WEBVTT

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Announcer:
The following program
is a production

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of WLRN Public Television.

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[music]

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narrator:
Sailing from Key West in 1870,
Henry Lomb and his son, Charles,

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saw coconut palms swaying
on what is now Miami Beach.

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They bought land from
the federal government

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for 25 cents an acre and built
the beach's first home.

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Paul George:
It was a barrier peninsula,
not even an island.

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Not until the early 1920's

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when the cut was made at
Bakers Haulover.

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It had tall mangroves
on the bay side.

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[music]

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The interior was concave, and
it collected a lot of water.

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There were
mangroves in the interior.

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It's a swamp.

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And the oceanside is
a wind swept beach.

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And it made it a lot of work
to make it what it became.

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narrator:
The beach itself
was almost deserted,

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a place where early Miamians
could enjoy the Atlantic ocean.

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Paul:
Their ferry boat service came
off of today's Flagler street

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on the bay front.

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And it would take
you right over here.

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And you would disembark on
this ferry boat on the bay side

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southern tip.

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And you'd walk across this wood
frame ramp through a jungle

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over to the ocean side.

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[music]

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narrator:
The Lombs tried
to farm coconuts,

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but the plantation failed
when wind and rats

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destroyed the young trees.

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Paul:
So it was kind of a
forlorn God forsaken experiment.

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narrator:
A New Jersey pioneer named John
Collins bought the property.

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He had a better idea
than coconuts

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and planted exotic produce like
mangos, tomatoes and avocados.

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[music]

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narrator:
Collins set about taming
the swamp,

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clearing its mangroves
and its rats.

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Paul:
He planted an
avocado orchard

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that straddle today's
Arthur Godfrey Road.

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He plaed these
Australian pine trees.

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They're very fast growing.

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They're very shallow
rooted as wind blocks.

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Many of those trees, in fact,
are on Pine Tree Drive today.

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[music]

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narrator:
A canal was cut to move the
crops across the peninsula

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to a ferry that connected it to
the mainland port of Miami

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across Biscayne Bay.

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There, the railroad built by
industrialist Henry Flagler

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took the produce north.

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[music]

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The southbound trains
brought tourists and settlers

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looking for a slice of a
new tropical paradise.

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Paul:
Miami was already a
going city by this time.

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Miami in 1910 had 5,500 people.

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[music]

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narrator:
This was now the
age of the automobile.

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And it would bring with
it another man with a vision

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to transform Miami Beach into
the playground of today.

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[music]

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Carl Fisher was an auto
parts mogul from Indiana.

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He made the first practical
automobile headlights

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and sold the company
for a fortune.

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Paul:
Self-made, dare devil,
a great visionary.

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One of the more incredible
stories in the America

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of the early 20th century.

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By the time he's 23 or 24,

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he's got the biggest
car dealership in Indianapolis,

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which was an important car
center at that time.

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[music]

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narrator:
Fisher loved to be
behind the wheel,

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and he built a speedway in
Indianapolis to race cars.

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[music]

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Paul:
He laid a lot of money
on that track.

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He put down a wood base,

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and that thing just kind
of flew all over the place.

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And there were accidents galore.
He was mortified.

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In fact, the first race
was unsuccessful,

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and he came back within a year

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and built this good masonry base
for it, bricks.

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narrator:
Race fans dubbed it,
"The Brickyard."

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Fisher, a born salesman,
proclaimed it

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the most spectacular sports
event in the world.

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[music]

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narrator:
At the time, most paved roads
petered out the dirt tracks

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at the edge of towns.

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Fisher persuaded automakers
like Henry Ford

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to finance the first major
highway, the Lincoln Highway,

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from New York to San Francisco.

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Paul:
It went through area
that had never before

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seen a road period.

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And he understood that the
car was going to transform

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transportation and
American industry.

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But before it could do that,
you needed roads.

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So, let's link this country.

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narrator:
Next, he turned his eye south
where paradise beckoned

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if only motorists
could get there.

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Paul:
It's all about tourism.

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The tourist center of Florida
prior to Miami becoming a city

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in 1896 was Jacksonville,
St. Augustine.

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But by the early 1900's, it's
clearly Miami, South Florida.

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narrator:
Within two more years, Fisher
had built the Dixie Highway,

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opening the floodgates to
sun seekers and investors

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from the industrial north.

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Paul:
It was a subscription road.

