Architecture of Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables was one of the first planned communities, and its planning was based on the popular early twentieth century City Beautiful Movement. It is infamous for its strict zoning city was developed by George Merrick during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The city's architecture is almost entirely Mediterranean Revival style, mandated in the original plan, including the Coral Gables Congregational Church, donated by Merrick. The domed Catholic Church of the Little Flower was built somewhat later, in a similar Spanish Renaissance style. By 1926, the city covered 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) and had netted $150 million in sales, with over $100 million spent on development. A section of historic Coral Gables Rapid Transit track on Segovia Avenue. Merrick meticulously designed the downtown commercial district to be only four blocks wide and more than 2 miles ( km) long. The main artery bisected the business district. Merrick could boast that every business in Coral Gables was less than a two-block walk. The city used to have an electric trolley system, which was replaced by the popularity of modern automobiles, but now a new free circulator trolley system, initiated in November 2003, runs down Ponce de León Boulevard. In 1925, roughly simultaneous to the founding of Coral Gables, the University of Miami was constructed on 240 acres of land just west of Route 1, approximately two miles south of downtown Coral Gables. By the fall of 1926, the first class of 372 students enrolled at the university. During World War II many Navy pilots and mechanics were trained and housed in Coral Gables.
Size: 5231px × 7638px
Location: Coral Gables, Florida
Photo credit: © Ken Hawkins / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
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Keywords: architecture, class, climate, community, edgar, elite, florida, floridian, george, hispanic, hot, merrick, miami, planned, republican, rich, south, suburb, tropical, university, upper, warm, wealth, wealthy
