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The Miami River View Larger Map |
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Home on the River
The History of Miami River Residential Development By: Jim Broton In the first quarter of the
20th Century, speculators found the shores of the Miami
River very desirable. They still do.
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| The Miami River spans five
and a half miles from Biscayne Bay to Miami International Airport.
The Miami Canal, which extends further west, was dredged between
1909-1912, but is not the original river.
Everywhere you look, you see evidence of maritime culture: freighters, tugboats, houseboats, commercial fishing fleets, lobster crates, luxury yachts, sailboats and even derelict craft stand out on the river. All these vessels share a relatively narrow body of water: 90 to 150 feet of is considered navigable by federal standards, although some spots on the river can be as wide as 225 feet. Traffic jams are common. The captains of commercial and pleasure crafts must wait there turn for rising drawbridges – no less than 10 of them the entire length of the river. All this traffic is a good thing, though – it spells big bucks for the local economy. The river is a busy port with thirty-two private, international shipping terminals handling over $4 billion a year in cargo. (The “port” area of the river technically begins around 27th avenue and stretches about 1 mile west.) Cargo companies from over 50 Caribbean ports of call prefer the river to the Port of Miami because their ships are better suited to handle the shallow drafts, shorter seawalls and types of cranes available on the river. As well, the river’s port facilities are more affordable. According to a 2005 Biscayne Bay Economic Study, this “working river” represents a flow of cash for the city: “waterborne commerce on the Miami River generated $805 million in output, $406 million in income, 6,700 jobs and $44 million in tax revenues in Southeast Florida.”  With numerous boat yard facilities, the river is also a stop for many a boat in need of maintenance. Every time a mega-yacht cruises in for service, it generates $385,000 in local economic input. Tugboats are a familiar sight on the river. They help the huge freighters navigate in and out of the waterway. One of numerous businesses servicing watercraft on the river. One of 10 drawbridges on the river, approaching Merril Stevens Dry Dock Company. Stacked up and ready to go. Everything above the ship’s hull is a little extra cargo put in at the captain’s discretion. Mega yacht repairs generate megabucks for the local economy. The river is home to commercial fisheries and lobster fleets. THE FUTURE LOOKS GREEN Books - The Miami River 
The river was not always polluted; fresh water flowed from the Everglades through a series of rapids on the river’s north fork; the “fall” dropped about six feet over the course of about 450 feet. Freshwater springs also bubbled up in numerous spots along the river. Over time, Miami’s population and industry increased. Poor sewage management, as well as chemical run-offs from surrounding terrain, polluted this once pristine body of water. T  oday, the
river is undergoing a massive dredging project by the Army Corps of
Engineers, which will not only clean up the water, but also provide
greater depth for freighters. The $88 million project is scheduled
for completion this year in October and will restore the designated
15-foot depth of the federal navigable channel. Those few extra feet make all the difference in the world for the economy and the environment. At 15 feet, freighters will be able to fill their cargo holds to 100% capacity and traverse the river even in low tides. The increase in trade and commerce means more local employment. The Merrill Stevens Dry Dock Company, which has been repairing yachts on the river since 1923, is privately funding an expansion of its service areas for larger boats and is implementing a “green” initiative to use energy-conserving solar panels. The dredging not only creates depth for navigation but also removes contaminated sediments. With a cleaner floor, the river will not push pollution further out into the bay during hard rain. A proposal is in the works for the first biodiesel fuel manufacturing plant on the river. The fuel would be made from the oil-rich nut of the Jatropha plant, as well as recycled vegetable oil from restaurants. Potential customers for biodiesel would be the river’s own shipping terminals, as well as cruise ships calling in at the Port of Miami and Miami-Dade County buses. Currently, the State of Florida imports %100 of its diesel fuel. Not all the industry on the river is marine-oriented. Our tour ended where a scrap iron recycling factory meets the train tracks. The factory grinds away noisily twenty-four hours a day, turning landfill material into reusable metal. According to Dr. Paul George, China is the factory’s biggest customer. The scrap iron recycling factory. Obviously, industry is extremely significant on the “working river,” but the rest of the river – stretching from the port area to the mouth, is being developed as a “living” river. It’s refreshingly eclectic, with riverside parks, quaint (if sometimes rickety-looking) homes, historic residences and rising, brand new condominiums built close up to the river’s edge. There are a total of nine parks off the waterway. E.G. Sewell was the most scenic I saw on the tour. Lush and green, the park is the former garden of wealthy snowbird and botanical enthusiast Gen. Samuel C. Lawrence who planted palms and trees in the late 19th century. Some of those royal palms have survived hurricanes and still stand today. The Miami River Greenway is a long-term improvement project advocated by the Miami River Commission. Some sections of it are completed and others are about to break ground. The Greenway represents a 10-mile pedestrian pathway on either side of the river, as close as possible to the seawalls, wherever feasible. Quaint houses abound in the historic neighborhoods of the middle river. E. G. Sewell park and its royal palms. A picturesque, miniature sailboat. IN THE BEGINNING The Miami River Map
