Metrorail begins operating.
* Center for Fine Arts
* Miami International Film Festival begins.
* Southeast Financial Center built on Biscayne Boulevard.
* Miami Vice, a crime drama television series, debuts on NBC. It will run from 1984 to 1989.
* First edition of the Miami International Book Fair.
1985
* Miami SunPost newspaper begins publication.
* Xavier Suarez becomes city mayor.
* Stephen P. Clark Government Center built.
* The Golden Girls, a television sitcom set in Miami, begins its seven-year run.
* Miami City Ballet debuts.
1986 – Lincoln Center built.
1987
* November: Pope John Paul II visits city.
* Miami New Times newspaper in publication.
* Miami Tower built.
1989
* Ileana Ros-Lehtinen becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 18th congressional district.
1990
* Nelson Mandela visits city.
* Knight Foundation headquartered in city.
* Population: 358,548; county 1,937,094.
1992 – August: Hurricane Andrew.
1993
* Stephen P. Clark becomes city mayor.
* Carrie P. Meek becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 17th congressional district.
1994
* Eleventh Street (Metromover station) opens.
* 1st Summit of the Americas held in city.
1996
* Willy Gort becomes mayor of city, succeeded by Joe Carollo; Alex Penelas becomes mayor of Dade County.
* City website online.
* Pottinger v. City of Miami homeless-related lawsuit decided.
* Liberty City Charter School established.
1997
* May 12: Tornado.
* November: Mayoral election held.
* Dade County renamed Miami-Dade County.
1998
* January: Xavier Suarez becomes mayor again.
* March: Mayoral election results of 1997 judged invalid; Carollo becomes mayor again.
1999
* American Airlines Arena opens.
* Ultra Festival begins.

2000s

2000
* Elián González affair.
* Population: 362,470; county 2,253,362.
* Town of Miami Lakes incorporated near Miami.

21st century

2000s

2001
* Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami founded.
* Manny Diaz becomes city mayor.
2002 – Art Basel begins in Miami Beach.
2003
* Four Seasons Hotel Miami built.
* City of Miami Gardens incorporated near Miami.
2004 – Carlos Alvarez becomes mayor of Miami-Dade County.
2006 – Carnival Center opens.
2007
* Ferguson U.S. Courthouse built.
* Fictional Burn Notice television series begins its seven-year run.
2008 – Marquis Residences and 900 Biscayne Bay built on Biscayne Boulevard.
2009 – Tomás Regalado becomes city mayor.

2010s

2010
* Port of Miami Tunnel construction begins.
* Population: 399,457; county 2,496,435; metro 5,564,635.
2011
* Carlos A. Giménez becomes mayor of Miami-Dade County.
* Vice City Rollers formed.
* Frederica Wilson becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 17th congressional district.
2015
* Marco Rubio presidential campaign, 2016 headquartered in Miami.
* The Miami Science Museum's Coconut Grove location closes
2017
* January: City revises its illegal-immigrant sanctuary policy.
* The new Miami Science Museum's location opens

Published in the 20th century

1900s-1940s

Miami City Directory
*
*
Isador Cohen, Historical Sketches and Sidelights of Miami
T. H. Weigall, Boom in Paradise
1941-

1950s-1970s

Helen Muir, Miami, U. S. A.
Ruby Leach Carson, "Miami: 1896 to 1900", Tequesta, XVI
Paul S. George, "Colored Town: Miami's Black Community, 1896–1930", Florida Historical Quarterly

1980s-1990s

Paul George, "Passage to a New Eden", Florida Historical Quarterly, 59
Arva Moore Parks. Miami: The Magic City. Miami: Centennial Press, 1991.
Marvin Dunn, Black Miami in the Twentieth Century

Timeline of Miami

19th century

20th century

1900s-1940s

1950s-1970s

1980s-1990s

2000s

21st century

2000s

2010s

Published in the 20th century

1900s-1940s

1950s-1970s

1980s-1990s

Published in the 21st century