Originally inhabited by the Tequesta tribe and later claimed by the Spanish in 1566, Miami is finally incorporated into the United States in 1896. Miami holds the distinction of being the only major city in the United States conceived by a woman, Julia Tuttle, a local citrus grower who was able to convince railroad magnate Henry Flagler to extend his Florida East Coast Railroad southward.
Tuttle’s vision of rapid growth for Miami as an important source of citrus began to take shape after the Great Freeze of 1894 wiped out much of Northern Florida’s crops. He could not have predicted that over a century later Miami would become more famous for a TV show about a certain flame-haired crime scene investigator with little regard for police procedure and an adoration of snarky one-liners than for its oranges.
