History of Homestead, Florida

        The Quality Inn that we are staying in sits in the city of Homestead, Florida. The city opened to settlers in 1898 and was founded in 1913, and is the second oldest city in the Miami-Dade County. I am going to talk a little about the more notable pieces of history but for a full timeline of events click here.

One of the notable pieces of history is that the city was an important site for the Florida East Coast Railway Key West extension and how it is tied to the founding of the city. The East Coast Railway Key West extension was an enterprise founded by the Father of Miami, Henry Morrison Flagler. After the creation of the Panama Canal, Flagler came up with the idea to extend his East Coast Railway from mainland Florida to Key West. As the railroad was being extended a large portion was constructed in Homestead, Florida. During construction many of the workers fell in love with the area, and after construction was complete in 1912, settled in the land which led to the founding of the city in 1913. As for the extension which would become to be known as the Overseas railroad, or the Florida Overseas railroad, it would run until 1935 when the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 struck the railroad and severely damaged it.

Another notable piece of history is the Royal Palm State Park being created in 1916. The park was founded by the Florida Foundation of Women's Clubs, a state federation who have a rich history of their own, to learn more about the organization click here. The area that would later become the park was of particular interest to the foundation, especially the Preservation Chairwoman May Mann Jennings, who wanted to preserve the natural beauty of the area. The Florida Foundation of Women's Clubs campaigned for Paradise Key to become a state park, and in 1916 they succeeded with 960 acres of land being preserved, and the same amount of land was generously donated by Mary Lily Flagler, third wife of Henry Morrison Flagler. In 1921, a further 2080 acres were donated by the state, giving the park 4000 acres in total.