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It’s worth being clear about the name, because two cities share it. Miami is the big mainland city across Biscayne Bay; Miami Beach is the barrier island linked to it by causeways — a separate city with its own government, its own history, and its own unmistakable look. When people picture “Miami” — the pastel hotels, the neon, the sand and the candy-colored lifeguard towers — they are usually picturing Miami Beach. The bay between the two is narrow; the difference is not.
Here’s the strange part: almost none of this was supposed to exist. A century ago Miami Beach was a barrier island of mangrove swamp and sand, good for coconuts and not much else. Then a New Jersey farmer named John Collins planted avocado groves and dredged a canal to ship them, and an Indianapolis millionaire named Carl Fisher — the man behind the Indy 500 and the first bright automobile headlights — looked at the tangle of mangroves and saw a resort. Fisher cut down the jungle, dredged up the bay bottom, and literally built the island into shape. The city they incorporated in 1915 was, in large part, made by hand.
Why People Visit Miami Beach
Miami Beach rewards visitors who want style with their sand: the world’s great Art Deco strip, a wide Atlantic beach, walkable streets, and neon nights. Add the South Beach glow and the year-round Florida sun, and the man-made island makes an easy case for itself.
