Miami Beach

Miami Beach, city, Miami-Dade County, southeastern Florida, on a long, narrow island (and adjacent islets) between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, near the city of Miami; incorporated in 1915. Miami Beach is a world-famous, year-round resort, with palatial oceanfront hotels, ornate nightclubs, and extensive sand beaches. Causeways link it with the mainland. The Talmudic College of Florida is here. A swampy area when settled in 1870, it was cleared (1907) and developed as a real-estate venture, mainly by John S. Collins. It grew rapidly during the Florida boom of the 1920s and again after 1945. It is the site of a large convention center; the Bass Museum of Art; and the Art Deco Historic District in south Miami Beach, more than 800 buildings built between 1920 and 1950. Population 96,298 (1980); 92,639 (1990); 87,933 (2000); 86,916 (2006).