How far we’ve come! North bank of Miami River, as seen from Gilbert’s wharf (Miami, Fla.), 1884. Credit: Ralph Munroe Collection, Historical Museum of Southern Florida. The Miami River is clearly evolving as a mixed-use community, but it’s the river’s deep past that really captures the historical imagination. People have been living, working and playing at the river’s edge for at least a couple thousand years! Juan Ponce de Leon first set eyes on Biscayne Bay in 1513 and spotted a Tequesta Indian village on the river’s shore. The Miami Circle – an archeological site that dates back to at least 750 B.C. —is all that remains of Tequesta culture. You can see a statue that pays tribute to the Tequesta on the Brickell Bridge, humbly dwarfed by surrounding high-rises. (The irony never ceases to nudge me whenever I drive by.) The area between the mouth of the river and southeast 2nd Avenue reads like a who’s who of Miami pioneers. In the 19th century, when Florida became part of the United States, the Seminole Wars brought soldiers to the river and Fort Dallas was established near the bay. (Today, a city park called Fort Dallas is at the site of Bijan’s restaurant at the base of the Riverwalk Metromover station.) Namesake William Brickell came to the river in the 1870s when he began establishing trading posts. Julia Tuttle, the “mother of Miami,” brought land here in 1887. It was Julia who convinced Henry Flagler to extend his East Coast Railway to the Miami River, where the latter built a luxury hotel called the Royal Palm on the northeast bank. Flagler cleared land and began construction of the hotel in 1896, the same year his first train arrived and the city of Miami was founded. At 680 feet long and five stories high, the grand hotel boasted 450 rooms, a ballroom, elegant furnishings, electricity, ice and elevators – not the kind of amenities usually available in the wilderness! Such pomp and circumstance in the middle of a mosquito-infested swamp seems only fitting considering the skyline today. Behemoth towers and giant ships overtake this dynamic body of water in nothing less than a dramatic flourish. Cruising by the mouth of the river is something every Miami lover must experience in person. Bijan’s Restaurant, site of Fort Dallas Park. The yellow clapboard house was actually built by Henry Flagler in 1897 and moved to this location from S.E. 2nd street in 1980. In 1925, barracks from Fort Dallas were moved to Lummus Park further down the river. The Miami Circle (the white spot in front of the Icon development, seen here under construction and practically toppling over into the river) is all that remains of this important archeological site. Plans are underway to convert the site into a public park that will be part of the Miami River Greenway. Construction everywhere. Hi-rise residential development along the lower river. |
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| Home On the River book - The History of Miami River Residential Development - book By Jim Broton The Miami River commission The Miami River Condos Real Estate Search The Miami River is a river in Florida that drains out of the Everglades and runs through downtown Miami, Florida. The 5.5 mile (8.9 km) long river flows from the terminus of the Miami Canal at Miami International Airport to Biscayne Bay. It was originally a natural river inhabited at its mouth by the Tequesta Indians, but it was dredged and is now polluted because of its proximity to the Miami-Dade County. The mouth of the river is now home to the Port of Miami and many other businesses whose pressure to maintain it has helped to improve the river's condition. Miami River - Etymology Although it is widely believed that the name is derived from a Native American word that means "sweet water", the earliest mention of the name comes from Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, a captive of Indians in southern Florida for 17 years, when he referred to what is now Lake Okeechobee as the "Lake of Mayaimi, which is called Mayaimi because it is very large".The river has also been known as the Garband River, Rio Ratones, Fresh Water River, Sweetwater River, and Lemon River. It has been known as the Miami River since the Second Seminole War of 1835–42. Miami River - Natural river Map of Miami, Florida with the river in blueIn its original natural state, the river started at rapids formed by water from the Everglades flowing over a rocky ledge four miles (6.4 km) from its mouth. Frederick H. Gerdes of the U.S. Coast Survey reported in 1849 that "From the upper falls to near its entrance into Key Biscayne Bay ... water in the Glades was 6 feet 2.5 inches (1.89 m) above low tide."The rapids were removed when the Miami Canal was dredged in an attempt to drain the wetland. The river divided into a North Fork and a South Fork about three miles (4.8 km) above its mouth. Each fork extended only one mile (1.6 km) to rapids marking the edge of the Everglades. The North Fork had the greater flow and the higher drop over its rapids. One-and-one-half miles (2.4 km) above the mouth of the river there was a tributary on the north side, called Wagner Creek, which was about two miles (3.2 km) long. The Miami River was also fed by several springs, including some in the bed of the river. Flow was variable and in times of drought sometimes stopped completely. Miami River History The earliest known inhabitants of the area around the Miami River were the Tequestas. Their major town at the time of first European contact was on the north bank of the river near the mouth. Before the intensive development of Miami in the 20th century, mounds built by the Tequesta were located along the river.