WHY DO THEY CALL IT MIAMI? (REWRITE)

WHY DO THEY CALL IT MIAMI?

By Wellborn Phillips

Many have dubbed Miami “A Magic City” because of its spectacular growth from wilderness to metropolis in little more than “a mere” 100 years. Because magic and mystery are related, it’s appropriate that the origin of the name “Miami” should be rooted as much in legend—or speculation-- as in fact.

The only thing we can be sure of “for sure” is that the city of Miami was born and grew where the Miami River meets Biscayne Bay and the city took its name from the River.

But where did the River get its name?

Is it an Indian word from the Seminoles? The Calusas or Tequestas? Or does it have a Spanish origin, given and used by the early explorers?

The widely accepted theory is that the name “Miami” is a Seminole Indian word meaning “sweet water”. That was the meaning accepted by our founding fathers when they incorporated the city in 1896, naming it for the River.  However wise their actions may have been otherwise, linguistically, they may have been very mistaken.

In his book, “Florida Place Names,” Allen Morris states “Miami is not a Seminole word, phonetically, and no words have been found in the Seminole language meaning sweet water that sound like it.  Another version translates it as ‘big water’ which is said to refer to Lake Okeechobee of which the present Miami River was once an arm.  The Chippewas, a group of Algonquin Indians, have a word ‘Miami’ in their language that means ‘people who live on a point.’   Their word is the origin of the name Miami, Ohio, and The Miami Heralds’s John Pennekamp says that his research indicated Indian trade routes could have brought the Chippewa word into Florida.”

Other speculations involve Spanish derivations and Indian dialects. It is said that there is an archaic Spanish word “Miami” for which a modern translation would be “a place of complete contentment”. Available Spanish dictionaries, however, do not list such a word.

The Choctaws, an Indian tribe from Alabama, have a similar word meaning “it is so wide”, again referring to lake and river. The Calusa Indians, and their “cousins” the Tequestas, came closest with their name “Mayaimi”, meaning “big water”—and referring to the lake and river. . But could this name have survived the time and events that followed their departure?

From pre-historic times, the Calusas and Tequestas occupied the southern tip of Florida. In the two centuries after Ponce De Leon, however, both tribes almost disappeared, “thanks” to diseases introduced by the Spanish, or they were killed by inter-tribal warfare, or the white man, or carried off into slavery.

Often, they fought the Spanish. But following the Treaty of Paris in 1763 that transferred Florida from Spain to England, the Indians decided they hated the Spanish less than they hated the English. 

In 1763, 200 Calusas left for Cuba, never to return.   

As the Calusas and Tequestas left, there drifted down into South Florida a weird assortment of Creeks, Cherokees, half-breeds, run-away slaves, and some fugitives from justice.  And these were nicknamed “Seminoles”.  In Creek, the name means “wild” or “nondomesticated.”

For the next 70 years, the Seminoles and a rapidly-increasing trickle of white visitors used a variety  of names for the River-- “Maama”, “Miammi”, Meeamee”, and “Miamuh”. It was frequently discussed but never decided whether these were corruptions of Calusa, Tequesta, Chippewas or Choctaw names or nicknames that happened to be similar?

In 1830, two young men, Richard Fitzpatrick and William English, arrived.  Both were destined to write a short, but active and interesting chapter in Miami history.  Before coming to the Miami Area,  Fitzpatrick was already “big time” in Key West and Tallahassee.  Key West’s first street is named for him.  But he also decided he wanted to be a large land owner himself.  So he acquired for $1,000 from the original owners--the Eagan and Lewis families-- several large grants they got years before from the Spanish Crown.  It was all the land on both sides of the Miami River and along Biscayne Bay between today’s Omni and today’s Mercy Hospital in Coconut Grove.

 Today, this is clearly Dade County’s most valuable real estate worth billions of dollars.

But back then, Fitzpatrick had much of the area cultivated as a plantation. At the mouth of the River, he built 20 buildings, including a home for himself and quarters for 60 slaves.  But Fitzpatrick was unlucky.

Within 5 years, the Seminole War (1835-42) broke out and the Indians burned and plundered the plantation.  Fitzpatrick escaped; but understandably, he lost interest. He decided not to rebuild.   Instead, he sold his vast holdings to his nephew, William English. 

And English became Miami’s first land developer.  English planned a subdivision where Brickell Avenue’s  hi-rise office buildings and condominiums stand today.  But English was also unlucky. The plat was never recorded; the subdivision was not successful.   He was able to find only several people who would pay him $1.00 for each of his lots.