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If a city wanted it,
you had to pay

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part of the cost of
constructing that road.

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And it's today's northeast,
southeast second avenue,

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right in the heart of Miami.

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[music]

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narrator:
John Collins meanwhile had a
vision of his own to connect

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Miami Beach with the mainland

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by building a road bridge
across the bay.

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But half a mile from completion,
he ran out of money.

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Fisher stepped in to bankroll
the final stretch,

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and in return he got a 200 acre
slice of Collins' land.

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Paul:
The Collins bridge
joined Miami Beach

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with the Venetian
causeway as today back behind me

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and then the Collins canal
runs all the way

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past the Holocaust
Memorial Route

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to the eastern part
of today's Miami Beach.

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[music]

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narrator:
When it opened in 1913,

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it was the longest
wooden bridge in the world.

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[music]

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With the land link in place,

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Fisher could see
a golden future.

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So could the Collins' clan,

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especially the businessman's
son-in-law, Thomas Pankhurst.

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Together with a consortium
of Miami bankers,

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led by the Loomis brothers, they
began to plan a resort city.

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Paul:
These guys combined
their companies,

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Collins Miami Beach
Improvement Company,

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Fisher, the Alton Beach
Realty, the Loomis brothers,

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the Ocean Beach Realty.

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These three companies
came together in 1915,

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and they incorporated as a town.

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[music]

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narrator:
The Collins clan,
from New Jersey,

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envisioned a southern
Atlantic City.

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Fisher, on the other hand, saw
the beach as a winter retreat

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for the rich and famous.

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[music]

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Paul:
His vision early on was a place
where these guilded age princes

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like himself could
have big estates.

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And many of them are like him.

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They came out of a hard
scrabble background.

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And now they had money, and
they were throwing it around.

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[music]

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narrator:
An army of engineers
descended on the beach

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with heavy equipment
to clear the land.

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Even a couple of elephants
helped with the heavy lifting.

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[music]

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Dredges deepened channels
and filled in the swamps.

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Paul:
Then it pumped in bay bottom

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in order to fill in
that concave area

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to eliminate the chance
of water collecting again.

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And so now you were ready.
You got the stage.

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[music]

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[music]

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narrator:
Fisher built an opulent
bayfront hotel, The Flamingo,

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where the wealthy could stay
while their mansions were built.

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Paul:
And it was the
last word hotel.

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I mean, it faced the bay.

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It had a big park and
recreation area east of it.

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It was just west of West Avenue
at around 14th or 15th Street.

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The hotel stood where
today's Flamingo Apartment
buildings are.

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The hotel's recreational ground
for today's Flamingo Park.

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The tennis complex of today is
over here were the polo grounds.

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narrator:
On Ocean Drive and 22nd Street,

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he opened his Roman
pool and casino.

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Paul:
A bathing casino is a place
where you got a cabana.

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You usually have a pool.

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You've got the beach,

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the waters of the Atlantic
ocean right there.

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You can get something to eat,
something to drink.

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It's a glorified cabana.

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The Nautilus was built
in 1923-24

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where Mt. Sinai Medical
Center is today.

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I mean, that was even more
spectacular than The Flamingo.

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Just east of it was a golf
course and a polo field.

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narrator
At one time, there were more
polo fields and golf courses

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on the beach than
schools and churches.

08:29.766 --> 08:31.866 align:left position:15%,start line:89% size:75%
Fisher played polo himself.

08:31.866 --> 08:34.700 align:left position:22.5%,start line:83% size:67.5%
He was an avid
all around sportsman.

08:34.700 --> 08:37.800 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50%
[music]

08:37.800 --> 08:40.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
But his abiding passion
was always speed,

08:40.566 --> 08:42.833 align:left position:17.5%,start line:83% size:72.5%
and he loved to race boats
on Biscayne Bay.

08:43.966 --> 08:46.733 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
When he wasn't racing himself,
he could watch the regattas

08:46.733 --> 08:49.966 align:left position:17.5%,start line:83% size:72.5%
from the grounds of his
opulent bayfront mansion.

08:50.866 --> 08:53.666 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
From its tower, he could view
the new resort city

08:53.666 --> 08:55.633 align:left position:15%,start line:89% size:75%
as it grows all around him.

