#412 g Mayor Kenneth Oka letter to W. K. Young 1961August 16, 1961
Mr. W. K. De Young
Preiss and Brown Advertising, Inc.
660 Madison Avenue
New York 21, New York
Dear Mr. De Youngz
Your request of June 10 to Mayor Oka for Miami Beach historical
data was today referred to this office. While we do not have
anything resembling a complete history of the city, there
probably is enough information to ~eet your needs.
The earliest reference we have to Miami Beach is about 1870,
when Henry B. Lum and his son, Charles, of Red Bank, N. J.,
conceived the idea of growing coconuts along the southeast
Florida coast and bought a considerable acreage of ocean-
front. My reference says they paid 75 cents an acre for it
to the United States government, but I suspect they purchased
from the state of Florida0 not the Federal government.
Miami Beach was included in this acreage. The coconut venture
was not a success because the price of copra fell disastrously.
J. N. and J. E. Lummus acquired considerable acreage in what is
now the southern and central portion of Miami Beach around 1912
and began the first resort-type development. The Lummus brothers
paid ~160 an acre for much of their first holdings, but still had
to expend substantial sums for dredging and filling the land,
which which was mostly swamp.
Mr. De Young
August 16, 1961
Page Two
Carl G. Fisher of Indianapolis, who made a fortune in the early
automobile accessory business, is considered the father of Miami
Beach. He loaned money to the Lummus brothers, bought additional
land for himself and really developed the town. He appeared on
the sc~ne in 1914. Fisher paid from about $150 an acre up for
his properties.
~nd values here today of course vary considerably with location.
Oceanfront sells for $4,000 to $5,000 a front foot for tracts
perhaps 200 feet deep. Residential lots of normal size, 75 x 125
feet, may cost $10,000 to $20,000.
I trust this information is complete enough for your purposes.
If you need additional data, ! will be glad to try to supply
it.
Very truly yours,
S. W. Matthews
~MsRJR
The Honorable Kenneth Oka
Nauor of Nfami Beach
Municipal Bufld~ng ,
Miam~ Beach , Florida
Dear ~auor Oha:
We are fn the process of preparing a series of aduert~sments
for client ~ Transnat~on koalty Corporation , the theme
of u~hich ~s to be great land purchases .... for ~nstance ,
The Alaska Purchase, The Oadsden Purchase , The £ou~stana
Purchase , etc.
The idea behind the theme is the fact that the values of each
of these properties has ~ncreased so tremendously during the
intervening years .
~e ~ould lfAe to feature Wiamf Beach fn one of these ads.
I believe it ~as purchased fn the 1920s by a gentleman named
Mc Cuteheon , at a price , I am sure , consfderab~/ less than
its value per acre today .
[/~'ouZd you be hind enough to have someone in your office , or
fn your chamber o.? commerce , foru)ard us a .?eu~ ?acts relative
to this subject ?
Namely :
1. The name of ~he man ~ho bought
2. The date
The pr£ce pa£d
The value todau
Miami Beach and developed ft
All that ~e need ~re rouqh estfmetes . Exact ~£gures aren't
necessary .
We'd also be grateful .for any other interesting ?acts or any
g;KD: s
Than2i_uou ueru much