When Solomon Merrick moved his family from New England to a plot of land southwest of Miami in 1898, he had no idea that his son, George, would become the founder of one of America's most fabled cities. When the senior Merrick died in 1911, George, who was working in New York, returned to the Miami area, establishing a major citrus and produce farm on his family's land. Then he entered the booming Miami real estate market of the early 1920s, finally embarking on the building of a city. The story of Coral Gables is also the story of George Merrick, and the photographs in this volume evoke poignant memories of the
City Beautiful's storied past. Images in this book include views of early Coral Way and Miracle Mile, Ponce de Leon Boulevard, the Coliseum, beloved restaurants and clubs, the Venetian Pool, the Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables High School, the trolleys, the University of Miami, and some of the people who brought Coral Gables to life and helped make it a great city.

Seth H. Bramson has lived in the Miami area since 1946 and is nationally known as the foremost authority on the history of transportation to, from, and within Florida. He is the company historian of the Florida East Coast Railway and the author of Speedway to Sunshine, the history of that famous line, and Images of America: Miami Beach. He is coauthor of The Plant System of Railroads, Steamships, and Hotels. Bramson's collection of Miami memorabilia and Floridiana is the largest such private collection in America. He is a faculty member at both Barry University in Miami Shores and Florida International University in Miami, where he teaches Florida and South Florida history and the history of American railroads. Bramson has written more than 60 articles on Florida's local and transportation history.