Editing Homestead, Florida (section)

==History==

In 1898, the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) planned an extension from Miami to Key West, proposing a station 30 miles south of Miami. [[Henry Flagler]], founder of the FEC, agreed and suggested naming the station "Ingraham" after James E. Ingraham who was the vice president and land commissioner for the FEC at the time. Ingraham declined and suggested naming it "Homestead" instead, even though no one had homesteaded in the area at the time. At this time homesteading was ongoing north and northwest of the proposed station in the area that is now known as Redland.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Grunwell |first=George |title=The First 100 Years of the Homestead Post Office |publisher=Florida Pioneer Museum Association |year=2005 |location=Florida City |pages=1}}</ref>

Before the Homestead station was built a railway surveyor named John S. Fredricks laid out a town site around the planned station site on land owned by the FEC. At the time, it was common to plan towns around rail stations in undeveloped areas.<ref name=":0" />

In July 1904, the Florida East Coast Railway opened the first station in what would later become Homestead. In October 1904, a settler and entrepreneur named William D. Horne arrived to homestead and was the first person to buy a lot at the new town site surrounding the railway. Shortly after his arrival, Mr. Horne constructed the first privately owned building in homestead & used it as a store, rooming house & post office. Today that building still stands as the historic Redland Hotel.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grunwell |first=George |title=The First 100 Years of the Homestead Florida Post Office |year=2005 |location=Florida City, Florida |pages=2}}</ref>

Homestead was incorporated in 1913 and is the second oldest city in [[Miami-Dade County]] next to the city of Miami.  The name originates from when the [[Florida East Coast Railway]] extension to [[Key West, Florida|Key West]] was being built. The rail line was passing through an area opened up for [[Homestead Act|homesteading]], and as the construction camp at the end of the line did not have a particular name, construction materials and supplies for the workers were consigned to "Homestead Country", shortened to "Homestead" by the engineers who mapped the area.<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Jean |date=1985 |title=Villages of South Dade|location=St. Petersburg, Fla |publisher=B. Kennedy |oclc=18906834 |lccn=88132899 |page=157}}</ref>

The [[1926 Miami hurricane|1926 hurricane]] and real estate downturn caused many small businesses and banks in Florida to fail. A lot of people left because their homes were destroyed or flooded, and most did not have insurance, facing hefty mortgage payments.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grunwell |first=George |title=The First 100 Years of the Homestead Post Office |publisher=Florida Pioneer Museum Association |year=2005 |location=Florida City |pages=9}}</ref>

Homestead and neighboring South [[Miami-Dade County]] communities bore the brunt of Category 5 [[Hurricane Andrew]] on August 24, 1992.

In 2013, Homestead officially designated itself the [[gateway community]] for Biscayne and Everglades National Parks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Everglades and Biscayne National Parks Welcome City of Homestead Recognition as Gateway City - Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/ever/learn/news/everglades-and-biscayne-national-parks-welcome-city-of-homestead-recognition-as-gateway-city.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250323012043/https://www.nps.gov/ever/learn/news/everglades-and-biscayne-national-parks-welcome-city-of-homestead-recognition-as-gateway-city.htm |archive-date=2025-03-23 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=National Parks {{!}} Homestead, FL - Official Website |url=https://www.homesteadfl.gov/330/National-Parks |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250312213233/https://www.homesteadfl.gov/330/National-Parks |archive-date=2025-03-12 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.homesteadfl.gov}}</ref>