Things to do / Travel Guide
While South Florida has very little significant history until late in the 19th century, the exceptions to this are the many instances of Spanish ships laden with valuables having sunk off South Florida's coast and the Florida Keys. Also, the area has a history of pirates, like the infamous Blackbeard, who terrorized the state's Atlantic Coast in the early 18th century.
South Florida was suddenly “discovered” and quickly developed in the late 1800s after the rest of the state got hit by a devastating frost. Agriculturally, South Florida began to flourish around this time. Helping to spur this growth was the deployment of troops and supplies in the area during the Spanish-American War. This growth occurred primarily around the area of Miami and the Keys, with the introduction of the railroad lines into the region causing it to boom with developmental activity.
In the early 1900s, wealthy vacation-goers “discovered” this area and started a tourist boom, especially to the newly-chic Miami Beach. With this influx of people and businesses came a huge real estate boom. This boom went bust after a hurricane hit the Miami area in 1926, and the Great Depression ensued over the next few years.
South Florida was “rediscovered” during World War II, with the large deployment of military personnel in the area. After the war, people and businesses started to move into the region. The introduction of modern interstate highways and affordable air transportation brought more tourist activity, business, and new residents to South Florida. Another simple but essential occurrence that allowed for this resurgence was the newfound widespread availability of air conditioning.
A milestone in South Florida's history was the Communist revolution in Cuba in 1959. Tens of thousands of Cuban nationals fled their country and landed on South Florida's shores, settling mainly in the greater Miami area. This led to the very strong Latin American presence and character in the region that is still evident today. Along with the large influx of retirees from the rest of the United States, these developments turned South Florida into a large and growing region in terms of population, commerce, transportation, and tourism.
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