IPH Communities – South Miami Chronology

Chronology

1858 

Isaiah Hall establishes a residence at Hall’s Creek just south of the wading beach at Metheson Hammocks.

1868

Isaiah Hall is elected to the state legislature.

1870

Francis « Jake » Infinger, who lived in the Cocoplum area, is elected Sheriff and Tax Collector of Dade County.

1896

A.H. Ramsey and John Burtashaw build the first schoolhouse on land donated by Adam Richards, at what is now Sunset Drive and Erwin Road. The school is named Cocoplum.

1897

January: Wilson Alexander Larkins settles here with his family and livestock. He builds a home and barn for his family.

1898

Wilson A. Larkins opens a dry goods store, an outpost, and establishes the first post office in the area. Soon after, people settle in the area surrounding the Larkins store.

1899

Wilson Larkins names the area Manila but the majority of the settlers preferre the name Larkins. On July 6th, the Post Office request is granted and the area becomes known as the town of Larkins.

1904

The population of Larkins is 350.

The Cocoplum school becomes the Larkins school.

Mr. Dowling and his family move to the town. He lays the tracks for the FEC Railroad. Dowling’s father, JM Dowling, builds the first house within what is now South Miami city limits. Mr Dowling Jr’s son in law opens the first store on the west side of the tracks, called the White Palace Grocery.

1911

The school is moved to the site that is now Sunset Elementary School.

The Dorn family moves to this area. Their primary interest is mango and avocado growing.

1912

The Cocoplum Thimble Club becomes the first Women’s club in Larkins. Mary E. Dorn is its first president.

Marshall Williamson moves to Larkins from Madison, Florida. He is the first African-American person to purchase land in the Larkins area. He builds his home at 6500 SW 60th Avenue. Before the construction is completed, it is used for churches services.

1916

Marshall Williamson donates land for St John AME Church. It is the first church in the black community. The black neighborhood becomes known as Madison Square after Williamson’s hometown.

The original Mt Olive Missionary Baptist Church is built at 6316 SW 59th Place.

1917

Telephone service is extended to Larkins from a private company operating out of Coconut Grove.

Sylva G. Martin settles in Larkins.

1922

Mr. Opsahl builds the first hotel in Larkins, the Southern Pine Hotel.

1924

Nathan Bowman and his wife Rosa Bowman move into the area. They build their home at 6067 SW 62nd Terrace. Their son, James Bowman becomes the first black person to be appointed to serve on any city board and later becomes a city commissioner of the City of South Miami.

1925

The Dorn brothers erect the Riviera Theatre at 5700 South Dixie Highway.

1926

March 2nd : Larkins is incorporated as the town of South Miami. The original boundaries are : Red Road to the east ; SW 104th Street and North Kendall Drive to the south ; Ludlam and Palmetto roads to the west ; and Bird Road and Miller Drive to the north.

The first concrete block building is built by John Opsahl on Sunset Drive, east of the railroad.

September : A severe hurrican hits the Miami area resulting in 243 deaths, winds of 132 mph and 50 million dollars damage.

September 26 : Henry Flagler’s railroad is completed down the east coast all the way to the end of the Florida Keys.

May 5th : The « Negro District » is created.

W.A. Foster is elected mayor.

The first street lighting is authorized.

1927

June 1st : A new charter is adopted. The town of South Miami ceases to exist and is replaced by the City of South Miami.

Land is purchased by the city, later to become Lee Park (and now Murray Park).

1928

Ordinance No. 48 establishes the legal segreagation of white and black citizens in the City of South Miami.

1929

F.M. Phillips is elected Mayor.

1930

W.A. Foster is elected mayor.

South Miami’s population is 1160.

1931

June 16th: the city’s government ceases to exist due to personnal clashes and financial problems.

The South Miami Chamber of Commerce is established.

W.A. Foster is elected mayor.

1932

May 17th: the City of South Miami is reinstated as a result of a write of mandamus ordered by Circuit Judge Worth W. Trammel.

1933

George L. Peacock is elected mayor.

1934

Charles T. Fuchs moves is Holsum Bakery from Homestead to South Miami on the land where the Riviere Theatre had been.

The land and building at the northwest corner of Sunset Drive and Dorn Street is purchased for $ 2,500 and becomes City Hall.

1935

George L. Peacock is reelected mayor.

Ordinance No. 72 is passed dedicating certain lands as a community center and/or city park. The Work Progress Administration supplies some of the funds for its construction.

South Miami’s population is 1690.

1936

The Community Center is dedicated. It was later renamed Sylva G. Martin Community Center.

March 3rd : Sylva G. Martin is appointed city clerk.

J.L. Yarborough is elected mayor.

The South Miami Journal begins publication, making it the first newspaper in South Miami.

1939

Frederick Glass is elected mayor.

1940

South Miami’s population is 2600.

1941

The city bans the Ku Klux Klan and passes Ordinance No. 181 declaring it unlawful to wear mask or any other device that covered the face. The ordinance also prohibits the burning of crosses on the premises of another.

1942

H.W. Vanderboegh is elected mayor.

1945

South Miami’s population is 2761.

1946

Wilson A. Larkins dies at the age of 83.

1947

E.L. Thompson is elected mayor.

1948

W.T. Clark acts as mayor and is then replaced by H. Hollis Barrow.

1949

Clayton W. Acker is elected mayor.

