Miami History Podcast

This podcast episode features an interview with Jeff Davies, co-author and social media co-administrator for a book and Facebook page titled "Florida – A History in Pictures." Jeff shares his family's journey from New York to Miami in 1968 and how his father's memories as a child inspired him to make South Florida his family's home. Jeff, along with his co-author Mike McGinness, published a pictorial history of the State of Florida based on photographs donated by subscribers on their Facebook page and from their personal collections. Davies is a colorful raconteur who shares some of his favorite memories from his youth and stories of photos from the book during this episode.

This podcast episode tells the story of the Wagner family, among the earliest permanent settlers along the Miami River during the middle decades of the nineteenth century. William Wagner, a veteran of the Mexican War, arrived at Fort Dallas in 1855 with his business partner, Captain Sinclair. The two men came as sutlers, supplying soldiers after the U.S. Army reoccupied the fort during the Third Seminole War. In addition to operating their business near the mouth of the Miami River, Wagner and Sinclair established a coontie mill along a nearby tributary that would later become known as Wagner Creek. After the war ended and the soldiers departed in 1858, Wagner was joined in South Florida by his wife and young children. The family remained along the Miami River and continued operating the coontie mill, becoming part of the small but growing community that preceded modern Miami. In 1875, the Wagners constructed a chapel on their homestead that became an important early center of Catholic worship in sparsely populated Dade County. It was there that their daughter Rose Wagner married Adam Richards in a ceremony performed by a visiting Catholic priest on September 5, 1876. Rose Wagner and her children later became valuable sources of oral history, preserving firsthand accounts of life along the Miami River before the arrival of the railroad and the incorporation of Miami in 1896. Their recollections provide a rare glimpse into the isolated frontier community that existed during the second half of the nineteenth century. William Wagner spent the final years of his life on his original homestead near what is today the Culmer Metrorail Station. Although he sold the property to Julia Tuttle in 1893, he financed part of the transaction and regained the land following Tuttle's death in 1898 after the outstanding loan was not repaid. The story of the Wagner family offers a remarkable window into Miami's transformation from a remote settlement along the river into the city that emerged at the close of the nineteenth century.

This podcast episode explores the incorporation and early development of Miami Springs, a community founded during South Florida's extraordinary building boom of the 1920s. After helping establish Hialeah and Opa-locka, aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and James Bright founded Country Club Estates on August 23, 1926. The community was later renamed Miami Springs, and this year marks the centennial of the founding of this distinctive South Florida municipality. Like other master-planned communities developed during the era, including Coral Gables and Miami Shores, Miami Springs was carefully designed with its own architectural identity. What distinguished the community was its prominent use of Pueblo Revival architecture. Curtiss had traveled extensively throughout the American Southwest while promoting aviation and became fascinated by the region's architecture. That influence helped inspire the Pueblo-style homes and buildings that became one of Miami Springs' most recognizable and enduring characteristics.

This episode features the story of veteran South Florida journalist and storyteller Hank Tester. Hank arrived in Miami in 1992, just before Hurricane Andrew devastated the region, and was immediately immersed in one of the most consequential news events in South Florida history as a field reporter covering the storm's aftermath. After spending 23 years at WTVJ, Hank joined CBS4 in 2015 as a nighttime reporter. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while producing news content from home, he began researching and presenting short vignettes highlighting people, places, and events from South Florida's past. In this conversation, Hank discusses how he selects and researches his stories, how the segments are produced, and what he has learned about his adopted hometown while becoming an avocational historian for the local CBS affiliate.

In 1976, as the United States celebrated its Bicentennial, South Florida marked the nation's 200th birthday with an ambitious civic celebration. During the planning for the festivities, Miami earned a distinction achieved by only three other American cities, a remarkable honor whose story is revealed in this episode. Planning for the Bicentennial began nearly a decade earlier during the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson and continued through the Nixon years as communities across the country prepared for the historic anniversary. Although downtown Miami was facing economic decline by the mid-1970s, city leaders used the Bicentennial as an opportunity to reimagine its urban core. Their efforts transformed the former Port of Miami location and downtown waterfront into a signature public green space that continues to be enjoyed by residents and visitors today, serving as one of the celebration's most enduring legacies.