English’s unsuccessful subdivision, however, leaves its legacy.  Formerly, the versions of the name “Miami” had referred only to the lake or the river.  But English named his subdivision “City of Miami.”  By so doing, he established the name in its present form and applied it to an area on land.

After much prompting by Julia Tuttle,  Henry Flagler’s first train chugged into the Miami Area April 15, 1896.   (See “Why Do We Call It The Julia Tuttle Causeway?”)  In the next unbelievable 5 years, a vibrant town was literally carved “from scratch” where only a wilderness had been before. The Royal Palm Hotel was built in the general area where the DuPont Plaza Hotel is today. Flagler built a utility plant, platted subdivisions and paved streets for one square mile north of the River, most of what is now Downtown Miami. And in those same 5 years, Miami got its first bank, newspaper, civic organization, department store and first telephone company… and the City of Miami was incorporated….

Miami was incorporated July 28, 1896 with 343 voters. Many of them were “new arrivals” who worked for the railroad. The incorporation was directed by Flagler aids: John Sewell (Flagler’s railroad foreman), Joseph A. McDonald (who built Flagler’s hotels), John B. Reilly (McDonald’s bookkeeper), and Daniel Cosgrove (McDonald’s son-in-law who was a plumber-of-sorts doing pipefitting’s for the hotels).

The “Flagler Crowd” was successful in getting “their” charter adopted and “their” slate elected: John B. Reilly became Miami’s first mayor; McDonald and Cosgrove were elected to the first City Council.  At first, it was considered that a City Council organized by the “Flagler Crowd” would automatically name the new city Flagler. Then the City Council surprised everyone.

In the fifty years since Fitzpatrick and English—and in addition to Tuttle—three or four dozen or so other people had drifted into the area to make up a small village.  Some had become merchants and had joined a group headed by Isador Cohen who were opposed to many Flagler policies—and these were definitely opposed to naming the new town for Flagler.

At the same time, there were many other “old timers” who had adopted English’s name Miami, which they considered “a Seminole Indian name”—and they liked it.

History doesn’t tell us what Julia Tuttle wanted to name the new town, but it does tell us about a conversation during this same time between Flagler and Tuttle.  Flagler told Tuttle, “The town will never be more than a fishing village for my hotel guests.” 

In other words, Flagler was understood as saying, “Miami is never going to be a great city, so naming it Flagler wouldn’t be a great honor.”  At the same time, Flagler told many people, “I like the Indian name.”

So the new City Council decided to name the new town ”the Indian name”-- Miami!

Twenty six years later, Miami had another opportunity to honor Flagler.  In 1918, the U. S. Post Office made an almost unbelievable decision.  It announced it would discontinue delivery of mail unless the streets were renamed and numbered in a more logical order. 

The hero for the day was Miami city Commissioner Joseph F. Chaile who thought up—and quickly got adopted by both City and County and then built--the quadrant system we still use today, which divides the County (and most cities) into 4 districts—NW, SW, NE and SE.

 To separate the quadrants, Chaile had selected two main streets and renamed them.  And being a good politician, he had something for all.  The main north-south street, Avenue D, was renamed Miami Avenue to please Cohen and friends; to honor the memory of Henry Flagler, who had died in 1918, the main east-west street. 12^th Street, became Flagler Street.

Today, the City of Miami has far surpassed Flagler’s wildest dreams.  And regardless of linguist meaning, the name “Miami” has acquired special meanings for people around the world.  It is more, much more than a geographic location plus its fancy homes and commercial buildings—all the brand new steel and glass, bricks and concrete.  It has varied culture all its own, a state of mind, a way of life.

For some, Miami means a great resort, a place for conventions, the world’s largest cruise ship port: for others, a shopping, transportation or financial center for the Hemisphere.  It’s a place to retire, or an exciting home for the young professional. It is also the home of great universities and medical centers, Junior Colleges and other educational institutions, football, basketball, baseball and hockey teams and major sporting events such as tennis matches on Key Biscayne and others at the Orange Bowl.  The city is blessed with many cultural events and parks.  It is also famous as a refuge from oppression.  Or as one of the world’s best –known cities, with a very competitive, diverse economy.

Miami is not only the name of  Dade County’s largest city, but also part of the name for 8 other cities—Miami Beach, North Miami, North Miami Beach, Miami Shores, Miami Springs, West Miami, South Miami and Miami Lakes.