08:55.633 --> 08:58.666 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50%
[music]

08:59.733 --> 09:01.866 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50%
[music]

09:01.866 --> 09:03.766 align:left position:15%,start line:83% size:75%
narrator:
Fisher was a great showman.

09:03.766 --> 09:06.800 align:left position:15%,start line:83% size:75%
Rosie, one of his elephants,
joined the sales team.

09:06.800 --> 09:08.966 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50%
[music]

09:08.966 --> 09:12.600 align:left position:22.5%,start line:77% size:67.5%
Paul:
Fisher was a genius at
generating publicity.

09:12.600 --> 09:13.766 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50%
[music]

09:13.766 --> 09:15.766 align:left position:17.5%,start line:83% size:72.5%
narrator:
Rosie caddied for golfers

09:15.766 --> 09:18.600 align:left position:25%,start line:83% size:65%
including President
Warren G. Harding.

09:18.600 --> 09:20.733 align:left position:25%,start line:83% size:65%
Sometimes she
teed it up herself.

09:20.733 --> 09:23.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
Paul:
When that went out all over the
country in the Sunday papers

09:23.833 --> 09:27.933 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
and pictures and captions
and all, she was very famous.

09:27.933 --> 09:32.766 align:left position:15%,start line:77% size:75%
narrator:
Fisher advertised Miami
Beach as paradise for sale.

09:32.766 --> 09:36.633 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
In the winter of 1918, he put
a billboard in Time's Square.

09:37.700 --> 09:39.700 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70%
Paul:
That's where you wanted
the people to come from,

09:39.700 --> 09:41.600 align:left position:15%,start line:89% size:75%
the snowy north with money.

09:41.600 --> 09:42.700 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50%
[music]

09:42.700 --> 09:45.866 align:left position:25%,start line:77% size:65%
narrator:
Bathing belles added
their own look.

09:45.866 --> 09:48.000 align:left position:22.5%,start line:89% size:67.5%
Buyers flocked south.

09:49.900 --> 09:52.533 align:left position:12.5%,start line:89% size:77.5%
J.C. Penney bought an estate.

09:52.533 --> 09:55.666 align:left position:17.5%,start line:83% size:72.5%
So did tire company
magnet, Harvey Firestone.

09:56.633 --> 09:59.700 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
Back in 1903, the government had
cut a channel through the beach

09:59.700 --> 10:02.766 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
to create better access
to the port of Miami.

10:02.766 --> 10:06.500 align:left position:12.5%,start line:77% size:77.5%
Paul:
The cut created an island that
Carl Fisher took a liking to

10:06.500 --> 10:08.900 align:left position:17.5%,start line:83% size:72.5%
and purchased, and in fact
it still bears his name,

10:08.900 --> 10:10.733 align:left position:32.5%,start line:89% size:57.5%
Fisher Island.

10:10.733 --> 10:13.733 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70%
Somewhere along the way,
the millionaire,
William K. Vanderbilt,

10:13.733 --> 10:17.533 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
brought his large
fabulous yacht to the island.

10:17.533 --> 10:19.700 align:left position:15%,start line:83% size:75%
Fisher saw it, fell in love
with it instantly,

10:19.700 --> 10:22.866 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
approached Vanderbilt and said,
"My island for your boat."

10:22.866 --> 10:25.800 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
And that's the kind of way
deals were made in those days.

10:26.733 --> 10:29.666 align:left position:17.5%,start line:77% size:72.5%
narrator:
Collins Avenue became
the first paved boulevard

10:29.666 --> 10:31.600 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70%
running north to south.

10:31.600 --> 10:32.966 align:left position:32.5%,start line:83% size:57.5%
Fisher cut a
swab eastward

10:32.966 --> 10:36.966 align:left position:22.5%,start line:83% size:67.5%
through the mangroves
to build Lincoln Road.

10:36.966 --> 10:38.833 align:left position:22.5%,start line:77% size:67.5%
Paul:
Fishers' realty office
on Lincoln Road

10:38.833 --> 10:41.666 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80%
was in this building behind me.

10:41.666 --> 10:44.933 align:left position:22.5%,start line:83% size:67.5%
Later, it was the site
of the Van Dyke Café.

10:44.933 --> 10:47.566 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
Fisher would bring prospective
buyers of real estate

10:47.566 --> 10:49.500 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70%
to the penthouse up top,

10:49.500 --> 10:51.700 align:left position:15%,start line:83% size:75%
look at this bare landscape
in front of him and say,

10:51.700 --> 10:54.533 align:left position:15%,start line:83% size:75%
"See that piece of land over
there? That could be yours."