[5] Spanish missions were briefly established beside the river in 1567–70 and in 1743, but the area was abandoned when Spain turned Florida over to Britain in 1765.[6] The area around the Miami River attracted settlers throughout the 19th century, with the major exception of the years of the Seminole Wars, but had little effect on the river. The US Army tried to dig a channel through the sandbar at the mouth of the river in 1856 but stopped when it was decided that Fort Dallas would not be made permanent. Miami River - Dredging and pollution The Miami River in 2007Modification of the river began in earnest with the arrival of the Florida East Coast Railway in Miami in 1896. There was much dredging and filling along the river. The rapids at the head of the South Fork were removed in 1908. From 1909 to 1912, the Miami Canal was dug, bypassing the rapids at the head of the North Fork. The canal was dammed off from the river for most of the construction period. When the canal was opened to the river in March 1912 large amounts of Everglades muck and finely ground stone from the dredging were washed down the river, silting it. As a result, the lower river had to be dredged three times in two years. Dredging of the river and of canals connecting to the river continued into the 1930s. Deepening the Miami River (and other streams and canals draining into Biscayne Bay), as well as the drainage of the Everglades that was a major purpose of the dredging, led to Saltwater intrusion in the area, forcing the abandonment of drinking water wells on several occasions. By the 1940s, dams were being installed on the canals leading into the Miami River to prevent salt water from traveling inland. The Miami River also became polluted. In 1897, Miami's first sewer line started emptying directly into the river. By the 1950s, 29 sewers were dumping untreated sewage into the river. Dade County constructed a sewage treatment plant on Virginia Key in the 1950s and started connecting sewer lines to it, a project that took many years. Miami River - Commercial use The new Miami Riverwalk as of May 2008, where pedestrians can walk along the river, dine at various cafes and shop at various boutiquesThe Miami River has long been home to many small cargo terminals at which smaller ships (up to about 230 feet (70 m) in length) call to load cargo, most of which is destined for ports in the Bahamas and various Caribbean nations. It is also an area into which all manner of contraband—illegal drugs, illegal aliens—has been discharged into the US. Because of continuing efforts by the United States Coast Guard, U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), DEA and other agencies, the illicit trade has been minimized in recent years. Although the part of the river from Northwest 36th Street to its mouth is still polluted, this has been mitigated considerably by rigid enforcement of both international and US laws regarding discharge of oil and sewage by ships as well as of laws addressing industrial dumping. The muddy bottom, however, is still reported to contain undesirable substances in significant quantities. In years past, many vessels docked in the river at the ends of their last voyages were abandoned and sank alongside the docks, creating eyesores and hazards to navigation. Those derelicts have been removed. Invoking the authority of Port State Control, the US Coast Guard now vigorously enforces the many international and national regulations regarding safety equipment, construction, maintenance, and manning of ships entering all US ports including the Miami River, virtually eliminating the many dangerously substandard vessels that had sailed from the US in previous years. In recent years, realizing they had common interests, various business entities along the river formed the Miami River Group. The group works closely with local law enforcement agencies, the US Coast Guard, ICE, and others to maintain clear channels of communication and cooperation. It now acts much as one port with numerous port facilities and support entities such as agents, surveyors, consultants, naval architects and engineers, and ship and machinery repair businesses. Many of the ships sailing from the Miami River carry much needed cargo to ports in Haiti including Port-au-Prince, Miragoane, Cap-Haitien, Port-de-Paix, Saint-Marc, Gonaives, and Jacmel. Their cargo typically consist of dry foodstuffs such as beans and rice, canned goods, clothing, household goods and appliances, and used cars, trucks, and buses. In times past, some of the cargo terminals on the river were areas of lawlessness—not because of any failure of law enforcement or regulatory agencies, but because of some people involved in illicit businesses. Law enforcement and regulatory agencies have eliminated most of that sort of activity. When the International Ship and Port Security Code and the U.S. Maritime Transportation Act of 2002 came into force (and in the prior runup) on July 1, 2004, most opportunities for crime were eliminated. Some of the terminals and other business related to cargo shipping on the "lower end" of the river near downtown Miami have been eliminated or moved farther upstream because of illicit shipping activities. The "lower end" of the river has been the subject of much renovation and building of high rise offices, hotels, and living structures. |
In
the book: 12 Chapters - 66 Subdivisions - 132 Figures
-142 Pages -650 References 