Hialeah Entrance Plaza is one of the landmarks in the City of Hialeah. I have to say when it was…read morefirst restored in 2005 (for a whopping $411,000), I didn't like it. It grew on me as time progressed and I always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. Then again that exemplifies my whole experience being a born and bred Hialeahan. Hialeah's motto is the "city of progress", but being born and raised here I can tell you that the city and its people can get a bad rap from the rest of the county, state and heck even sometimes the rest of the country. Sometimes to be fair to the detractors, rightly so, other times very unfairly. Its to the point that the city is mocked as the land of "agua, fango y factorias", or water, mud and factories. There have been times where I have been judged for being from Hialeah. Its a working class/poor area of Miami-Dade County, heavily minority, with a large percentage of its residents who do not speak English. Still, I was born and raised in Hialeah and it has shaped who I am and who I became. In the end, this structure shows Hialeah is more than what its detractors say it is. It is beautiful, well maintained, with a cascading fountain. As an aside, one of my fondest memories of this place was when back in September 10, 2009 some high school student spiked the fountain with soap just before rush hour. I laughed so hard right on my way to work! Like to the story: https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/hialeah-fountain-throwing-a-suds-party/2051397/?amp=1 I took pictures myself that I found which are attached. Ahhh sweet memories!

It's not the Arc de Triomphe but it is the monument that serves as the entrance way to Hialeah. In…read morethe 1980s and 1990s, a coral rock fountain on a grassy patch at SE Fourth Street and Okeechobee was all that stood here. In 2005 the city built the that pale yellow Mediterranean style building that features two sentry towers and a stone fountain on the ground floor at a cost of a $411,848.56. In 2011 the Miami New times listed it as "the worst public works projects in Miami-Dade, where bureaucrats and elected officials take pride in wasting millions in taxpayer dollars on crap residents have little-to-no use for." They site the lack of parking, no sidewalk, and the inability to climb up to the top although there is a staircase on the inside. On occasion pranksters will fill the fountain with soap causing the suds to spill out onto the roadway. Although the New Times may have a point that the fountain was an expensive cost to tax payer, it's final price tag came in twice as much as it's budget, I still like it. It fits nicely in with the Mediterranean Revival theme that was popular in the 1920's when Hialeah was founded. It would however be better if it was more accessible for public use like the entrance ways to Coral Gables.

The City of Miami Springs was founded as Country Club Estates by aviation pioneer, inventor and…read moreland developer Glenn H. Curtiss who was a contemporary of the Wright brothers. The area was known for its natural springs and after being referred to as Miami Springs, the name was officially changed in 1930. The expansion of the Miami canal along with major canal projects changed the landscape and reduced the water pressure that used to force water up from the Biscayne Aquifer so there are no longer any springs. Glenn started his career building and racing motorcycles. From there he moved into building airships racking up many flying firsts along the way. His innovation in planes helped the military in the run up to WWI. His planes were also used during WWII. His  accomplishments and inventions are too many to list. He was considered the Henry Ford of the aviation world. Curtiss moved to Miami in the 1920's to start an aviation school with his partner James Bright. Curtiss and Bright purchased 17,000 acres of scrub and pasture land that years later would become Miami Springs, Hialeah, and Opa-Locka. Curtiss went on to found 18 corporations and he developed Miami Springs in 1926. Many of the earliest residents of Miami Springs were employed by the Seaboard and Florida Coast Railroads whose yards were adjacent to the city. Glenn Curtiss was instrumental in developing the airport to the south and as it grew so did Miami Springs. The city became the favorite community for people employed by airlines and related businesses. Miami Springs is only a 2.9-square-mile, triangle. It is packed with historic buildings from the 1920's, many of which are in the Pueblo Revival design. My favorite part of Miami Springs is the historic downtown area where you will find a circle with a gazebo that has a tiny plane on top in honor of Curtiss. In the circle is historical information related to Glenn Curtiss. The downtown contains professional offices, restaurants and small retail stores. The Miami Springs Golf Course was the first golf course to be built in Miami-Dade County and pre-dates the incorporation of Miami Springs. The Miami Open was held at the club for 30 years, from 1925 to 1955. In 2006 the clubhouse and greens were renovated and the course was declared a local historic site. It is the oldest municipal golf course in South Florida. Some of the most prestigious homes in the community line the golf course including the Curtiss Mansion. You can learn more about Glenn Curtiss at his mansion that has been beautifully restored. It is open for tours and can be rented for private events. I love visiting Miami Springs to explore the architecture, grab a meal, or learn more about Glenn Curtiss. This small city has an Old Florida feel completely different from the rest of Miami. They are some really cool historic lift bridges in and out of the city. It is like it's own island and the Pueblo Revival architecture is so charming. It is always a pleasure to visit Miami Springs.

"At the heart of it all." Miami Springs Motto…read more Did you know that Miami Springs is only 3 x 3 sq. miles and shaped like a triangle? Located in Dade County, FL and founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss, "The Father of Naval Aviation" and James Bright during the famous "land boom" of the 1920s and was originally named Country Club Estates! As you Miami Springs is home to the Miami International Airport (MIA) which brings in people from all over the world!

