Miami- The Beginning

Vacations in Miami can be a brilliant way to spend your holiday. Unknown to many, we have a rich  history spanning over thousands of years. Our  Native American land that was occupied as far back as over 10,000 years ago.

Native Americans had real estate along the Miami River in an area that first was wooded forests and home to much wildlife. Several tribes lived in the area and it was the Tequesta people who met Juan Ponce de León in 1513 when he landed in Biscayne Bay.

It was this Spaniard who gave the first recorded name to the area: Chequescha. No one really came ashore until Pedro Menéndez de Avilés came through in 1566 looking for his son. Jesuit priests would follow and start (and shortly end) a mission in the region.

Several tribal wars occurred in the 18^th century disallowing any vacations that would have happened, leading the Tequesta to move to Cuba. Tribes also depleted their ranks through the arrival of the deadly small pox brought to the continent by the Spanish.

Also around 1772, the British granted 20,000 acres of real estate to be purchased by white settlers, the first of which would arrive early the next century in Key Biscayne. Treasure hunters came from the Bahamas as well as the Keys to scavenge sunken ships on the reef.

By 1842, William English settled and built a plantation on real estate in Miami and plotted the Village of Miami. The latter part of the 19^th century brought Miami the railroad, and citrus crops that survived great freezes.

Vacations ran aplenty at this time. In 1896, the town was incorporated and named Miami.