From Farms and Fields to the Future

Captain William Fulford first sailed into the Miami area from his duty in the Atlantic in 1881 and found an untamed wilderness of swamp marshes and mangroves awaiting his arrival. He never left. Amid the lowlands and flood plains, Fulford found his higher ground on the banks of the Oleta River and acquired 160 acres with a land patent through the Homestead Act. A few decades later, newspaper magnate Lafe Allen purchased the land and named it Fulford-by-the-Sea with plans to build a "perfect city, "? and the remarkable story of North Miami Beach was well underway. With the help of over two hundred rare and stunning photographs, local historian and lifelong Miamian Seth H. Bramson recalls the amazing story of North Miami Beach, from its humble and uncertain beginnings to the deeply rooted and forward-thinking community we see today.