The Warren Pony Swing Bridge is a historic one lane bridge that carries traffic from Hialeah over…read morethe Miami River Canal between Curtiss Parkway and 1st Street/Hialeah Drive into Miami Springs. There are only a few of these historic swing bridges left in Florida. The Miami River Canal was used by the Seminoles for travel and trade. In 1912 the Miami River Canal was one of five canals that were used to drain the Everglades. It also connected Lake Okeechobee to the Miami River serving as an important route for commerce like oranges and crops and for travel. When Glenn Curtiss and James Bright developed the community of Country Club Estates the Miami River Canal separated it from Hialeah. The primitive three pontoon barge bridge could not handle the increased traffic so Curtiss donated a $23,000 to purchase the swing bridge for Dade County. It was designed by the Pompano and Dania Bridge Company from Broward County, and fabricated and installed by the Champion Bridge Company of Ohio. The bridge was built as a bob-tail swing span with the pivot pier located near the northern bank Hialeah side to provide extra clearance for vessels using the canal. A bridge tender lived in a house on the Hialeah side and manually turned the bridge using a long metal pipe. The Warren Pony Swing bridge predates to incorporation of the City of Miami Springs by two years. Eventually the South Florida Water Management District' installed the S - 6 Saltwater Control Dam downstream of 36th Street and commercial navigation on the Miami River Canal came to an end. In 1941 the swing mechanism was removed and the bridge remains in a fixed position. In 2003, FDOT rehabilitated the bridge while maintaining its historic character. The Warren Pony Swing Bridge has been designated as a historic site by the cities of Miami Springs and Hialeah. I love swing bridges and their history and it is always fun to watch when they swing open. It is sad that they took out the swing mechanism but at least they saved the bridge. It is still a pretty bridge and I always enjoy my drive over it. If you would like to see a swing bridge in action, the Snow-Reed Swing Bridge in Ft. Lauderdale is still operational.

Years ago when I lived in Hialeah, I had to cross the Warren Pony Swing Bridge often. Whether it…read morewas driving to Florida International University (FIU), dropping my brother of at Miami Springs High School, or going to work, I needed to cross this bridge. I know when I had to cross it to go to the company I used to work for, I called this the bridge of lamentation, but thats no fault of the bridge. The bridge was designed by the Pompano and Dania Bridge company of Broward County in 1923. One year later, the bridge was fabricated and installed at its present location by the Champion Bridge Company of Ohio. It cost $23,500. That means that at this time it has been functioning for 99 years! Lets hope it lasts another 100 years!

The city of Hialeah was named by a Seminole Indian named Willie Willie, When developer James Bright…read moreasked him to describe the property, he called it Hi-ale-ah, translating to pretty prairie or high prairie. Bright was from Missouri where he made his money in cattle. He came to Miami in 1909 and bought 640 acres of submerged land northwest of the city. He dug the Miami canal and pumped out the land. He joined with famed aviator and developer Glenn Curtiss and incorporated Hialeah in 1921. The Deer Creek neighborhood that this house is in was once an airfield for Glenn Curtiss. The H.R. Howell House is located at 2 Circle Drive in the Deer Park section of Hialeah. J.J. Mullins was the contractor and ground broke in 1922. The ornate Mediterranean Revival style house was built during Florida's land boom years at a cost of $22,000, a fortune at the time when a typical house was 8 or 9 thousand dollars. The home was built for H.R. Howell, the developer of Country Club Estates for Glenn Curtiss and James Bright company, Curtiss-Bright. The home is a private residence so you can only see it from the outside. It is nice to see it still standing and providing a home to a family today.

if you like to see and hear about a bit of history in Miami, visit this house. it is called H. R…read more Howell home and is located in the Deer Park section of Hialeah. It was built in 1922 by contractor J.J. Mullins at a cost of $22,000. It is located opposite the deer park, which is now been renamed as the Ken Mattingly park after an astronaut from Hialeah! (see my other review for that) H.R. Howell was the developer of Country Club Estates (Miami Springs) for the Curtiss-Bright Company. Black & white photos from State of Florida archives.

The Hunting Lodge is a historic log cabin in Miami Springs. It was built in 1924 by famed aviator…read moreand developer Glenn H. Curtiss for use as a hunting and fishing lodge. It was the first building he constructed in the northern Everglades which became the development, Country Club Estates. The lodge soon became the hub for social events in the fledgling town. Curtiss used logs brought to Florida from Kentucky and Tennessee for the construction. Interior features of the lodge include a coral rock fireplace, Dade County pine wood flooring that is prized because it is impervious to termites, cathedral exposed log beam ceilings, and multi pane original casement windows. The winding road to the lodge is still called Hunting Lodge Drive. Later on the building was used as a school until 1933 for the quickly expanding town. It also served as a library, a perfume factory, an airplane factory, and as the headquarters for the Miami Gun and Archery Club. This property was registered with the City of Miami Springs Historic Preservation Board in 1994. The lodge was last sold in January of 2018 for $315,000.