10:54.533 --> 10:57.633 align:left position:17.5%,start line:77% size:72.5%
narrator:
A county causeway
eventually connected Miami

10:57.633 --> 10:59.800 align:left position:15%,start line:89% size:75%
to the beach at 5th Street.

10:59.800 --> 11:02.866 align:left position:22.5%,start line:83% size:67.5%
In 1942, it was
renamed the McArthur.

11:03.933 --> 11:07.900 align:left position:17.5%,start line:77% size:72.5%
Fisher built a trolley car
system to complete the
mainland link.

11:07.900 --> 11:11.666 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70%
Paul:
See, he understood that
if you don't have a car,

11:11.666 --> 11:13.800 align:left position:15%,start line:83% size:75%
you're going to have to get
a ride somehow across there

11:13.800 --> 11:15.533 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70%
unless you want to swim.

11:15.533 --> 11:18.700 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
So, he's the guy that instituted
circa, beginning in the 1920's,

11:18.700 --> 11:21.500 align:left position:22.5%,start line:83% size:67.5%
a trolley system that
was very extensive.

11:21.500 --> 11:22.800 align:left position:25%,start line:83% size:65%
Fisher owned his own
power plant,

11:22.800 --> 11:24.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
later taken over by
Florida Power and Light.

11:24.700 --> 11:26.833 align:left position:17.5%,start line:83% size:72.5%
Because how are you
going to sell real estate

11:26.833 --> 11:29.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
if you don't have power
or bring tourists down?

11:29.866 --> 11:33.733 align:left position:17.5%,start line:83% size:72.5%
Everything you needed,
he tried to have in place.

11:33.733 --> 11:36.866 align:left position:15%,start line:77% size:75%
narrator:
The pristine barrier island
that had once attracted

11:36.866 --> 11:39.600 align:left position:25%,start line:83% size:65%
a passing sailboat
had been transformed

11:39.600 --> 11:41.733 align:left position:22.5%,start line:89% size:67.5%
into a thriving city.

11:41.733 --> 11:43.700 align:left position:17.5%,start line:77% size:72.5%
Paul:
The boom reached its peak
in the summer of '25

11:43.700 --> 11:45.866 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
and it was phenomenal.
It was the talk of the nation,

11:45.866 --> 11:47.633 align:left position:17.5%,start line:83% size:72.5%
at least the eastern part
of the United States.

11:47.633 --> 11:49.566 align:left position:22.5%,start line:83% size:67.5%
I mean, land that had
been going for nothing

11:49.566 --> 11:51.533 align:left position:25%,start line:83% size:65%
was suddenly selling
for everything.

11:51.533 --> 11:53.666 align:left position:25%,start line:83% size:65%
And building permits
were crazy.

11:53.666 --> 11:55.700 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80%
And then, for a host of reasons,

11:55.700 --> 11:58.866 align:left position:15%,start line:5% size:75%
that boom began to collapse
by the latter part of '25.

11:58.866 --> 12:00.833 align:left position:27.5%,start line:5% size:62.5%
Certainly in '26.

12:00.833 --> 12:02.833 align:left position:17.5%,start line:89% size:72.5%
By June of '26, it's over.

12:02.833 --> 12:06.833 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50%
[music]

12:08.500 --> 12:10.566 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50%
[music]

12:10.566 --> 12:11.800 align:left position:22.5%,start line:83% size:67.5%
narrator:
Around the same time,

12:11.800 --> 12:14.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
nature took its revenge
on all this development.

12:15.833 --> 12:18.500 align:left position:25%,start line:77% size:65%
Paul:
The mighty hurricane
September 17, 18

12:18.500 --> 12:19.900 align:left position:27.5%,start line:83% size:62.5%
just smashed right
into Miami Beach

12:19.900 --> 12:22.733 align:left position:15%,start line:83% size:75%
and then it turns west right
through downtown Miami

12:22.733 --> 12:25.766 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
past the northern edges of Coral
Gables out into the Everglades.

12:26.866 --> 12:29.733 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
A lot of people got trapped
out on the McArthur causeway.

12:29.733 --> 12:31.600 align:left position:22.5%,start line:83% size:67.5%
The causeway was
much more narrow then.

