Photos: Look back at 100 years of Miami-Dade history
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Opa-Locka hosted scrimmages for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1948. Photo: Department of Commerce Collection/PhotoQuest/Getty Images
Let's take a walk down memory lane, tracing the histories of our centennial cities.
The Biltmore Hotel
The Coral Gables landmark, which opened in 1926, hosted alligator wrestlers, presidents and British royalty, according to Coral Gables Magazine.
- "Tarzan" star and Olympic champion Johnny Weissmuller worked there as a lifeguard and swim instructor, per Forbes.
- It served as a military hospital during World War II, as the University of Miami's School of Medicine and then as a veterans' hospital until 1968, according to the city.
- It was restored as a luxury hotel in 1987.
In 1930, baseball legend Babe Ruth played golf at the hotel.
Opa-Locka City Hall
Opa-Locka's historic city hall was built in 1926 and renovated earlier this year.
- The city says it's the "capital of Moorish architecture" in the Western hemisphere.
Miami Freedom Tower
The Miami Freedom Tower, which celebrates 100 years this month, housed the offices of the The Miami News before serving as a refugee center for hundreds of thousands of Cuban exiles in the 1960s and '70s.
- Designed by Schultze and Weaver, the same architects behind the Biltmore, the Freedom Tower was once the tallest building in the South.
- The national landmark, owned by Miami Dade College, is scheduled to reopen this month after undergoing repairs.
