Albert Scalla

Miami turns 130 today. On July 28, 1896, 368 men crowded into The Lobby, a pool hall near the Miami River, to create a city. They cast 344 votes. The group included 162 Black men, many of them laborers who helped build the railroad and the young settlement, alongside merchants, farmers, tradesmen and railroad workers. Long before incorporation, the Tequesta lived along these waters. Modern Miami took shape because a few stubborn people believed an unlikely place could become a great American city. Julia Tuttle relentlessly pushed Henry Flagler to bring his railroad south. Mary Brickell backed the effort with her land and business savvy. Flagler laid the tracks. The railroad arrived in April. By July, they had incorporated a city. That is an astonishing amount of ambition packed into a few months. Miami was a gritty startup city before anyone used the term. There was no guarantee it would work. Just heat, mosquitoes, hard work and people willing to make an enormous bet on the future. Happy 130th birthday Miami!