Miami is a city on Biscayne Bay in southeastern Florida, built where the Miami River meets the Atlantic coast. Incorporated only in 1896, it grew within a few decades from a small railroad town into one of the United States’ major gateways to Latin America and the Caribbean, shaped by waves of migration, tropical weather, and a distinctive Art Deco architectural identity.

Where Is Miami Located?

Miami sits on Biscayne Bay in Miami-Dade County, at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, with the Atlantic Ocean immediately to its east and the Everglades inland to its west. Its subtropical climate and coastal position have made it both a major port and a year-round destination, and its proximity to Latin America and the Caribbean has long shaped its economy and demographics.

A Brief History of Miami

The area around Biscayne Bay was long inhabited by the Tequesta people before Spanish explorers documented their settlements in the 16th century. Miami’s modern founding dates to the 1890s, when pioneer Julia Tuttle persuaded railroad developer Henry Flagler to extend his Florida East Coast Railway south to the bay after a severe frost devastated Florida’s citrus crop in 1894 and 1895. Tuttle and fellow landowner William Brickell offered Flagler land in exchange, and the city officially incorporated in 1896, according to EBSCO’s research starter on Miami, Florida. Flagler’s Royal Palm Hotel opened that same year and anchored the young city’s early social and business life. During the 1920s land boom, Miami’s population nearly quadrupled, growing from under 30,000 to more than 110,000 residents within a decade, the largest permanent population growth of any Florida city in that period.

Miami’s Culture and Economy

Twentieth-century Miami was reshaped repeatedly by migration, most significantly by the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Cuban refugees after Fidel Castro’s 1959 takeover of Cuba. Between 1959 and 1974, the federal government operated a Cuban Assistance Center out of downtown Miami’s Freedom Tower, providing in-processing, medical screening, and resettlement assistance to an estimated 650,000 Cuban exiles, a role that earned the building the nickname “the Ellis Island of the South,” according to the U.S. National Park Service. That wave of migration, along with later arrivals from across Latin America and the Caribbean, gave Miami its present character as a bilingual, Latin American-influenced global city and a major hub for international trade, banking, and tourism.

What Is Miami Known For?

Miami’s single most recognizable landmark is the Freedom Tower, a 17-story Spanish Renaissance building modeled on the Giralda bell tower of Seville Cathedral in Spain. Built in 1924 and 1925 as the headquarters of the Miami News, it stood vacant after the newspaper relocated in 1957 before the federal government repurposed it in 1962 as the processing center for Cuban refugees. Today Miami Dade College operates the Freedom Tower as a museum and exhibition space, preserving its role as a symbol of exile, resettlement, and hope for generations of Cuban Americans and other immigrant communities.

Why Miami Matters

Miami matters as one of the principal gateways between the United States and Latin America, a role built directly on its history of migration and its position on Biscayne Bay. Its transformation from a small 1896 railroad town into a major international city in barely a century, and its Freedom Tower’s status as a monument to refugee resettlement, make it a distinctive case study in how migration can remake a city’s economy and identity.

Key Takeaways

• Miami incorporated in 1896 after Julia Tuttle persuaded Henry Flagler to extend his railway to Biscayne Bay.
• The city’s population nearly quadrupled during the 1920s Florida land boom.
• Between 1959 and 1974, the Freedom Tower served as a federal processing center for an estimated 650,000 Cuban refugees.
• The Freedom Tower, modeled on Seville’s Giralda tower, is Miami’s most recognizable historic landmark and is known as “the Ellis Island of the South.”
• Decades of migration from Cuba, Latin America, and the Caribbean have made Miami a major bilingual hub for international trade and finance.

Sources

• EBSCO, “Miami, Florida”
• U.S. National Park Service, “Freedom Tower”

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed October 5, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue