Florida - Gold Coast around Miami

Popularly known as the Gold Coast, the area north of Miami to West Palm Beach is a 70-mile stretch of some of the most developed and expensive real estate in the country. The name actually refers to the gold-laden Spanish ships that sometimes wrecked off shore. However, it could also be for the long stretches of gold sand found here.

Prior to Spanish exploration, the area was home to Tequesta Indians, who fished along the coast and hunted within the everglades, which lie to the west.

The Spanish were unable to establish a permanent settlement here and the area went mostly unnoticed until the 1890's when Henry Flagler extended his East Coast Railroad south from St Augustine, first to Palm Beach, then to Fort Lauderdale, Miami