Selected Events for
Environment and Environmental Change
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| Year |
Month |
Day |
Event |
Related
Resource |
| 1882 |
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Hamilton Disston, a wealthy Philadelphian, purchased four million acres of swamplands in the Everglades. His engineers worked with the goal of draining the Everglades to serve man. Few at this time understood the crucial significance of this sprawing ecosystem. It would not be long before salt began to seep into Miami's drinking water due to sinking water levels in the Everglades. |
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| 1893 |
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The Florida legislature enacted a bill protecting manatees. Those who captured or killed the species were subject to fines of $500 and three months in prison. |
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| 1894 |
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Crops are destroyed as far south as Palm Beach when a severe freeze hits the east coast. Henry Flagler becomes convinced that the future of America's winter crops lay further south. He soon makes the decision to extend his railway to Biscayne Bay. |
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| 1900 |
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The Florida Audobon Society was founded. Early members and patrons included President Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Flagler, future Florida Governor William S. Jennings, and inventor Thomas A. Edison. |
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| 1901 |
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Dade County passed a wildlife protection act, prohibiting the killing, capturing, or shooting of deer, crocodile, and any wild bird. |
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| 1904 |
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Napoleon Bonaparte Broward was elected Governor of Florida. His campaign promise was to drain much of south Florida, creating an "Empire of the Everglades." |
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| 1905 |
March |
14 |
Government Cut was completed, linking the Biscayne Bay and Atlantic Ocean. |
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| 1906 |
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Frank Stoneman (the father of Marjory Stoneman Douglas) started the first morning newspaper, the Morning News Record. He was an opponent of Everglades drainage, and his editorials infuriated Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward. |
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October |
18 |
A major hurricane hit Miami and the Keys killing hundreds of people, many of who were workers on the Florida East Coast Railway. |
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| 1907 |
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John Roop built an observation tower on Musa Isle. It allowed people a view out over the Everglades, which then started at what is today N.W. 22nd Avenue. |
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| 1909 |
October |
01 |
The Everglades Land Sales Company opened its office in Miami. Much of the land it sold was purchased sight unseen. |
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| 1917 |
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The Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Drainage District was created. The project's goal was to drain and reclaim a half million acres in Broward and northern Dade Counties. |
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October |
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The U.S. government purchased thirty-one acres of lowlands at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove. They immediately began filling in the marsh in order to create an instructional facility for the Navy. |
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| 1926 |
January |
10 |
The 241-foot barkentine Prins Valdemar overturned in Miami's harbor blocking the ship channel for several weeks. Construction stalled across the city, as much-needed lumber sat on ships that were unable to access the port. |
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| 1931 |
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An extreme dry spell in South Florida lowered water tables, threatening the municipal wells of Miami and other coastal cities with seawater intrusion. |
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| 1934 |
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The Everglades National Park was created. Congress authorized 2,164,480 acres to be acquired for the park through public and private donations. Some of the largest landowners in the Everglades sought a minimun price for their land. The price of $5.00 per acre was chosen. |
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| 1935 |
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Coral Gables' high speed transit service ended. It had lasted nine years, but damage from a storm in 1935 was so extensive that it was permanently shut down. Thereafter, Coral Gables switched to an all bus system. |
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The Miami area began to emerge from the Great Depression. The recovery in South Florida preceded that which occurred in other cities. By the mid-1930s, a string of new hotels built in the Art Deco style began to rise from the ruin caused by not only the Depression, but the hurricane of 1926. |
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September |
02 |
A Labor Day hurricane hit the Florida Keys, killing 408 people. Damage to the railroad connecting Miami and the Keys was so severe that service between the two points on Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway ended. |
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| 1938 |
March |
23 |
Fairchild Tropical Garden was dedicated. In 1935, Colonel Robert M. Montgomery and his wife Nell Foster Montgomery had purchased eighty acres and founded a public botanical garden, setting the stage for the establishment of the tropical garden that still exists today. |
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| 1945 |
September |
15 |
A major hurricane hit southern Dade County. Many structures were destroyed. Several buildings on the Richmond Naval Air Station were among those destroyed, including the base's blimp hangars in a large fires. |
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| 1947 |
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The Everglades National Park was dedicated. President Harry Truman was there for the dedication. |
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Marjory Stoneman Douglas released The Everglades: River of Grass. It was a landmark book in educating people on the significance of preserving and protecting the Everglades ecosystem. |
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October |
16 |
A major hurricane hit south Florida. After hitting land, it crossed from Homestead to Plantation. Eleven inches of rain were recorded in Broward County and much of the drinking water was polluted. In the end, 80% of Dade and Broward were flooded. |
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December |
06 |
President Truman dedicated Everglades National Park. |
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| 1950 |
October |
17 |
Hurricane King struck south Florida. Six people were killed. |
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| 1965 |
September |
08 |
Hurricane Betsy hit south Florida. Thirteen people died during the storm that caused a barge to sever Rickenbacker Causeway. Collins Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard were severely flooded. |
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| 1967 |
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Several Florida species were put on the federal endangered list. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service placed Florida panther, the snail kite, and the Cape Sable seaside sparrow on the list. |
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| 1968 |
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Biscayne Bay was listed as a national monument. Congress cited its "rare combination of terrestrial, marine, and amphibious life in a tropical setting of great natural beauty." |
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| 1970 |
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Extreme droughts across South Florida though this year and the next heightened awareness of the looming threats to the regions water supply. In addition, the Governor's Conference on Water Management in South Florida found that the quality of water was also declining. |
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April |
22 |
The first national "Earth Day" was celebrated in Miami. A teach-in at the University of Miami was held, as was a "Dead Orange Parade" on Biscayne Boulevard. |
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| 1972 |
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The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 was passed. It was aimed at protecting all marine life, specifically Florida's manatees. |
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| 1976 |
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Florida's state legislature created the South Florida Water Management District. |
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| 1980 |
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Biscayne Bay National Park was established. As the status was changed from a national monument to a national park, Congress authorized the acquisition of new keys and reefs in the bay. |
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| 1987 |
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The Everglades were designated as a Wetland of International Importance. An intergovernmental treaty, the Convention on Wetlands, aimed to promote conservation and wise use of the area. |
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| 1989 |
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The Everglades National Park Protection and Expansion Act of 1989 was passed. The act authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to restore, as much as possible, the park's natural hydrological conditions, and the purchase of 107,000 additional acres of land to increase water flow on the park's eastern side. |
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| 1992 |
August |
24 |
Early on the morning of August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida. Following the storm more than 1.4 million families were left without electricity; more than 107,000 private homes were damaged or destroyed; 49,000 were uninhabitable and 250,000 people were left homeless. Damages from the storm were estimated at $20 to $30 billion, making it the most costly natural disaster in American history until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. |
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| 1994 |
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The Everglades Forever Act was passed. Passed by Florida's state legislature, this act underwrote $685 million for construction, land acquisition, and water treatment. $320 million was to come from sugar farmers to clean up farm runoff, and the rest was to come from taxpayers. |
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| 2000 |
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Miami Beach was named the #1 Urban Beach by the Surfrider Foundation. |
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