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.
It started with a bridge. Collins ran short of money finishing a two-and-a-half-mile wooden span to the mainland — the longest in the world at the time — and Fisher loaned him the cash in exchange for land. On March 26, 1915, Collins, Fisher, and the Lummus brothers folded their separate beach companies together and chartered the Town of Miami Beach. Fisher then sold it to the world: grand hotels, polo fields, and a Times Square billboard that promised “It’s always June in Miami.” For one publicity stunt he posed a baby elephant as a golf caddie for a president-elect. America’s winter playground was open for business.
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.
