Miami History
The area in which the city of Miami, Florida would later be founded by Europeans was inhabited for more than a thousand years by the Tequesta Indians. Pedro Menendez de Aviles and his men first visited and claimed the area around Miami for Spain in 1566. A Spanish mission was established one year later. Fort Dallas was built in 1836 and subsequently was a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War.
The Miami area was better known as "Biscayne Bay Country" in the early years of its growth. The few published accounts from that period describe the area as a wilderness that held much promise. The area was also characterized as "one of the finest building sites in Florida." However, the Great Freeze of 1894 changed all that, and the crops of the Miami area were the only ones in Florida that survived. Julia Tuttle, a local citrus grower, convinced Henry Flagler, a railroad tycoon, to expand his Florida East Coast Railroad to Miami. On July 28, 1896, Miami was officially incorporated as a city with a population of just over 300.
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Accents Antiques 756-0444
Addicted To Collectibles 644-9454
Ali's Sport Cards 899-8828
Allison Antique Gallery 666-4555
American Salvage Inc 691-7001
Americana Antiques 265-5259
Angel, David 379-0010
Antique Center 858-6166
Antique Heaven 754-0014
Antique Oriental Rug Buyers 374-3976
Antique Wholesalers Inc 571-9721
Antiques & More Inc 667-1776
Antiques By Raymonds 662-9507
Antiques By Rebecca 663-5339
Architectural Antiques 285-1330
Arenas Antiques 541-0900
Art & Antiques Inc 756-9682
Articles Of Disctinction 860-0668
Artistic Antiques Inc 751-5222
Baron Antiques 754-4931
Bartute, Jose 267-0041
Beall's Antiques & Collectibles 663-2103
Bombino-Koch Antiques 8650 Biscayne Blvd Miami, FL (305) 754-3444
Bonnin Ashley Antiques Inc 4707 SW 72nd Ave Miami, FL (305) 667-0969
Brave Heart Antiques 4669 SW 72nd Ave Miami, FL (305) 669-5844
Casa Cuba 856-1000
Ceramic By Design 663-5558
Clasic Corner Antique Inc 567-0864
Coral Gables Antiques & Jewelry Inc 444-4430
Corinthian Antiques 854-6068
Crazy Collecting Inc 631-8068
Curio Shop Antiques Gallery 444-7234
Deco Warehouse 740-0477
Diana's Estate Gallery 858-6337
Dietel's Antiques 266-8981
Dietel's Antiques 666-0724
Divine Trash Inc 7244 Biscayne Blvd Miami, FL (305) 751-1973
Douglas Gardens Thrift Shops 5713 NW 27th Ave Miami, FL (305) 638-1900
Eclectique Antiques 6344 Bird Rd Miami, FL (305) 666-7073
Eighteenth Century 666-1818
Ethnic Design Inc 573-8118
Evelyn S Poole Ltd Antiques 573-7463
Felicidad Restaurant 2113 W Flagler St Miami, FL (305) 643-2550
French Antique Import 95 NE 40th St Miami, FL (305) 572-1920
G & G Associates 2460 SW 28th Ln Miami, FL (305) 856-0004
Gilbert's Antiques Inc 665-2006
Gillespie, Carole 856-0004
Gotta Have It Golf 446-5757
Haveli 137 NE 40th St Miami, FL (305) 573-0308
Haveli 754-8050
Heart Of Diamonds 377-0505
Heirlooms Of Tomorrow 899-0920
Hidden Place The 644-0469
I T O Antiques 856-4951
Illum 373-3918
In Illo Tempore 649-8777
In Limbo 854-5252
Industrian 754-6070
J B L International Antiques 576-1703
J B L International Antiques 576-1500
Leon Antique 740-0074
Leose Flowers & Antique Interior Decorations 263-9090
Louis Xiv Antiques Cafe & Art 644-0055
Marc Corbin Inc 573-1705
Miami Mid-Century 572-0558
Miami Twice 669-9143
Midori Art Oriental 443-3399
Midori Gallery Antique Oriental Art 443-3399
Moonlight Antiques 758-9200
Morningside Antiques Inc 751-2828
Nostalgiaville 669-1608
Now & Then Collectibles 667-5997
Ody's Antiques And Collectibles 662-4492
Old World History 266-0966
Olde Town Warehouse Inc 754-0744
Opulent Era Gallery IV Ltd 12946 W Dixie Hwy Miami, FL (305) 891-1422
Orion Vintage Furnishings 4030 N Miami Ave Miami, FL (305) 438-0103
Pars Oriental Rugs 374-7277
Patricia Antiques 262-8873
Pewter Depot 663-5558
Ralph's Antiques 3660 SW 22nd St Miami, FL (305) 441-1193
Santa Fe Colonial 4664 SW 72nd Ave Miami, FL (305) 665-5580
Sara-Fazal International 4218 NE 2nd Ave Miami, FL (305) 573-3412
South Liquidators 576-2221
Southern Fine Arts Inc 446-1641
Stone Age Antiques 633-5114
Suarez, Graciela 667-3431
Susane R 93 NE 40th St Miami, FL (305) 573-8483
The Antique Dream 8650 Biscayne Blvd Miami, FL (305) 758-9080
