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Julia DeForest Tuttle, the “Mother of Miami” is the only female founder of a major American city. The visionary widow from Ohio bought hundreds of acres at what is now Downtown Miami, moved down on a barge, and eventually convinced railroad man Henry Flagler to extend his new railway to the Miami River by sending him an unusual package.

WHY MIAMI?
Julia Tuttle was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1848. Tuttle first saw southern Florida when she visited her father, who moved there as a homesteader, in 1875. After her husband died in 1886, Tuttle decided to move to southern Florida where she bought several hundred acres of land near the Miami River. As Tuttle looked around her, she realized the area would never prosper unless it could be accessed by railroads.

When Tuttle moved to the Miami area, she believed that the area would become a great city, one that would become a center of trade for the United State with South America. Tuttle’s foresight proved correct and thanks Miami grew into a major U.S. city.

PROBLEM
As Tuttle looked around her, she realized the area would never prosper unless it could be accessed by railroads.

SOLUTION
Tuttle met with Henry M. Flagler, a multi-millionaire who was going to extend his railroad south along Florida’s east coast to develop cities and resorts along the way. Tuttle wanted him to extend his railroad to her area. After negotiations, Flagler agreed to do so in exchange for hundreds of acres of land from Tuttle and Tuttle’s neighbors William and Mary Brickell who were the other main landowners in the area. Flagler also agreed to lay the foundations for a city on either side of the Miami River and to build a large hotel. The first train arrived in what became Miami city on April 13, 1896.

Miami was officially incorporated as a city in a pool hall meeting days later on July 28, 1896. Its first laundry, first bakery and the first dairy were reportedly started by Mrs. Tuttle.