12:31.600 --> 12:32.833 align:left position:22.5%,start line:89% size:67.5%
It wasn't bulk-headed.

12:32.833 --> 12:35.600 align:left position:25%,start line:83% size:65%
And that water
surge just took it.

12:35.900 --> 12:37.633 align:left position:25%,start line:83% size:65%
And this destruction
was terrible.

12:37.633 --> 12:38.866 align:left position:25%,start line:83% size:65%
There were thousands
left homeless.

12:38.866 --> 12:41.833 align:left position:17.5%,start line:83% size:72.5%
Thousands of buildings
went down or were damaged.

12:41.833 --> 12:43.933 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
One hundred and thirty people
in Dade County died.

12:43.933 --> 12:46.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
That just ensured that
boom wasn't coming back.

12:46.633 --> 12:48.600 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50%
[music]

12:48.600 --> 12:51.666 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70%
narrator:
The crash of '29 brought
on the Great Depression,

12:51.666 --> 12:54.866 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
and an end to the extravagance
of the roaring '20's.

12:55.866 --> 12:59.533 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
The timing of the crash couldn't
have been worst for Carl Fisher.

12:59.533 --> 13:02.500 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
He was over-invested
in his latest scheme to create

13:02.500 --> 13:05.766 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
a northern Miami Beach on
the eastern tip of Long Island.

13:06.633 --> 13:08.866 align:left position:17.5%,start line:83% size:72.5%
The stock market crashed,
and that was it.

13:08.866 --> 13:10.666 align:left position:17.5%,start line:89% size:72.5%
He lost almost everything.

13:11.566 --> 13:13.733 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
narrator:
Fisher sold his opulent home.

13:13.733 --> 13:15.966 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
In typical fashion, he quipped
that it took too long

13:15.966 --> 13:18.633 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80%
to get to the front door anyway.

13:18.633 --> 13:20.533 align:left position:22.5%,start line:83% size:67.5%
And he ended up living
in a small apartment

13:20.533 --> 13:21.933 align:left position:17.5%,start line:89% size:72.5%
somewhere on South Beach.

13:21.933 --> 13:23.833 align:left position:30%,start line:83% size:60%
And that's where
he passed away.

13:23.833 --> 13:26.533 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80%
narrator:
Alcohol had destroyed his liver.

13:26.533 --> 13:29.600 align:left position:25%,start line:83% size:65%
When he died in 1939
at the age of 65,

13:29.600 --> 13:31.500 align:left position:15%,start line:89% size:75%
mourners paid tribute to him

13:31.500 --> 13:33.800 align:left position:15%,start line:83% size:75%
as one of the great
visionaries of his time.

13:33.800 --> 13:36.666 align:left position:22.5%,start line:83% size:67.5%
They placed a memorial
on Alton Road.

13:36.933 --> 13:40.600 align:left position:12.5%,start line:77% size:77.5%
Paul:
There is a little bust of him
in a park on Alton Road,

13:40.600 --> 13:42.966 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70%
and it really attributes
to him what it should.

13:42.966 --> 13:45.733 align:left position:22.5%,start line:83% size:67.5%
That he carved a great
city out of a jungle.

13:46.800 --> 13:48.866 align:left position:12.5%,start line:83% size:77.5%
Sadly, there's little else in
Miami Beach that recognizes

13:48.866 --> 13:51.766 align:left position:17.5%,start line:83% size:72.5%
his tremendous
contributions to the city.

13:51.766 --> 13:53.666 align:left position:12.5%,start line:89% size:77.5%
He's largely a forgotten man.

13:54.833 --> 13:56.866 align:left position:25%,start line:77% size:65%
narrator:
Fisher, himself,
dismissed the notion

13:56.866 --> 13:58.900 align:left position:15%,start line:89% size:75%
that he was a man of vision.

13:58.900 --> 14:02.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80%
Paul:
He was more into it for the
achievement, for the challenge.

14:02.633 --> 14:04.866 align:left position:22.5%,start line:77% size:67.5%
narrator:
He preferred to say
that he was just a guy

14:04.866 --> 14:06.966 align:left position:12.5%,start line:89% size:77.5%
who liked to see the dirt fly.

14:06.966 --> 14:14.000 align:left position:40%,start line:5% size:50%
[music]

14:17.600 --> 14:24.633 align:left position:40%,start line:5% size:50%
[music]