Things From The Past 6655 S Dixie Hwy Miami, FL (305) 665-0511
Touch Of Class Antiques 8650 Biscayne Blvd Miami, FL (305) 757-0400
Trias Flowers Antiques & Gifts 665-5300
Twery's Inc 576-0564
Venus Antiques Miami, FL (305) 891-7301
Victorian Antiques 1067 SW 27th Ave Miami, FL (305) 642-2303
Woven Art Specialist 7231 SW 48th St Miami, FL (305) 667-0033
Yanes Antiques 80 NE 29th St Miami, FL (305) 573-5963
Several financial scandals involving the Mayor's office and City Commission during the 1980s and 1990s left Miami with the title of the United States' 4th poorest city by 1996. With a budget shortfall of $68 Million and its municipal bonds given a junk bond rating by Wall Street, Miami became Florida's first city to have a state appointed oversight board assigned to it in 1997. In the same year, city voters rejected a resolution to dissolve the city and make it one entity with Dade County. The City's financial problems continued until political outsider Manny Diaz was elected Mayor of Miami in 2001.
Drug wars reached a peak in 1998, when the Liberty City area of Miami was the focal point of deadly battles between Anthony "Little Bo" Fail and the John Does, the largest gang in Miami at the time. This feud started when the leader of the gang, Curtis Silwa, was arrested; Fail saw as an opportunity to take control of the gang and reclaim revenue from drug sales.
The Elian Gonzalez uproar was a heated custody and immigration battle in the Miami area in 2000. The controversy concerned six-year-old Elián González, who was rescued from the waters off the coast of Miami. The U.S. and the Cuban governments, his father Juan Miguel Gonzalez, his Miami relatives, and the Cuban-American community of Miami were involved. The climactic stage of this prolonged battle was the April 22, 2000, seizure of Elian by federal agents, which drew the criticism of many in the Cuban-American community. During the controversy, Alex Penelas, the mayor of Miami-Dade County at the time, vowed that he would do nothing to assist the Bill Clinton administration and federal authorities in their bid to return the six-year-old boy to Cuba. Tens of thousands of protesters, many of whom were outraged at the raid, poured out into the streets of Little Havana and demonstrated. Car horns blared, demonstrators turned over signs, trash cans, and newspaper racks and some small fires were started. Rioters jammed a 10-block area of Little Havana. Shortly afterwards, many Miami businesses closed, as their owners and managers participated in a short, one-day boycott against the city, attempting to affect its tourism industry. Employees of airlines, cruise lines, hotels, car rental companies, and major retailers participated in the boycott. Elian Gonzalez returned to Cuba with his father on June 28, 2000.
The controversial Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations occurred in 2003. It was a proposed agreement to reduce trade barriers while increasing intellectual property rights. During the 2003 meeting in Miami, the Free Trade Area of the Americas was met by heavy opposition from anti-corporatization and anti-globalization protests.
On June 27, 2005, the popular ex-city commissioner Arthur Teele walked into the main lobby of the Miami Herald headquarters, dropped off a package for columnist Jim DeFede, and told the security guard to tell his wife Stephanie he "loved her" before pulling out a gun and committing suicide. His suicide happened the day the alternative weekly Miami New Times published salacious details of Teele's alleged affairs, including allegations that Teele had sex with a transsexual prostitute and used cocaine. At the time, Teele was being investigated by federal authorities for fraud and money laundering for allegedly taking $59,000 in kickbacks to help a businessman get millions of dollars in contracts at Miami International Airport. Teele was suspended from his job in 2004 by Florida governor Jeb Bush after being arrested for trying to run a police officer off the road. Teele was also charged in December 2004 with ten counts of unlawful compensation on charges he took $135,000 from TLMC Inc., promising that it would be awarded lucrative contracts to redevelop neighborhoods in Miami. Teele was also found guilty in March of 2005 for threatening an undercover detective.
