The fascinating history of Fisher Island, Miami’s exclusive island that has the highest per capita income in the United States.

Fisher Island, a small island at the southern tip of Miami Beach, is only 90 hectares and is one of the most exclusive locations in the United States.

You can only get to it by ferry or helicopter, but once inside, you don’t need to leave: there is a supermarket, a school up to 8th grade, a 9-hole golf course, swimming pools and everything that a wealthy family can afford. need.

The 561 people who call Fisher Island home according to the 2020 US Census have the highest per capita income of any zip code in the US ($2.2 million).

But the fact is that in order to live on the island, you need to be a millionaire.

Property prices range from $3.5 million dollars and $40 million and the development project is expected to charge $90 million for a penthouse.

The site is so exclusive that celebrities like the TV presenter Oprah Winfrey and actress Julia Roberts They had a house there.

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People move around the island on golf carts.

But as is often the case, this island of luxury was not always the center of exclusivity that it is today.

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“Fisher Island was part of Miami Beach, but it was separated in the early 1900s when the government dredged a deep water channel known as the Government Cut in Biscayne Sound,” local Miami museum historian Paul George tells BBC Mundo. Story.

Photograph of Miami Beach prior to its development.

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Development of what is now known as Miami Beach began between 1910 and 1920.

The canal carved its way to the Port of Miami, today known as the “cruise capital of the world”, and left a small accumulation of sand on which the island developed.

“It was much smaller than it is today,” adds George, “about 40 acres. Now they have added a lot, about 90”.

One of its first known owners was Dana A. Dorsey, Florida’s first black millionaire.who made his fortune building affordable housing for African Americans in the area then known as colored city (“Pueblo de Color”), today Overtown, in northwest Miami.

“His dream was to turn it into a black resort for black visitors.”, explains George, “Miami was very isolated, and he wanted black people to have their own beaches and infrastructure and avoid all sorts of problems with Miami authorities.”


But the project never got off the ground, not according to the rules of that time.

In an interview with American public broadcaster NPR, Timothy Barber, executive director of Black Archives, a non-governmental organization dedicated to preserving the historical memory of African Americans, explained that it was impossible for Dorsey to move the necessary resources -including materials and staff- to the island.

“It is known that he had problems due to the fact that the island was on the east side of the railway tracks. [que marcan la separación entre este y oeste en Miami] and Henry Flagler [considerado el fundador de Miami] I defined the east side for whites and the west side for blacks,” Barber said.

Finally, Dorsey had to sell Fisher Island to a builder who gave him his current name Karl Fischer.

speed island

Karl Fischer on the run, 1904

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Carl Fisher, the eccentric millionaire who bought the island from the Dorseys, was one of America’s first racing drivers.

Fisher became a millionaire thanks to his obsession with speed.

Born into poverty, he began to make a fortune by helping his brothers sell bicycles by racing them: he was a racing champion and on his earnings, He was one of the first to buy a car.or V automobile capital of the usa, Indianapolis.


His love for engines was so great that he was able to see the role that the automobile would play in the development of the United States in the 20th century: he was involved in the construction of titanic structures such as lincoln highway – the first intercontinental highway in the United States, connecting New York and San Francisco, Dixie Highway – which will link Miami Beach in the southern United States with Chicago – and Indianapolis SpeedwayConsidered the temple of motorsport in America.

Fisher bought the island from Dorsey in 1919 with the intention of building a seaport to serve cruise ships, but his plans changed when his love of engines led him to meet William C. Vanderbilt II, a member of the richest family in the world. USA in the second half of the 19th century.

William K Vanderbilt.

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William C. Vanderbilt II was another fan of speed. Here they compete in 1904.

Under an agreement signed in 1927, Fisher gave up 2.8 of Vanderbilt’s 8.5 hectares of island in exchange for a 265-foot yacht known as the Eagle.

The history books say that Fisher offered the business to Vanderbilt with the phrase, “My island for your boat.”

The Vanderbilts developed their island mansion until the end of World War II, when they sold it to another eccentric speedboat millionaire, “Speedboat King” Garfield Wood, who used it to work on electric vehicle and military boat projects until 1963.

From then until the 1980s, Fisher Island served as a quarantine center, home to the University of Miami’s School of Marine Biology, and a warehouse for an oil company.

Boom Miami in the 80s

“By the mid-80s, the island was on its way to becoming one of the most luxurious areas in the US,” explains historian George in an interview with BBC Mundo.

Bank of America Tower and Miami Metromover.

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By 1989, Miami was already on its way to becoming the huge city it is today.

The consortium bought the land and, reflecting the interest in luxury and exclusivity that characterized the era of President Ronald Reagan, opened the Fisher Island Club in 1987.

“This is almost the first announcement that Miami will become a luxury destination, and it was obvious that it would begin to attract the rich and famous,” says George.

The development that has taken place since then on Fisher Island has made it one of the ten most exclusive zip codes in the country (zip code 33109): according to information from bloomberg, in 2015, the average wage for island residents was $2.5 million a year.

The island has its own market, a school up to the eighth grade, a medical center, a fire and rescue station, a 9-hole golf course, seven restaurants, a marina for yachts over 250 feet in length, its own agency security and a fleet of four ferries that carry passengers. and cars to and from the island 24 hours a day.

Aerial view of the island.

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Fisher Island is one of the ten most expensive zip codes in the US.

“The average age of people living on the island has decreased since the covid pandemic due to the large influx of people coming from New York,” a professional real estate salesman based on the island told BBC Mundo. give his name to preserve the privacy of the inhabitants of the island.

“These are people with connections, the younger generation is families with children. They love security, it gives them everything they need and everything they want.”

“You don’t have to leave the island at all,” he says.

Ferry to Fisher Island.

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The island has its own fleet of ferries that depart every 15 minutes.

“The way things are today, you can order Instacart [un servicio de entrega de mercado a domiclio] and they leave it for you on the ferry,” he adds, convinced that with more people working remotely, living on the island is easier, especially if you are on a ferry from one of the fastest growing urban centers in the United States. States.

Although projects have been considered in the past to connect Fisher Island to the city via a bridge, the passage of huge cargo ships and cruise ships leaving the port has made this an impossible task.

And a task that at the moment seems unnecessary.


“The island has had so many guardians for over a century, and each of them had their own wonderful vision for real estate,” concludes the real estate agent. “It only improved it and made it more and more beautiful for people who enjoy this lifestyle.”


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Author: BBC news world
Source: La Opinion

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