The Founders of Biscayne Bay

In 1904, Carl Fisher and his friend James A. Alison bought an interest in the U.S. patent to manufacture acetylene headlights, Prest-O-Lite, which was later sold after to Union Carbide for $9,000,000 the equivalent of approximately $220 million today*. He built the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909, and in 1912 he lobbied for the creation of the Lincoln Highway that would cross the entire US, from New York to San Francisco. He also lobbied for the Dixie Highway from Michigan to Miami in 1915. In Miami, he dredged Biscayne Bay to create residential islands including Star, Palm & Hibiscus islands, the Sunset Islands, as well as La Gorce and Allison islands. In 1914 he laid out Lincoln Road to connect his hotels on the bay to estates along the ocean. Five hotels were built: The Lincoln, The Flamingo, The Nautilus, The King Cole and The Boulevard. During his heyday in Miami Beach, Carl saw his fortune increase ten times. However, his luck turned when he decided to create a new development in Montauk, Long Island in 1926 and more so after the stock market crashed in October 1929, completely devastating the once-indominable developer. Carl died from complications of alcoholism at the Saint Francis Hospital in 1939 (today Aqua).
*Approximations for 2020

Having successfully cultivated a quarter-acre of land gifted to him by his father, John Stiles Collins would become inextricably linked to fruit growing, and even founded the Pleasant Valley Nurseries in his home state of New Jersey. Though the son of a farmer had visited Palm Beach before the advent of the railroad, he was nearly 60 years old when he made his way to Miami—after arrival of the railroads in the late 1890s. That latter trip was hardly for pleasure as John had to see first-hand, why his investment in the Lum coconut farming venture that was to span Miami to Jupiter was at best underperforming. The discovery was startling: turned out that not only were coconut trees not native, but salt water was detrimental to their survival, as were the attacks from rabbits and other natives. But quite the agrarian, John turned instead to avocado and in 1907, he started planting nearly 3,000 trees after buying Ezra Osborn and Elnathan T. Field’s share of the Lum venture. Call it enterprising, in 1912, John dug a canal from his farm to the bay (today the Collins’ canal) and completed the construction of the Collins Bridge (today the Venetian Causeway in 1913).

Quaker Thomas J. Pancoast was connected with a Philadelphia wholesale clothing house, before returning to his native New Jersey where he would spend the next 24 years in the mercantile business with fellow statesman and father-in-law John S. Collins. By 1912, John had begun work on his bridge to link Miami and Miami Beach, making it necessary for Thomas to be brought in for the construction. That same year, the Miami Beach Improvement Company was incorporated with Thomas as its secretary, treasurer and active manager. Thomas would also serve as vice president of the Miami Beach Bay Shore Company, and was instrumental in much of the development of Miami Beach. He would go on to serve as mayor from 1919 to 1920, and was also president of the Miami Beach Golf Club as well as vice-president of the Miami Rotary Club.

Mary Bulmer was born in Yorkshire, England on February 20, 1836, but later moved with her family to Australia where she would meet her husband, William Brickell. Mary, William and their eight children eventually moved to what would later become Miami in 1871. Having amassed a great fortune thanks largely to gold prospectors in Australia, the Brickells had the means to invest in real estate., and started acquiring land—from south of the Miami River to Fort Lauderdale—almost immediately upon their arrival in Dade County. At the turn of the century, Mary assumed control of the family real estate holdings. A skilled negotiator, Mary headed the family business and ruled with compassion and toughness, ensuring never to foreclose on a mortgage. With a notorious concern for the welfare of all citizens, Mary has been known to ask, with authenticity and sincerity, of folks in disadvantage communities, “How are you living?” And though the Brickells were primarily land rich, they also had cash on hand to lend to those in need, even lending money to blacks and Seminoles. She was revered in both communities for her generosity, trust and kindness. Following William’s death in 1908, Mary became one of the city’s first licensed real estate practitioners, and began platting the Roads. In the 1920s, Mary advertised her intent to sell large waterfront lots in Brickell Hammock. Miami’s elite soon flocked, building mansions of grandeur on a “broad avenue,” giving birth to the region’s first Millionaire’s Row.

Dana Albert Dorsey, the first of his siblings to not be birthed into slavery, was born in Quitman, Georgia in 1872. With only a fourth-grade formal education, Dana arrived in South Florida around 1896, working as a carpenter for the Florida East Coast Railroad. It was during that stint that Dana saw the need for housing for black workers, prompting him to enter the world real estate. He purchased land in Miami’s Overtown, on which he built one affordable rental house. That effort was duplicated times over, even expanding as far north as Fort Lauderdale, rendering the son of former slaves Miami’s first black millionaire, with properties not just in South Florida, but in Cuba as well as in the Bahamas. Perhaps the most noted property was Fisher Island, or more accurately what became today’s Fisher Island. In 1918, Dana acquired the 21-acre parcel from Herman B. Walker, and would later sell it one year later to Carl Fisher who quadrupled the land mass. Dana would go on to build the Dorsey Hotel, the first black-owned hotel in Miami, and also founded the first black bank.