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The Calusa or Tequesta people lived
in the region of present-day Miami before the Europeans arrived. Spanish
settlers built a mission at the mouth of the Miami River by 1567 and
then a fort by 1743. The Spanish had largely withdrawn by the early 19th
century, and Florida came under the control of the United States in
1821. Although most of southern Florida remained a wilderness through
the late 19th century, the offshore water route remained active, and
hundreds of homesteaders settled in the vicinity of the Miami River.
Conflicts with the Native Americans persisted in the region until the
1880s, but once they ended, a new era of settlement opened. Julia
Tuttle, a local homesteader, persuaded financier Henry M. Flagler to
extend his new Florida East Coast Railroad southward from West Palm
Beach in 1896, thereby creating the first modern overland route to
Miami. The city incorporated the same year. Flagler soon built a hotel
next to his station, and the city immediately began to function as a
resort. Development proceeded steadily after 1900, culminating in a
series of real-estate booms in the 1920s. The city also began to mature
as a transportation hub. Two major hurricanes curtailed progress during
the late 1920s. Despite the Great Depression, progress resumed in the
1930s as resorts were developed. Miami Beach grew in the 1920s and 1930s
and became a world-class resort after World War II. During the war,
Miami served as a major military training area, and thousands of
soldiers settled in the area after the war ended in 1945.
The region continued its steady growth in the postwar era. After 1960 the rapid draining of wetlands along the edge of the Everglades, along with highway building and the advent of universal air conditioning, facilitated a new wave of urbanization inland from the narrow sea-cooled coastal strip. Following Cuba's 1959 Communist revolution, tens of thousands of Cuban refugees settled in the city, and by the early 1960s they had created a vibrant new ethnic community. Although Fidel Castro, Cuba's new leader, soon terminated this influx, an additional 125,000 boat people from Cuba were admitted to the United States in 1980. The 1980s saw a transition from heavy reliance on tourism to a more diversified regional economy, thereby enhancing employment opportunities for many. However, strong economic disparities remained among the races, and four race riots erupted in Miami's inner city during the decade. Hurricane Andrew devastated the southern suburbs of Miami in 1992, resulting in the costliest natural disaster in American history up to that time. By the mid-1990s greater Miami had largely recovered, but its geographic position makes it vulnerable to future tropical storm hazards. Miami is also faced with an exodus of wealth and business interests northward from Dade County into Broward and Palm Beach counties.
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