Officer Finch becomes the first African-American policeman in South Miami. He was removed from service and later reinstated after an African-American rally in Miami.

1950

The population of South Miami is 4827.

Money is appropriated for the purchase of the land where Ludlam Elementary is presently located.

The South Miami Rotary Club is founded.

The City of South Miami adopts the Parkinsonia tree as the official tree.

1951

Resolution No. 416 offers the Board of Education ten acres of city property on the condition that they build thereon a South Miami High School.

John W. Frits is elected mayor.

1952

James A. McConnell is elected mayor.

Streets in South Miami are renumbered.

South Miami Federal Savings and Loan Association opens.

Mayor McConnell sets up a committee of eight to study the needs of the African-American community. African-Americans are underrepresented in the committee (3 out of 8 members).

1953

The City of South Miami agrees to build the JRE Lee Elementary School after much feud with the Dade County School Board.

The charter is approved designating a City-Manager form of government. Two months later, Leonard L. Bishop Jr., is appointed city manager.

1954

Carl Cluck is elected mayor.

Charles T. Fuchs is killed as a result of a fall into the propeller of an air boat.

1955

Ordinance No. 317 provides for a 30-year lease of 10 acres for the construction of South Mami Junior High.

The JRE Lee Elementary school, located at 6521 SW 62nd Avenue, is dedicated.

The construction of a new City Hall is approved by referendum.

A Slum Clearance Committee is appointed by the mayor.

1956

Paul U. Tevis is elected mayor.

October : the new City Hall is dedicated.

Blue Waters Park, now known as Fuchs Park, is deeded to the city.

Brewer Park is dedicated.

Resolution No. 936 provides for the construction of the new Chamber of Commerce building on the site where Fuchs Park is located.

1957

April 2nd : Sylva G. Martin ends her 21-year carrer as city clerk.

1958

The Community Center is used as South Miami’s first public library (until 1977).

1960

February 22nd : South Miami Hospital opens.

1964

Clyde M. Taylor is elected mayor.

1966

The City of South Miami purchased Red Road Park (now Fuchs Park) from Coleman F. Carroll, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Miami.

1967

April 4th: The City Council passes the resolution 2319, naming Red Road Park after Congressman Dante B. Fascell.

1968

Jack Block is elected mayor.

1970

The After School House begins to help South Miami children, and especially African-American children, after school.

Jack Block is reelected mayor.

South Miami’s population is 11780.

1971

November 10th : South Miami Senior High opens its door with Dr Warren E. Burchel as its first principal.

1972

Marshall Williamson dies.

Jack Block is reelected.

1974

Jack Block is reelected.

1976

The City of South Miami takes over the funding of the After School House.

Jack Block is reelected.

1977

South Miami’s new public library opens.

1978

Jack Block is reelected.

1979

May 15th: The City Council votes to rename the City Center for Sylva G. Martin.

1980

Jack Block is reelected.

South Miami’s population is 10895.

1981

Ordinance No. 13-81-1107 adopts a Comprehensive Plan. It replaces the 1971 Comprehensive Plan and designates all of downtown area as Mixed Use.

1982

The City of South Miami examines Martin Marguilies’s project on the site of the old Holsum Bakery (the project was to start in 1983, open in 1985 and be completed by 1989. The plans never got off the ground after the first phase of the construction failed to keep tenants).

Jack Block is reelected.

1983

May 3rd : City commissioners vote to approve South Miami Hospital’s 20-year development master plan.

December : A metrorail’s 20-mile extension opens ferrying passengers between Dadeland Mall and downtown with a stop at South Miami.

1984

Bill Porter is elected mayor.

1985

The Bakery Center opens.

1986

Bill Porter is reelected.

1988

May 6th: Sylva G. Martin dies at the age of 92.

SW 62nd Terrace is renamed in memory of Rosa Bowman who died in July.

Bill Porter is reelected.

1989

Adoption of the current Comprehensive Plan which designates the northen portion of the city as Medium-Intensity Office and designates the southern portion as Specialty Retail/Residential.

The City Commission adopts Ordinance No. 11-94-1560 which designates the northen portion of the property as Specialty Retail/Residential.

1990

Cathy McCann is elected mayor.

South Miami’s population is 10404.

1992 

March 10th : The City of South Miami honors Sylva G. Martin by dedicating a wall hanging created by a European artist. The work is hanged in the Sylva G. Martin Community Center.

Hurricane Andrew hits the Miami area causing tremendous damages.

August : Public charrette about the development of downtown South Miami resulting in the Hometwon Plan approved in 1993.

Cathy McCann is reelected.

1994

Neil Carver is elected mayor.

1996

Tom Cunningham is elected mayor

1997

Mayor Tom Cunningham dies and is replaced by Anna M. Price.

1998 

February 9th : BellSouth technician Julio Robaina is elected mayor. It is the city’s first hispanic mayor.

1999 

January 22nd : Grand opening of the Shops at Sunset Place. Only 18 of the 69 shops, restaurants, and entertainment destinations are ready to open (after having already been delayed twice, once in October and once in December).

2000 

February : South Miami joins other municipalities in the country in forming city partnerships to help foster cultural and economic development between cities around the world. South Miami is a member of Sister Cities International and forms realtionships with the cities of Grand Turk in Turks and Caicos Islands, and Basseterre in St Kitts and Nevis.

Julio Robaina is reelected.

South Miami’s population is 10449.