This podcast episode explores South Florida's embrace of automobile transportation, beginning with the opening of the Dixie Highway in 1915. The discussion traces the evolution of the region's road network from early state highways to the creation of the federal Interstate Highway System, a transformative public works initiative whose impact has shaped South Florida since construction began in the late 1950s. The story is not solely one of progress and mobility. From the use of eminent domain to clear established neighborhoods to proposals that would have routed Interstate 95 through some of Miami's most treasured green spaces, the highway system came with significant social costs. While the network enabled unprecedented economic growth, regional connectivity, and suburban expansion, many communities bore the burden of its construction. Nowhere was that impact more profound than in Overtown, where large portions of Miami's historic Black community were displaced to make way for the transportation infrastructure that South Floridians rely upon today.

This episode explores the remarkable story of Miami pioneers Isidor and Ida Cohen, whose lives and contributions helped shape the city's early history. Isidor Cohen arrived on the banks of the Miami River in February 1896, months before Miami was incorporated, determined to become one of the first merchants in the fledgling community. His journey to South Florida was not without challenges, but he successfully established a store in a building leased from the Brickell family on the south side of the river before relocating to the emerging business district on the north bank. Following his marriage to Ida in September 1904, the couple became influential figures in both the business and civic life of the young city. Over the ensuing decades, they played important roles in Miami's growth, contributing to its commercial development while helping build many of the community institutions that would leave a lasting impact on the region. As one of Miami's earliest settlers and merchants, Isidor Cohen occupies a prominent place in the city's history, and together the Cohens are widely regarded as the "first family" of Jewish Miami.

This podcast episode explores the history of the Opa-locka, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of its incorporation on May 14, 1926. Founded by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss, the distinctive North Miami-Dade community was envisioned around an "Arabian Nights" theme. Opa-locka became renowned for its remarkable collection of Moorish Revival architecture, the largest concentration of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, featuring onion domes, minarets, courtyards, and whimsical street names inspired by tales such as Ali Baba and Aladdin. The city also developed into an important aviation hub through the growth of Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, which at one time ranked among the busiest commercial airports in the United States. In 1982, Opa-locka established a Historic Environment Preservation Board to help protect its architectural heritage, and many of the city's signature buildings from its formative years have since been carefully restored and preserved, ensuring that its unique character continues into its second century.

This episode tells the story of two brothers who arrived on the shores of Biscayne Bay and the Miami River the very year the City of Miami was incorporated. John and Everest Sewell were not only early pioneers, but also among the city's first retailers. As Miami grew, both men would go on to serve multiple terms as mayor, helping shape the direction of the young community. John Sewell's enduring legacy includes the home he built in 1912 just outside the city, constructed from native rock and still remembered today. John's Halissee Hall is still standing and part of the Jackson Health Complex. His younger brother, Everest, became one of Miami's most influential promoters, leading the Chamber of Commerce and working alongside local business leaders to launch the first Orange Bowl game, an effort designed to draw visitors during the depths of the Great Depression. Together, the Sewell brothers played a central role in Miami's formative years.

This podcast episode recounts the story of the Olympia Theater at 174 East Flagler Street in downtown Miami as it marks the 100th anniversary of its grand opening in 1926. Built with extraordinary fanfare, the lavish and distinctive structure quickly became the crown jewel of Miami's burgeoning entertainment district. The celebrated showplace debuted at the height of the vaudeville era, when live stage acts and silent films captivated audiences, and later adapted to the age of "talkies." Motion pictures were enhanced by live musical accompaniment, whether from the orchestra in the pit or the majestic organ housed within its chamber. The grand opening on February 18, 1926, unveiled architect John Eberson's signature atmospheric design to an enthusiastic public. During the ceremony, the principals of Paramount Enterprises, a partnership between the Leach family and the Famous Players-Lasky organization that financed the project and later evolved into Paramount Pictures, were recognized for their vision. Prominent entertainers of the era and local leaders were also in attendance, lending star power to the debut of what was hailed as one of the most ornate and distinctive theaters in the nation.