The Freedom Tower, opened in 1925 and modeled on Seville’s Giralda, served as the Cuban Refugee Center from 1962 to 1974 — "the Ellis Island of the South."
The Great Miami Hurricane of September 18, 1926 ended the 1920s land boom, and the city rebuilt through the 1930s in the pastel Tropical Deco style.
Why People Visit Miami Florida
- Walk Calle Ocho in Little Havana — order a cafecito at a ventanita, watch the domino games at Máximo Gómez Park, and pick up pastelitos from a Cuban bakery.
- Stand before the Freedom Tower on Biscayne Boulevard, the 1925 landmark modeled on Seville’s Giralda that served as the Cuban Refugee Center from 1962 to 1974.
- Tour the 1916 Vizcaya estate and its gardens on Biscayne Bay in Coconut Grove — the boom era’s Italian Renaissance fantasy, now a museum.
- Drive the Mediterranean Revival streets of Coral Gables, George Merrick’s 1925 planned city, stroll Miracle Mile, and see the coral-rock Venetian Pool of 1924.
- See the murals of Wynwood, the warehouse district turned open-air gallery north of downtown.
- Take a boat tour of Biscayne Bay from Bayfront Park or the Miami River — the skyline from the water is the city’s best portrait.
- Cross the Rickenbacker Causeway to Key Biscayne for beaches, the Cape Florida lighthouse, and bay views back toward the city — with the stilt houses of Stiltsville standing offshore on the flats.
- Day-trip west to the Everglades or south toward Biscayne National Park — the wild tropical frame around the metropolis.
- Time a winter visit for the height of snowbird season, when the bay is at its bluest and the café windows never close.