Miami in 1843
From The News, St. Augustine, Florida. December 30, 1843

From Indian River to Cape Florida, there is but one site suitable for a town, combining the exquisite advantages of proximity to the ocean, and a communication with the interior of the country. The banks of the Miami River present this eligible spot, affording a safe and convenient harbor, of easy access, and from whence vessels may always depart without delay. The natural capacities of the country are favorable to the spirit of enterprise ; and in the falls of the river as a motive power for machinery, and the extraordinary fertility of the soil, every inducement is presented to active industry. Simply viewed as a section of Florida, for the successful cultivation of tropical fruits, its importance is of considerable moment; but when it is known that Tobacco, rivalling the celebrity of that of Cuba, is grown with but little labor, the production of so valued a staple, becomes a matter of the highest importance. Every variety of fruit, from the pine apple to the Avocada pear-corn, all the year round ; and fish, turtle, and wild game are in greatest profusion. These capabilities, we are gratified to learn, are being properly appreciated, and an activity already prevails at that River, giving an earnest of what will farther take place. A town is laid off on its Southern banks, opening in front upon Key Biscayne Bay, and saw and coonti mills are in progress of rapid completion. The settlers, already numerous, are every day increasing, and there is no doubt that at no very distant day the inhabitants of the new city in Dade County will be more numerous than this, the first settled spot in the United States.

A light-house is at Key Biscayne, which, when it shall have been repaired, will serve to guard against any danger apprehended by those unacquainted with the coast. was at one time thought that Key Biscayne would be the place for the building of a town, and we confess we thought so too, but the golden moment has passed, and, from the activity of the settlers on the Miami, we fear that the Key is only destined to serve as a site for the useful purpose of a light-house.

Submitted by Kim Torp