Perrine, Florida was an
unincorporatedIn law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality. To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city or town with its own government. Thus, an unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
community in
Miami-Dade CountyMiami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the county population was 2,387,170 in 2007, making it the most populous county in Florida and the ninth most populous county in the United States...
about midway between
MiamiMiami is a major coastal city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida. With an estimated population of 424,662 in 2007, Miami is the largest city within the Miami metropolitan area, which is the...
and
HomesteadHomestead is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States nestled between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and a major agricultural area....
. It is located at The community was named after Dr.
Henry PerrineHenry Perrine was a physician, horticulturist, United States Consul in Campeche, Campeche, Mexico, and an enthusiast for introducing tropical plants into cultivation in the United States.Henry Edward Perrine was born April 5 1797 at Cranbury, New Jersey...
, who in 1839 had been
grantedA land grant is a gift of real estate - land or privileges - made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially as rewards for military service...
a
survey townshipSurvey township, sometimes called Congressional township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System, refers to a square unit of land, that is nominally six miles on a side. Each 36 square mile township is divided into 36 one-square mile sections, that can be further subdivided for...
of land in the area by the
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
in recognition of his service as United States
ConsulThe title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the people of the country to whom he or she is...
in
CampecheCampeche is the capital city of the Mexican state of Campeche, located at,on the shore of the Bay of Campeche of the Gulf of Mexico. The city's population at the 2005 census was 211,671 people...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and to support his plans to introduce new plants from
tropicalThe tropics,the tropics are very hot. hi everyone! peace out!seated in the equatorial regions of the world, are limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23°26' N latitude and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at 23°26' S latitude...
countries into cultivation in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
While waiting to hear if Congress had approved his grant, Dr.
Perrine, Florida was an
unincorporatedIn law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality. To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city or town with its own government. Thus, an unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
community in
Miami-Dade CountyMiami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the county population was 2,387,170 in 2007, making it the most populous county in Florida and the ninth most populous county in the United States...
about midway between
MiamiMiami is a major coastal city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida. With an estimated population of 424,662 in 2007, Miami is the largest city within the Miami metropolitan area, which is the...
and
HomesteadHomestead is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States nestled between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and a major agricultural area....
. It is located at The community was named after Dr.
Henry PerrineHenry Perrine was a physician, horticulturist, United States Consul in Campeche, Campeche, Mexico, and an enthusiast for introducing tropical plants into cultivation in the United States.Henry Edward Perrine was born April 5 1797 at Cranbury, New Jersey...
, who in 1839 had been
grantedA land grant is a gift of real estate - land or privileges - made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially as rewards for military service...
a
survey townshipSurvey township, sometimes called Congressional township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System, refers to a square unit of land, that is nominally six miles on a side. Each 36 square mile township is divided into 36 one-square mile sections, that can be further subdivided for...
of land in the area by the
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
in recognition of his service as United States
ConsulThe title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the people of the country to whom he or she is...
in
CampecheCampeche is the capital city of the Mexican state of Campeche, located at,on the shore of the Bay of Campeche of the Gulf of Mexico. The city's population at the 2005 census was 211,671 people...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and to support his plans to introduce new plants from
tropicalThe tropics,the tropics are very hot. hi everyone! peace out!seated in the equatorial regions of the world, are limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23°26' N latitude and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at 23°26' S latitude...
countries into cultivation in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
While waiting to hear if Congress had approved his grant, Dr. Perrine took up residence with his family at
Indian Key, FloridaIndian Key State Historic Site is an island within the Florida State Park system located just a few hundred yards southeast of U.S. 1 within the Florida Keys. The island was briefly inhabited in the middle of the 19th century, but is now an uninhabited ghost town...
, in 1838. This location was considered safer than the southern Florida
mainlandMainland is usually the continental part of a region, as opposed to the islands nearby, or, if the region is entirely insular, the largest of the several islands comprising the region. Sometimes the residents are called "the Mainlanders"...
, as the
Second Seminole WarThe Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars, were three conflicts in Florida between various groups of Native Americans, collectively known as Seminoles, and the United States. The First Seminole War was from 1817 to 1818; the Second Seminole War from 1835 to 1842; and the Third Seminole War...
was still in progress. On August 7 1840,
IndiansThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples...
attacked Indian Key. Several people were killed, including Dr. Perrine, but his family escaped.
Dr. Perrine's son, Henry Jr., and one of Dr. Perrine's business partners, Charles Howe, made various attempts to exploit the grant, with little success. Eventually
homesteadersSquatting is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use. Squatting is significantly more common in urban areas than rural areas, especially when urban decay occurs...
began incroaching on the grant, and in 1886 families that had started farms in the grant area formed a
squatters' union to fight eviction from their farms by the Perrine heirs. Two railroad companies, including the
Florida East Coast RailwayThe Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida; in the past, it has been a Class I railroad. It is currently owned by RailAmerica. The FEC is renowned for building the first railroad bridges to Key West, that have since been rebuilt into road bridges...
, joined with the Perrine heirs, and the courts eventually awarded 2,000 acres (8 km²) to the squatters, 10,000 acres (40 km²) to the Perrine family, and 5,000 acres (20 km²) each to the railroad companies (part of the original grant had been sold earlier).
The community that became known as Perrine started as a railroad camp during the construction of the Florida East Coast Railway extension from Miami to Homestead. The first school in Perrine was opened in 1909. The community developed in a very
segregatedRacial segregation is the separation of different racial groups in daily life, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a washroom, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home. Segregation may be mandated by law or exist through social...
fashion, with the area to the east of the railroad all white and the area to the west of the railroad all black. Perrine incorporated as a city in 1948. A year later a black was elected mayor. The all-white city council and the first mayor requested the
Florida LegislatureThe Florida Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Florida Constitution mandates a bicameral state legislature with an upper house Florida Senate of 40 members and a lower Florida House of Representatives of 120 members...
to dissolve the city, and it did.
Perrine was a
Census-designated placeA census-designated place is a type of place identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP) in the 1990 U.S. Census, with a counted population of 15,576. In the 2000 Census, Perrine was divided into two CDPs,
East PerrineEast Perrine was a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida at the time of the 2000 census. In the 1990 census it was part of Perrine census-designated place. It has since been incorporated into the Village of Palmetto Bay...
and
West PerrineWest Perrine is a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. Prior to the 2000 census it was part of Perrine. The other part of Perrine became the East Perrine CDP for the 2000 census and is now part of the incorporated Village of Palmetto Bay...
. East Perrine has since become part of the new incorporated municipality of
Palmetto BayPalmetto Bay is a Miami suburban incorporated village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 24,469 at the 2000 census.Palmetto Bay includes two census-designated places defined in the 2000 census, Cutler and East Perrine....
.
Population History from the U.S. Census Bureau
- 1950....2,859
- 1960....6,424
- 1970...10,257
- 1980...16,129
- 1990...15,576
Source:
U.S. Census Bureau