Glenn H. Curtiss, aviation pioneer, inventor, and land developer Glenn H. Curtiss moved to Miami in the 1920's where he partnered with James Bright who made his fortune in cattle. Curtiss and Bright purchased 17,000 acres of scrub and pasture land that years later would become Miami Springs, Hialeah, and Opa-Locka. The city of Hialeah, located in north west Miami was named by a Seminole Indian named Willie Willie, When developer James Bright asked him to describe the property, he called it Hi-ale-ah, translating to pretty prairie or high prairie. The Seminoles used to dock their canoes in Hialeah and sell their wares. Bright dug the Miami Canal to drain the submerged land and Hialeah was incorporated in 1921. One million dollars of land was sold by the developers within 10 days. Bright built his home and cattle ranch at the corner of Hialeah Drive and East Second Avenue and Curtiss built an airfield in the Deer Park Creek neighborhood. G.R. Milliard, Hialeah's first resident, built a home at Okeechobee Road and Hialeah Drive where he operated the town's first post office, first real estate office, first general store, first car repair shop. and the first headquarters for the bus line to Miami. In 1921 his daughter Leah was the first child to be born in Hialeah. In the next two years the town had a dog track and a race course laid out by Glenn Curtiss. In the ensuing years Hialeah became the place where the working people settled buying inexpensive wood frame houses with canvas roofs. The September 1926 Hurricane struck destroying most of the town. This signaled the end of Florida/s land boom years followed by the Great Depression. In 1937 famed aviator Amelia Earhart set off for her doomed final flight from Hialeah. Hialeah and Florida bounced back with the return of GI's seeking a warmer climate after WWII. Hialeah is now the sixth- largest city in Florida with an estimated population 6,198,782 people. Homestead and Hialeah are the only places in Miami Dade County to have its own street grid numbered separate from the rest of the county. Hialeah is primarily Hispanic with the largest population of people of Cuban decent. Many exiles from Cuba who were fleeing Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution settled here. As a resident of Broward County I never gave Hialeah much thought. It was just an exit you passed by on your way to Miami. After taking some time to explore Hialeah I see I have been missing out on art, culture, shopping, architecture, and food. Hialeah has the ornate Mediterranean Revival architecture I love. Start your tour at the Hialeah entrance plaza. Some of the places I have recently discovered and enjoyed include Flamingo Plaza, Garden of the Arts, and the Leah Arts District. I put a collection up on Yelp for anyone interested in exploring Hialeah. Hialeah may not have a beach that draws the tourists but when you take the time to look it is filled with its own charm. read more