#641i Historical Background - Pine Tree Drive r '
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_ CITY_ OF M 1 BEAC" •
CITY HALL 1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE MIAMI BEACH FLORIDA 33139
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DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING CITY HALL
1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE
TELEPHONE: 673 -7550
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND - PINE TREE DRIVE
The area surrounding Pine Tree Drive was '
g .once the original avocado
plantation, of one of the founding fathers of Miami Beach, John S.
Collins. 41st Street was • known as Main Street, Plantation
Quarters, and Pine Tree Drive was called Avenue of Piines and
. Plantation Road.
John S. Collins who was a ss '
succe ful New Jersey farmer, cquired
the site in 1907 and began an avocado a ranch . I n .addition to
avocados , the property supported a dairy,. banana fields,: a packing
house, and various out buildings some of which served as lodging
for the farm workers. To protect his crops against the strong wind
coming from the ocean, Collins planted Australian pines to serve •
as windbreaks. _These fast-growing ,tree were'planted in,rows in
strategic locations on the plantation. Early plat books identify
a "row of. Australian pines" in the area adjacent to Pine Tree,
Drive.
Collins had a dock constructed on the plantation along Indian •
- Creek. While he was standing on the dock one afternoon, attired
. in his typical" white suit and hat, he . caught the attention of Carl
. Fisher, another 'famous Miami Beach entrepreneur. Fisher found it
so unusual to see a man formally dressed in the middle of the .
wilderness, he introduced himself to Collins. Eventually this
acquaintance led Fisher to loan John Collins, $50,000 for the
'completion of the Collins Bridge in 1913. In return for the money,
Fisher. received 200 acres of oceanfront property,
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND - INDIAN ON A HORSE , PINE TREE DRIVE AND 40TH
STREET
The individual considered to be most responsible for the
development and promotion of Miami. Beach as a resort area ' and
tourist haven is Carl Fisher. Fisher was a suave visionary who
parlayed . a bicycle shop in Indianapolis into a car dealership. He
then started the Prest- o -Lite Corporation, the first headlight
manufacturing company in the U.S. By the time he was thirty -five
.Fisher had amassed a large fortune, much of which was invested. in
Miami Beach.
Among Fisher's interests was a fascination with horses and the.
old west. The . Tequesta indians, whose chief livelihood was
shellfish gathering and fishing were original inhabitants .of. the •
. Miami area. In their honor, Fisher had the statue erected in 1919.
However, his idealized version of the indian atop his stead, bears
more of a likeness to a Plains Indian.
Fisher` originally selected a rass parkway located at 41st Street
g Y P Y �
and Alton Road in the Nautilus Subdivision for the statue. en the
Julia Tuttle Causeway was built in the.1950's, it , was moved to its
present location at 40th Street, Flamingo Road, and Pine Tree
Drive. Oldtimers maintain that local teenagers used to decorate the
statue every year on Halloween. .
JK /JD
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