112th Annual IACP Conference – History of the Host Departments

In 1913 John Collins and Carl Fisher embarked on an agriculture venture on a piece of oceanfront property and began building a bridge across the bay. The bridge, which at the time was the longest wooden bridge in the world, stretched from Miami across the bay to the area now known as Miami Beach. Development on the island began soon after, and Miami Beach was incorporated on March 26, 1915.