In the 1920's, during Florida's land boom years, women's clubs were formed as a way to give back to…read morethe community with civic projects. They became an outlet for women to get out of the house and to assert their independence by allowing them to get involved in politics during a time when they were expected to be homemakers. Women's clubs helped to launch the women's rights movement. The Miami Spring's Woman's Club building is located at 200 Westward Dr. across from city hall. It was built in 1949 by Andy Plassey, a Miami Springs pioneer. There is a memorial to him in the median of Westward Drive. The building was designed in an art deco style with eyebrow overhangs above both entrances and a decorative wooden door. There are also elements of Pueblo Revival like its rounded corners. Pueblo Revival is an architectural design that you see all over Miami Springs. The Miami Springs Womans Club was founded in May of 1939. Their first project was to start the town library with 171 books that had been donated at a tea at what is now Fairhavens. The land for the club was donated by founding club member Mrs. Lena Pearl Curtiss Wheeler. Lena was married to town founder and famed aviator Glenn Curtiss. She donated the land in honor of her mother, Mrs. Jennie Potter Neff, and Glenns' mother, Mrs. Lua Andrews Curtiss Adams. Only 49 when Glenn Curtiss passed away, Lena later married H. Sayre Wheeler. Fun fact, While entertaining at the Miami Springs Mansion of Dar-Err-Aha, Lena would bring in performers from Miami Beach including a very young Desi Arnez. Fund raisers in the 1940's secured the money to construct the Woman's Club building. The Woman's Club continued to add books to the library's collection and they maintained the library in their clubhouse for 10 years until it moved to library building at 401 Westward Drive. In 2006 the building was designated a Miami Springs Historic Site. GFWC Miami Springs Woman's Club is a 501 (c)(3) charitable and educational non-profit. They are a member of the General Federation of Woman's Clubs. They continue to help the community through civic projects such as the Medical Loan Closet, which provides medical equipment to the community at no charge, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, the Lena Curtiss Wheeler Nursing Scholarship given to a deserving nursing student each year, by feeding hungry children, and maintaining a historical library. The historic clubhouse is available for rental. Call 305-887-5132 for prices.

This home was designed by famed architect Martin Luther Hampton for Lua Andrews Curtiss Adams. She…read morewas the mother of Miami Springs developer and famed aviator Glenn Curtiss. When Glenn settled in Miami Springs she moved from California to be near him. She soon entered Miami society and found that the first house her son built for her (The Alamo) was too small to meet her needs. Hence Lua Curtiss House 2. The house was built in 1925 by Glenn Curtiss's building company Curtiss & Bright. The house is an example of Pueblo Revival architecture. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and it was designated a Miami Springs Historic Site in 1989. The house is two stories in an L shape. It has a balcony with a tile floor. The two wings of the house are connected with a brick paved walled in courtyard. Chattahoochee stone lines the swimming pool. Making it the Pueblo Revival style are the Mission bell cote and archways, thick walls with recessed windows with the rugged look of construction. Inside are arched doorways, pecky cypress beams, and a Pueblo fireplace in the living room. This home is privately owned so you can only drive by the outside. This house along with Lua Curtiss House No,1 which is a short drive away is worth a look if you find yourself in Miami Springs.

This is a Pueblo Revival style home built in 1925 as part of the Hunting Lodge Development in the…read morecommunity of Country Club Estates. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and and designated a Miami Springs historic site in 1989. It was designed by architect Martin Luther Hampton who also designed other historic homes in the area including the Curtiss Mansion, the Lua Curtiss House #2, and the Curtiss-Bright Company headquarters building which is no longer exists. The first residents of the home were George Carl Adams and his wife Dorothy. Mr. Adams was the business partner and half brother of aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss. One of Mr. Adams ventures was the Everglades Construction Company which built all of the roads in Opa-locka, Hialeah and Country Club Estates. He also served as mayor of Country Club Estates from 1930 to 1942 and during his tenure changed the name of the community to Miami Springs. The house is a U shaped two story structure with an open courtyard in the center and an arched entry. The roof is flat and the windows are recessed into the stucco walls. This home is a private residence and not open for tours, On Saturday mornings however you can tour the nearby Curtiss Mansion which is also done in the Pueblo Revival style. At the time this house was built it was the second largest in the community with the Curtiss Mansion being the largest.

Booked our Everglades airboat experience through [tour company name] and the whole thing was smooth…read morestart to finish. Easy to reserve, clear directions, and they set us up with a great operator out in the glades. The airboat portion was the highlight: real wild gator sightings and a captain who knew the area cold. If you are trying to actually see the Everglades and not just drive past the edge of it, this is the move. Thanks for putting together a great afternoon.

So much beauty everywhere, stop and take it all in! Worth the drive all the way to the bottom and…read moredon't forget to stop and check out the short hiking trails and the overlook too!