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By the early 1900s, the area encompassing today’s Miami Shores Village was occupied by a starch (coontie) mill, a tomato packing plant, a saw mill, a pineapple plantation and a grapefruit grove. These were the various enterprises in which the early pioneers were engaged and with the coming of the railroad and its stop at the Biscayne Station, they were able to live off the land. Two of the most successful growers were Major Hugh Gordon and T.V. Moore. T.V. Moore owned the land in what is today’s commercial district, while the Gordon Tract bordered the bay. By 1922, Lee T. Cooper, who had amassed his wealth from a patent medicine by the name of Tanlac, purchased T.V. Moore’s land holdings. Cooper planned to develop the area and named it Bay View Estates. In 1924, the Shoreland Company purchased the Gordon Tract, Bay View Estates and other scattered acreage in order to create Miami Shores, “America’s Mediterranean.”

Hugh M. Anderson, president of the Shoreland Company, and its board of directors were experienced real estate developers. They previously completed the successful development of the Venetian Islands and they decided that their new project would be similar – residences of Italian inspired architecture within a landscape associated with water. The master development plan for Greater Miami Shores included 9,000 building sites, 5 2/3 miles of bay frontage, four miles of inland waterways and ten miles of main roadways. The plans also called for the construction of a causeway to Miami Beach, a golf course, a country club, a yacht club, a business district, apartment buildings, hotels, a school and churches, a railroad station and beautifying features such as parks, plazas and entryways.

A total of 118 upscale Mediterranean Homes were built by the Shoreland Company. These homes have great historic value, and 25 have been National Historic Designated so far. The commercial building program was in progress, sidewalks and roadways were being laid out and lighting and landscape work was well underway. Record setting sales and resales of property were being recorded. Unfortunately, on September 18, 1926, all plans for the community came to a halt with the arrival of a devastating hurricane. In addition, other factors contributed to the Shoreland Company’s bankruptcy in 1927.