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The first printed map of South Beach, published by the original developers of Ocean Beach (now South Beach) Florida.
In 1878, Henry B. Lum formed a group of investors and purchased a tract of land on Miami Beach. The group acquired title to 80 miles of ocean frontage lying between Cape Florida and Jupiter at an average price of 75 cents an acre. They chartered a schooner, the Ada Doane, under Captain Ackerly and scoured the Caribbean for seed coconuts. From Cuba, Nicaragua, Trinidad, and other localities they brought coconuts until, by 1885, over 300,000 had been planted. While there was concern about the viability of the business as a means of producing coconut oil, the venture failed early on when indigenous rabbits ate the the coconut shoot after they sprouted. Miami Beach sat largely deserted from 1890 to 1900, except for two very small bathing casino ventures on land leased from Lum.
In 1907, John S. Collins, one of the coconut oil developers, purchased 1600 acres of land from the Lum group, including what is now the City of Miami Beach. He initially attempted avocado farming on a 10 acre tract of land between Pine Tree Drive and Indian Creek. In 1909, Collins began construction of a canal between Lake Pancoast and Biscayne Bay to help get his Avocados to market. After the avocado venture failed, Collins developed a part of his land for residential development. On June 3, 1912, Collins incorporated the Miami Beach Improvement Company.
On June 5, 1912, two days after Collins' incorporated the Miami Beach Improvement Company, the Ocean Beach Realty Company was chartered for the purpose of developing the southernmos ttip of Miami Beach, which had been purchased from the Lum Group. John Newton and John C. Gramling were among the primary investors. The Company recorded a plat for the area from 5th Street to Biscayne and from Miami Avenue (now Washington) to Ocean Drive. While marketing commenced immediately, no lots were sold by this venture until March 1913. The present map includes a detailed depiction of this original plat.
On July 22, 1912, the Miami Beach Improvement Company began construction on a bridge across Biscayne Bay. The present map depicts the "Proposed Bridge" in the upper right poriton of the map. When the Miami Beach Improvement Company was unable to finance the construction of the Bridge, it engraged Edward E. ("Doc") Dammers to auction off lots to fund the completion of the Bridge. The auction was a success (the first lot sold to S.A. Belcher for $3,700 and became the site oft he Breakers Hotel) and sufficient funds were raised to complete the Bridge in May 1913. The present also map depicts the Government Cut through Fisher Island (first created about 1902 and expanded in 1915) to 17th Street and Collins' Bridge (approximately the location of the Venetian Causeway), including the original plat for South Beach.
Engraved by the Dixie Engraving Company of Savannah, Georgia, the map is extremely rare, with the only example we have been able to locate being a photocopy owned by the University of Florida.
