County of Miami Dade Florida and City of Hialeah

Miami Dade

Miami-Dade county is the most populous in the state of Florida and comprises several dozen incorporated cities including Miami itself, Miami Beach, and Hialeah. The archaeological history of the region extends into the Neolithic, when nomadic people followed their sources of food through the region. More recent history of the region that is now South Florida includes primarily Native American (mainly Tequesta) and Spanish. Under Spanish rule, south Florida was a region besieged by invasions and ultimately the United States gained control of the peninsula: in 1821, when Spain sold the state to the United States for five million dollars ("About Miami-Dade County: History, 2012). Miami Dade County (formerly known as Dade County) was created in 1836, and stretched from Jupiter in the north to Indian Key in the South. Part of what is now Miami-Dade County became slave barracks during the nineteenth century, and the Seminoles also continued to fight the European settlers for rights to the land. As late as the 1890s, there were "fewer than 1000 residents" tabulated in the entire Dade County region ("About Miami-Dade County: History, 2012). When Henry Flagler brought the railroad into South Florida in 1896, the population was able to expand rapidly, along with the local economy. The City of Miami was incorporated that same year: in 1896. Since then, the population has expanded rapidly.

Hialeah is one of the earliest incorporated cities within Miami Dade County. Now a predominantly Spanish-speaking region of the county, Hialeah "reflects the diversity of the northwest Dade area, and points proudly to the many facets of this growing multi-cultural community," ("History of the City," 2012). The history of Hialeah is woven right in with the history of Dade County. The entire county experienced a building boom in the 1920s: which apparently led to the city's nickname of "the magic city," given the magical speed with which development happened ("About Miami-Dade County: History," 2012). During the 1920s building boom, "aviator Glenn Curtiss and Missouri cattleman James H. Bright" saw "great potential" in the area that is now Hialeah. The name Hialeah comes form the Seminole and Muskogee Indian words for high prairie: an ironic name given the flat landscape of the region.

Sports like the Basque-origin game Jai-Alai and greyhound dog racing sprouted up during the 1920s offering leisure and gambling activities for new locals ("History of the City," 2012). A hurricane hit in 1926, dampening but not stopping, the rapid economic development of the area. "From a population of 1,500 in 1925, Hialeah has grown at a rate faster than most of the ten largest cities in the State of Florida…and holds the rank of Florida's fifth-largest city, with more than 236,000 residents," ("History of the City," 2012). Hialeah comprises about twenty square miles of land, 100 acres of which is dedicated to parks.