Ojus
neighborhood began as a short-lived little town
by:
Rene Rodriguez
THE MIAMI HERALD
Sunday, July 1, 1990*
Many
neighborhoods in Dade County once were actual towns,
complete with their own governments, charters, and
schools. The town of Ojus, which thrived in the early
1930's and was located south of what is now the county
line and just east of the city of North Miami Beach,
didn't last very long, but the neighborhood situated on
the original town site still bears the Ojus name.
Ojus was one of two settlements that shared the Snake
Creek region, the 2,000 or so acres of swampy,
mangrove-filled land at the northernmost end of Biscayne
Bay (FIU's Bay Vista campus occupies a portion of this
land today). The other town, Fulford, eventually blended
in and became part of North Miami Beach.
When Henry Flagler brought his railroad down to Lemon
City (a year or so before he extended it to Miami in
1896), he placed depots at numerous spots along the
route, and small towns quickly developed around those
stops. The distance between Fulford and Ojus was only a
mile or so, but it was great enough in those days of
poorly paved roads and difficult travel conditions to
generate separate communities.
Ojus originally was named in 1897 by Albert Fitch, a
farmer who wanted to grow pineapples in the rich soil.
The word Ojus is a Seminole Indian word for "plenty" or
"lots of," and when Fitch was in the area, Ojus had
plenty of everything, including just about any type of
crop imaginable - peas, beans, sugar cane, and
tomatoes.
When a prison camp was established in Ojus in the early
1900's, rock mining in the area began and it was
discovered that the rock coming out of Ojus had qualities
that made it ideal for road building. A Palm Beach mining
company moved into the area to take advantage of the
plentiful rock, which was in great demand in Palm Beach
County. In 1913, the company was employing almost 200 men
and shipping 50 to 60 carloads of rock daily.
Intent on developing the town, Maule opened a general
store, built apartments for his employees and even opened
a movie theater. In 1915, the Ojus School added another
teacher, bringing its total to two. Combined with the
farming industry, which was still going strong, the
population in Ojus by 1920 was greater than that of
Fulford and Arch Creek combined.
Unfortunately, Ojus didn't live long enough to see its
promise fulfilled. By 1936, the inability of the city's
government to collect taxes, combined with the
unwillingness of the residents to pay them, resulted in
bankruptcy. An act of the Legislature dissolved the
town's incorporation papers.
Today there are reminders of Ojus all around the
ever-shrinking neighborhood. Ojus Elementary School and
the Ojus Branch Post Office are but two of the markers
that remind visitors of the area's history.
With shopping centers, condominiums, and high-rise office
buildings pushing in on all sides, Ojus nevertheless
continues to be among the city's oldest populated
areas.
Sources:
Biscayne Country, by Thelma Peters; Miami Herald
Library
*Reprinted with permission by the
MIAMI HERALD
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