Miami History Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Miami History Podcast - Episode 17 Dec 31, 2018

Show notes

As December approached in the year of 1896, the recently incorporated city of Miami was winding down a very eventful year. The extension of the FEC Railway to the banks of the Miami River was completed, construction of Flagler’s Royal Palm Hotel was nearing completion and the residents of the new city were preparing for their very first Christmas.

Miami History Channel: www.miamihistorychannel.com Miami History Blog: www.miami-history.com

Miami History Podcast - Episode 16 Dec 22, 2018

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This podcast episode features the structures that held the distinction of being the tallest buildings in Miami from 1912 through the present. From the time that Roddy Burdine decided to build the five-story retail and office building until the recent completion of the Panorama Tower, Miami has had several buildings that have held the distinction being considered Miami’s tallest edifice.

Miami History Channel: www.miamihistorychannel.com Miami History Blog: www.miami-history.com

Miami History Podcast - Episode 15 Nov 12, 2018

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This podcast episode discusses the history of a unique street in downtown Miami that was given the nickname of Short Street by early Miami pioneers. Its formal name was originally Avenue A, but given its span of only two-blocks, it was much shorter than the other avenues that were laid out during the incorporation of the city of Miami.

Short Street was the centerpiece of Miami’s first upscale residential area. Many early Miami pioneers built fine homes along the avenue and adjacent streets. However, by the mid-1910s, the area around Short Street began a slow conversion to a hotel and commercial center. The homes began to disappear slowly over time and the once prominent residential street was forgotten.

Miami History Channel: www.miamihistorychannel.com Miami History Blog: www.miami-history.com

Miami History Podcast - Episode 14 Nov 03, 2018

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This podcast episode features Miami’s Ball & Chain. Within the confines of Little Havana stands an institution that has lived a couple of lives. Within the walls of a building that was constructed in 1930 is an entertainment venue that provides libations, live music and dancing in the heart of the Tamiami Trail.

In its first incarnation, the night spot provided live music and dancing beginning in the 1935. By the late 1940s, the entertainment lineup included live Jazz and burlesque shows. When Henry and Ray Miller bought the establishment in the early 1950s, they began booking well-known black entertainers such as Count Basie and Billie Holliday, and a very talented but troubled white entertainer by the name of Chet Baker.

Miami History Channel: www.miamihistorychannel.com Miami History Blog: www.miami-history.com

Miami History Podcast - Episode 13 Sep 30, 2018

Show notes

This podcast episode will tell the story of Little Havana. Prior to the neighborhood taking a new name in the 1960s, it was known as two different neighborhoods. The Riverside neighborhood was located north of SW Eighth Street and was created by a lot of different developers during the first half of the Twentieth Century. The Shenandoah neighborhood developed south of SW Eighth Street and was named for its resemblance to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

Everything changed after Castro took over Cuba in 1959. Refugees migrated into Miami and ultimately settled into the area around the Tower Theater. Many of the institutions in the old neighborhood evolved with the changing demographics. Beginning in the 1970s, many other Spanish speaking people from Central American began to migrate into Little Havana as well.

Miami History Podcast - Episode 12 Sep 23, 2018

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This podcast episode features the history of Coconut Grove. From its inception, ‘The Grove’ was a place that attracted characters and developed on its own terms. Long before Henry Flagler decided to extend his railway to the banks of the Miami River, Coconut Grove was an active community that was much larger than what would become the core of downtown Miami.

The community attracted counts, authors, painters and anyone who appreciated the organic and pristine beauty of South Florida before the extension of the railway. Through the Twentieth Century, it never lost its beatnik vibe. Although it has been area that has changed a lot in the last couple of building booms, ‘The Grove’ still maintains its own charm and identity that so many South Florida residents find appealing.

Miami History Podcast - Episode 11 Sep 08, 2018

Show notes

This podcast episode features the father of Miami Beach, Carl Fisher and one of his most notable hotels. Carl Fisher was a serial entrepreneur who made his fortune marketing technology to provide headlamps for early automobiles. After he and his partner, James Allison, sold Prest-O-Lite to Union Carbide, Fisher was in search for his next project.

As fate would work its magic, Fisher ended up “retiring” in Miami at home he bought sight unseen in Miami’s upscale Southside neighborhood. Southside is now referred to as the Brickell neighborhood. After meeting John Collins and agreeing to help him finish a wooden bridge to an unnamed barrier island, Fisher found his next project. Fisher was given land on the island as part of the agreement with Collins.

Miami History Channel: www.miamihistorychannel.com Miami History Blog: www.miami-history.com

Miami History Podcast - Episode 10 Aug 26, 2018

Show notes

This podcast episode features Miami’s first luxury hotel. As part of his agreement with Julia Tuttle, Henry Flagler built the Royal Palm Hotel on the north bank of the Miami River in an area that became downtown a few decades later. Shortly after the signing of the agreement between Tuttle and Flagler, Joseph A. McDonald and John Sewell got to work to build the iconic hotel.

The structure was a five-story, wood-frame building with an observation tower at the top and a wrap-around veranda on the first level. The hotel was painted in the customary Flagler yellow. For the better part of thirty-three years, the place was the focal point of social activities and celebrity sightings during the winter months. During the summer, local-residents got to enjoy the pool attached to the hotel.

Miami History Podcast - Episode 9 Aug 20, 2018

Show notes

This podcast episode focuses on Miami’s pioneer physician. Dr. James Jackson was the son of a doctor who grew up in Bronson, Florida. Although his father wanted him to manage the family orange grove business, James wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps as a doctor.

He got his medical degree from Bellevue Hospital in New York City and joined his father to practice medicine back in Bronson. However, the freezes of 1894 completely changed his fate when he had to leave Bronson to continue practicing medicine. A chance meeting with an FEC executive led to a job offer in what would become Miami.

Miami History Podcast - Episode 8 Jul 29, 2018

Show notes

The eighth episode of the Miami History Podcast discusses the Burdine family and their namesake store. Opportunity brought William Burdine and his family to Miami in 1898. Having heard about the influx of soldiers deployed to Camp Miami during the Spanish American War, William dispatched his son, John, to the two-year old Magic City.

Miami History Channel: www.miamihistorychannel.com Miami History Blog: www.miami-history.com

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