This map was drawn in December of 1903 and shows the route of the F.E.C. Railway from Miami to Homestead. Note that it shows the railroad going straight southwest of Homestead because the survey that William Krome had started earlier in December of 1902 was not completed until June of 1903. The decision to take the Florida Keys route was made after William Krome completed his survey of the area between Black Point and Flamingo in 1903 and submitted his results to his supervisor, E. Ben Carter.
Krome’s Proposed Railway Route
This document, which is to be found at the Miami-Dade County Clerk’s office, was drawn up by William J. Krome in 1903 and is the result of his surveying work from December, 1902 to June of 1903. Before Krome completed his work, the area between Homestead and Flamingo had not been accurately surveyed and no one really knew what the area was like. After Krome submitted this document, Flagler and his people, who wanted to go to Key West, decided that the route to Flamingo was not feasible.
1912 Miami Daily Metropolis Map
This map, published in the November 2, 1912 issue of The Miami Metropolis, is frequently called a “homesteader’s map”. It is not. It is simply a map of the Redland District showing the names of the property owners at that time. Many homesteader’s names are shown, but there are also a large number of names shown who were not homesteaders but purchased their property from homesteaders.
This copy of the map is held by the University of Miami J.I. Kislak Archives and is what was published in the newspaper. Because it is not a copy taken from The Miami Daily Metropolis, it can be greatly enlarged, which is a great aid for researchers looking for family names.
David Torcise’s Google Earth Map of Homesteads
David Torcise created this map, which shows the locations of the homestead claims of the pioneers who either paid cash for their claims or followed the rules and proved up their claims. The lands marked Key West, Jacksonville & Tampa Railway belonged to the Florida East Coast Railway, which purchased the holdings of that company in Dade County.
This is a survey of the Perrine Land Grant, completed by Samuel H. Richmond in 1906. The map is owned by the J. I. Kislak archive at the University of Miami.