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B−History
History · Coral Gables

Coral Gables dates to 1925, and 13 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #88 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Coral Gables was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. 13 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Miami-Biltmore Hotel, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 32 buildings. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1930.

1925founded
13on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
16old photos & papers
37famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Coral Gables’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Coral Gables began

When was Coral Gables founded?

1925

Coral Gables dates its founding to 1925 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 5,697 in 19302020 census: 49,248101 years

How historic is Coral Gables?

B−

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Coral Gables’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coral Gables is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #88 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Coral Gables’ overall grade.
Founding era1925, from Wikipedia: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19409.9% of homes (±1.4) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register13 listings, 48 historic buildings, 9.6 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 46%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 86%

Few Florida towns list much on the Register (a typical Florida town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Coral Gables’ 9.6 sits above most of its state (84% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 48 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1925.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Coral Gables’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A National Historic Landmark13 places on the National Register, including Miami-Biltmore Hotel, a National Historic Landmark.A historic districtThe MacFarlane Homestead Historic District takes in 32 historic buildings.A town in postcards16 old photos, postcards and papers.Lost villages5 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

13 listings protect 48 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
13
National Historic Landmark
1
Miami-Biltmore Hotel
historic buildings protected
48
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Douglas Entrance
Douglas Entrance, built 1927Coral Gables HouseCoral Gables City Hall, built 1928Coral Gables Congregational Church, built 1923Venetian PoolCoral Gables Police and Fire StationCoral Gables Elementary SchoolEntrance to Central MiamiCoral Gables Woman's ClubMacFarlane Homestead Historic DistrictCoco Plum Woman's ClubCla-Reina HotelMiami-Biltmore Hotel, built 1926★
BuildingsDistrictsStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Mediterranean Revival3
Mediterranean2
Moderne2
Spanish Style1
Mediterranean Style1
Mission1
★ Landmark
Miami-Biltmore HotelSpanish Style · Built 1926
Douglas EntranceMediterranean Style · Built 1927
Coral Gables HouseBuilding
Coral Gables City HallMediterranean · Built 1928
Coral Gables Congregational ChurchMediterranean Revival · Built 1923
Venetian PoolMediterranean
Coral Gables Police and Fire StationMediterranean Revival
Coral Gables Elementary SchoolMission
All 13 listings
Entrance to Central MiamiStructure · listed 1989Coral Gables Woman's ClubBuilding · listed 1990MacFarlane Homestead Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1994Coco Plum Woman's ClubBuilding · listed 2005Cla-Reina HotelBuilding · listed 2020

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

By decade

Coral Gables, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s16 items
Crowd gathered around a biplane, part of Mabel Cody's Flying Circus1922Crowd gathered around a biplane, part of Mabel Cody's…Coral Gables - Country Club1924Coral Gables - Country ClubPostcardCoral Gables - Golf and Country Club1924Coral Gables - Golf and Country ClubPostcardCoral Gables - Ponce de Leon Plaza1924Coral Gables - Ponce de Leon PlazaPostcardCoral Gables baseball team1924Coral Gables baseball teamMr. Hirsch with caddies at the Coral Gables Country Club1924Mr. Hirsch with caddies at the Coral Gables Country C…Coral Gables - Antilla Hotelc. 1925Coral Gables - Antilla HotelPostcardCoral Gables - Granada entrance1925Coral Gables - Granada entrancePostcardCoral Gables - Venetian Casinoc. 1925Coral Gables - Venetian CasinoPostcardChef at the Coral Gables Country Club1925Chef at the Coral Gables Country ClubCoral Gables Fire Department1925Coral Gables Fire DepartmentFootball stadium during construction at University of Miami1925Football stadium during construction at University of…Novelist and Olympian Rex Beach1925Novelist and Olympian Rex BeachTennis players in1925Tennis players inGolfers on the Coral Gables Country Club1926Golfers on the Coral Gables Country ClubGondola ride in1926Gondola ride in
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
The story

How Coral Gables came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Coral Gables.

Read it all →

Coral Gables was formally incorporated as a city on April 29, 1925. It is a planned community based on the popular early 20th-century City Beautiful Movement and is known for its strict zoning regulations. The city was developed by George Merrick, a real estate developer from Pennsylvania, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. Merrick named the development after his family's home, a plantation built in the early 1900s. The main building of their estate had been named Coral Gables because it was built with Miami Limestone (commonly called "coral rock") and coral-colored Ludowici tile. Much of the early construction in Coral Gables was carried out by Bahamian immigrant laborers, many of whom were skilled stonemasons experienced in working with the local coral rock used in many of the city’s early buildings and infrastructure.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Coral Gables, 1922 to 1996

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1922In the archiveCrowd gathered around a biplane, part of Mabel Cody's Flying Circus
  3. 1923BuiltCoral Gables Congregational Church is built
  4. 1925
    FoundingCoral Gables is established
  5. 1926BuiltMiami-Biltmore Hotel is built
  6. 1927BuiltDouglas Entrance is built
  7. 1928BuiltCoral Gables City Hall is built
  8. 1936Born hereBob Graham is born here
  9. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1956Born hereMimi Rogers is born here
  11. 1958Born hereThurston Moore is born here
  12. 1959Born hereBob Lazar is born here
  13. 1996LandmarkMiami-Biltmore Hotel named a National Historic Landmark
On the map

Coral Gables on the map, 1950 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coral Gables. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Coral Gables on the 1950 USGS mapCoral Gables on the 1969 USGS mapCoral Gables on the 1988 USGS mapCoral Gables on the 1994 USGS map1950South Miami sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Coral Gables.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Crowd gathered around a biplane, part of Mabel Cody's Flying Circus
Retake this viewCrowd gathered around a biplane, part of Mabel Cody's Flying Circus, 1922

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Coral Gables’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Coral Gables, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,0001940196019802000202049,248

Grew from 5,697 people in 1930 to 49,248 in 2020, 8 times over.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Coral Gables’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

37 famous people were born in Coral Gables

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
M
Mimi RogersAmerican actress · b. 1956
Thurston MooreAmerican guitarist · b. 1958
B
Bob LazarAmerican businessman and ufologist · b. 1959
Bob GrahamAmerican lawyer, author, and politician · b. 1936
Katherine KurtzAmerican fantasy writer · b. 1944
A
Anthony AddabboAmerican actor · b. 1960
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Deering BayGables by the SeaGables EstatesKings BaySunrise Harbor
Gone or out of use
North Gables Hospitalhospital

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Coral Gables’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCrowd gathered around a biplane, part o…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

PinecrestIts storyD−Miami73 historic placesA−Palmetto Bay1 historic placeC−

Questions about Coral Gables’ history

What year was Coral Gables founded?

In 1925, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1930 counted 5,697 people here.

How does Coral Gables rank for history?

Coral Gables is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #88 of 638 in Florida. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Coral Gables?

13 listings: 10 buildings, among them the Miami-Biltmore Hotel (a National Historic Landmark since 1996) and the Douglas Entrance (listed 1972, the first), 1 historic district, the MacFarlane Homestead Historic District, with 32 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 48 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Coral Gables?

10% of Coral Gables’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1969.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (16), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (13), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.