When Solomon Merrick moved his family from New England to a plot of land southwest of Miami in 1898, he had no idea that his son, George, would become the founder of one of America's most fabled cities. When the senior Merrick died in 1911, George, who was working in New York, returned to the Miami area, establishing a major citrus and produce farm on his family's land. Then he entered the booming Miami real estate market of the early 1920s, finally embarking on the building of a city. The story of Coral Gables is also the story of George Merrick, and the photographs in this volume evoke...

Miami Beach began its rise to the top of the world's resort scene when Carl Fisher, builder of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, arrived prior to 1920. The lure of "The World's Playground" was impossible to ignore for many, as hotels and restaurants flourished, even through the Great Depression. The images in this volume evoke poignant memories of Miami Beach's great past, almost inevitable downturn, and return to life with the discovery of South Beach and a renewed interest in art deco. Among the vintage views, most of which have never before been published, are early Lincoln Road and...

Miami sprang into existence on July 28, 1896, following the extension of the Florida East Coast Railway from West Palm Beach on April 15, 1896, and the publication of the soon-to-be city's first newspaper, The Miami Metropolis, on May 15, 1896. However, evidence suggests people lived in the area as early as the 1700s. Nicknamed "the Magic City" by publicists working for railroad and hotel builder Henry Flagler, Miami has weathered yellow fever epidemics, World War I, the 1920s boom and bust, World War II, and numerous other economic ups and downs to become one of the world's great cities and...