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The Miracle of Miami Beach The Facts About the Early Days By JN Lummus Pioneer Developer and First Mayor Copyrighted 1940-1944-1952 Dedication Through the insistence of numerous friends that I publish an historical record of the founding, early history and development of Miami Beach, ‘The Sun Seekers’ Paradise” I hereby dedicate the following pages to the parts played by these outstanding pioneers realizing that, in years to come, legends may be accepted as facts. I trust these printed words may ever remain a monument to truth. J. N. Lummus Friends: I certainly enjoyed seeing the moving picture “Miami Beach Today” as shown at our dinner party February 20, 1952 at the Community Church, 1620 Drexel Ave., but most of the early day pictures shown were taken north of 23 rd Street after 1918. In other words, six years after the development commenced and three years after Miami Beach Incorporated. John Frazure of the Beach Realtors invited me to speak on the early days at the Realtors meeting February 11, 1952. I did not positively turn him down at first, but called him up a day or two later and tried to get out of it but it was already in the newspapers, so I said a few words. John’s father was an old time friend of mine and was a conductor on the Plant System R.R., now the Atlantic Coast Line, when I was chief Train Dispatcher in the 90’s. Here comes the early record of Miami Beach; no one ever asked for the facts before, and J. E. Lummus, J.N. Lummus and Carl Fisher are the only ones who knew that facts because they did the work and paid for it. I am showing some photographs of the early development of Miami Beach and the developers in their order from the start in 1912. Some of these photographs were taken as the work was going on. This shows what has been done and can be done in this part of South Florida on account of our climate, which is controlled by the Gulf Stream. My brother and I spent over $25,000.00 per year in 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1916 advertising Miami Beach in other Cities was we had a few thousand people in Dade County when we started Miami Beach and now have over a half million. In 1912 The Lummus Company purchased 605 acres of swamp land from Lincoln Road South and immediately put men chopping down swamp, clearing and grading the Ocean front at the South end. We paid from $150.00 per acre to $12,500 per acre for swamp land. The large price was paid for small tracts but we had to have them to put streets through. The Lummus Company started the development as it is known as the Ocean Beach Realty Company and was owned by J. E. Lummus and J. N. Lummus. We had a few other stockholders at first but bought them all out and paid them a profit when we decided to lay a foundation for a City. When I used the word swamp, I mean swamp and mangrove trees so thick that a man could not get through without an axe to cut his way. Our development was from 15 th Street South and was known as “Ocean Beach.” Fisher’s was the Alton Beach Realty Company and was known as “Alton Beach,” bounded on the South by 15 th Street, on the North by 23 rd Street, on the Ocean, and Purdy Boat Ways on the Bay. Collins was the Miami Beach Improvement Company and was known as “Miami Beach.” All of the above was before the Town of “Miami Beach” was incorporated. The Lummus Company’s first plat is recorded in Book 2 of Plats, page 38, Records of Dade County, Florida, and July 9, 1912. Collin’s first plat is recorded in Book 2 of plats, page 47, December 11, 1912. Fisher’s first plat was filed, January 15, 1914 in Book 2 of Plats, page 77. In 1913 my brother and I met Carl Fisher, who had a winter home on Brickell Avenue, Miami. Fisher asked me why we did not do all this work at once. I told him we had an awful good reason and that was we did not have the money, so he loaned us $150,000 and paid him 8 per cent interest for the money and gave him 105 acres of swampland from Lincoln Road South to 15 th Street as a bonus for the loan. We paid $150.00 per acre for the land we gave Fisher. That and that alone, is what started Miami Beach in a big way. On July 1, 1913 the Lummus and Fisher Companies signed a contract together with the Furst Clark Dredging Company of Baltimore to move 6 million cubic yards of material out of the Bay to build up the Bay side of the Beach and make the Motor Boat Race Course at the same time. Lummus Company’s part of that contract was $315,000 and Fisher’s was $285,000. The Dredge Contract was completed July 1, 1914. Attorney Frank Shutts and I went to Tallahassee and got the State permit to do the Dredge work. The Governor and his staff wished us well because this was the first work of its kind in Florida. Attorney Crate Bowen, representing Fisher Company, and I, representing the Lummus Company, went to Washington and got a permit from the U.S. Government. This U.S. Permit was Number One in the state of Florida for Dredge work. I, as president of the Southern Bank & Trust Company, Miami, before going to the Beach in 1912 to take charge of our development, loaned Collins $10,000.00 to start his wooden bridge, and J.E. Lummus, as President of the Bank of Biscayne Bay, Miami, loaned him $15,000.00 Collins thought he could finance it to completion but he was in his 70’s and could not. The Lummus Company hauled passengers on boats for 5 cents each way. We owned three boats. These boats could carry about 50 passengers each. They ran from Flagler Street, Miami to Biscayne Street, Miami Beach. I got out of the banking business in 1912 and my brother was President of the Bank of bay Biscayne and the Southern Bank and Trust Company after that. After Fisher and Lummus made their deal and started work on South Beach, Fisher loaned Collin’s $50,000 to complete the bridge and it was completed the early part of 1914. In 1914 the Lummus Company put a notice in both Miami newspapers offering to give away 25 lots on Collins Avenue to anyone to build houses as per our requirements. and then have them completed and occupied in 1914. I built mine in 1914. It is located on 12 th Street and Ocean Drive next to the Tides Hotel and now is owned by Mrs. Harris. We actually gave away 33 lots and houses were built and occupied in 1914. I lived in a small house on Collins Avenue between Biscayne and 1 st Street up to that time. On March 26, 1915 we incorporated the “Town of Miami Beach” and I was made Mayor. The Town took in all the territory for the Government Cut, a ship channel, to what is now known as the Firestone Place, or 42 nd Street. This took in all the Lummus’ Holdings which ran from Biscayne Street to 15 th Street to 23 rd Street to 23 rd Street on the Ocean to the Purdy Boat Ways on the Bay; also Collins’ swamp and his farm which was located about 41 st Street. The only way of getting to Collin’s farm was by boat in Indian Creek and Biscayne Bay. When the “Town of Miami Beach” was incorporated, all of the voters lived on the Lummus development south of 15 th Street except three. They were T. J. Pancoast, Arthur Pancoast and one man living on Collins’ farm. Women did not vote in Florida in 1915. World War I caught us in 1914 and was still going strong in 1916. We were operating on borrowed money and The Lummus Company sold all of its holdings West of Washington Avenue and North of 5 th Street to Jim Allison, Arthur C. Newby, Jim Snowden, George Snowden, Carl Fisher and Henry McSweeney, all millionaires. I had this chance of getting all of the Lummus Company money back and paying all debts and did so. The above boys organized the Miami Ocean View Company in 1916 and put this property in that Company. I stayed with the Miami Ocean View Company one year as Vice- President as per agreement. Jim Snowden was made President and John Levi, Secretary-Treasurer permanently. We built Star Island, lots of house West of Washington Avenue and rocked roads, the year I was with them, also planted $10,000 worth of trees and shrubbery; we bought that much from Griffin Brothers at one time. Jim Allison was head of the Union Carbide of America. He built the St. Francis Hospital for a doctor friend of his at Fort Lauderdale and it was later sold to the St. Francis. Arthur C. Newby was President of the National Automobile Company at that time. Jim and George Snowden were big oil operators in practically all the oil fields of America. Carl Fisher was the Indianapolis Speedway and Prest-O-Lite man. Henry McSweeney was in with Snowden and known as “Snowden and McSweeney Oil Co.” He was 30 years Attorney for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.

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