Greater North Miami Historical Society

The Greater North Miami Historical Society was founded by local citizens in 1997 to gather and preserve the history of the City of North Miami. The area’s development grew when Henry Flagler’s railroad passed through here on its way to Miami in 1896. This led to a community hub at the Arch Creek Railroad Depot – located at N.E. 125^th Street – in the early 1900s.

The Society’s collection is housed, and only available through appointment, in the basement of the North Miami City Hall building and in the City of North Miami Library. It includes a true treasure trove of documents and objects related to the history of the North Miami area: thousands of historic photographs of community and city events, including aerial views of when the City was being developed; a collection of Miami-Dade County plat books, earliest from 1946; newspapers dating back to the 1920s when the original town was incorporated; recordings; local publications and school yearbooks; scrapbooks; ephemera, etc.

Florida East Coast Railway station at Arch Creek, 1955. No longer in existence.
Greater North Miami Historical Society

One of North Miami’s famous part-time residents was Albert Staehle, the great animal illustrator. He was the creator of the first Smokey Bear image for the U.S. Forest Service’s Wildfire Prevention Campaign in 1944, and many other animal illustrated advertising campaigns, such as the original Borden’s milk cow. Some of his papers and drawings are held by the Greater North Miami Historical Society.