South Florida’s first inhabitants were the Tequesta, a peaceful indigenous tribe who settled near the Biscayne Bay. After the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, much of this tribe was erradicated due to small pox and other illnesses. During the late 18th century, efforts to displace and relocate Native Americans resulted in a large migration of them to South Florida.  After Florida was ceded to the United States and purchased from Spain in 1819, three major wars were waged by the Seminoles against the U.S. Government. The Miami area was devastated by the second wardand was known as one of the worst events in American history. These wars attributed for the slow settlement of Miami until 1842.

Then, William English charted the “Village of Miami” and the village was established on the south bank of the Miami River. By April 1896, the railroad tracks reached Miami and in July a meeting was held to incorporate the city. The right to vote was restricted to men and a third of the voters were Bahamian immigrants. The City was incorporated in 1896 with 444 citizens under the name of “The City of Miami”.Several years later John Collins and Carl Fisher, two prominent men in the City’s history, became promoters of Miami living. They transformed the Miami Beach area into one of the hottest tourist spots in the country. To ensure a steady influx of visitors, Collins built hotels and fisher built shops, nightclubs and the Dixie Highway. This boom lasted until one of many hurricanes in 1926 hit the area prior to the Great Depression.The Art Deco District was born out of this era due to post hurricane re-development in the area. Also, Overtown, an area slated for African-Americans, was a hot spot for the harlem renaissance elite. Once known as “Little Broadway” head liners like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway and others frequented Miami Beach.

In 1959, the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro came to power. What followed was a mass exodus of people from Cuba to Miami. The Estefan's are a part of Miami's Cuban immigration history––in 1959, when Castro came into power, Gloria and her family were forced to flee the country, as they were particularly in danger since Gloria's father was a motor escort for Batista's wife. Emilio and his father left the country to flee Castro's oppressive regime in 1967 for Spain, and relocated to Miami permanently a year later.  

Since the late 1960’s, Miami has become a mix of cultural influences. The city experience a large population growth with neighborhoods known as Little Havana, which was established with over 500,000 Cuban-Americans. Prior to this population growth, the African-American and Caribbean population made up approximately one-third of the total population. The late 1970’s saw yet another immigration influx when over 100,000 Haitians and Nicaraguans fled their countries’ newly overthrown governments. Finally, in 1980, the Mariel boatlift transported an additional 150,000 Cubans to Miami.