The city is a Mediterranean-themed planned community[8][9] known for its historic and affluent character reinforced by its strict zoning, popular landmarks, and tourist sights.[10][11][12][13][14]
TheUniversity of Miami is located in Coral Gables.[15] With 16,479 faculty and staff as of 2021, the university is the largest employer in Coral Gables and second-largest employer in all of Miami-Dade County.[16]
George Merrick's family home, originally known asCoral Gables
Coral Gables was formally incorporated as a city on April 29, 1925. It was and remains aplanned community based on the popular early twentieth centuryCity Beautiful Movement and is known for its strict zoning regulations.[17] The city was developed byGeorge Merrick, a real estate developer fromPennsylvania, during theFlorida 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 withMiami Limestone (commonly called "coral rock") and coral-coloredLudowici tile.[18]
Early in the city's planning and development, Merrick shared his vision for Coral Gables as "a most extraordinary opportunity for the building of 'Castles in Spain'," according to Coral Gables historianArva Moore Parks.[20] Merrick's success in executing this vision for the city would catch the attention ofSpain's King,Alfonso XIII, who awarded Merrick theOrder of Isabella the Catholic for his support of Spanish culture in Coral Gables.[21][22]
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.[23] That year also saw the opening of theBiltmore Hotel and Golf Course, a major landmark in city.
Merrick meticulously designed the city with distinct zones. For example, he designed the Downtown commercial district to be only four blocks wide and more than 2 miles (3.2 km) long. The main artery, now known asMiracle Mile, 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 electrictrolley system, which was ended as a result of the growing usage of automobiles,[24] but now a new free circulatortrolley system, initiated in November 2003, runs down Ponce de León Boulevard. Another distinctive and character-defining feature of the city planned by Merrick are the themedCoral Gables Villages that date to the 1920s and were designed to expand the city's architecture beyond Spanish influence to include Italian, French, and Dutch South African among others.
In 1925, roughly simultaneous to the founding of Coral Gables, theUniversity of Miami was constructed on 240 acres (97 ha) of land just west ofU.S. 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.[25]
DuringWorld War II, many Navy pilots and mechanics were trained and housed in Coral Gables.
The skyline of Coral Gables in December 2014Spanish-style house built in 1925. The house is typical of the Mediterranean-inspiredarchitecture that has shaped the city of Coral Gables since its creation.[26]
Coral Gables has traditionally placed high priority on historic preservation. The city passed its first preservation ordinance in 1973 as many of its founding structures from the 1920s began to reach their 50th anniversaries.[27] Further ordinances were enacted in the 1980s establishing the Historic Preservation Board and in the 1990s establishing the Historic Preservation Department, now called the Historical Resources & Cultural Arts Department.[27]
As part of the city's historic preservation program the Historical Resources Department is tasked with researching and identifying significant properties and local landmarks for listing in the Coral Gables Registry of Historic Places as well as on national historic registers. The department also reviews modifications to locally designated landmarks and initiates grant proposals.[28] The Historic Preservation Board is a quasi-judicial body that votes on local landmark designations and other issues pertaining to the historic character of the city.[29]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 37.2 square miles (96 km2) of which 13.1 square miles (34 km2) is land and 24.0 square miles (62 km2) (64.64%) is water.
As of the2020 United States census, there were 49,248 people, 18,457 households, and 11,087 families residing in the city.[63]
In 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the median household income in the city was $118,203; the estimated per capita income, $74,780. Some 9.5 of citizens were estimated to be living below the poverty line.[64]
As of the2010 United States census, there were 46,780 people, 16,453 households, and 10,377 families residing in the city.[65] In 2010, 11.4% of households were vacant.
In 2000, 24.45% had children under the age of 18 living with them. As of 2000, in Coral Gables, 61.11% were family households, 17.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.89% were non-families. The average household size was 2.36, and the average household had 1.68 vehicles.
TheUniversity of Miami, a private university ranked in the top tier of national universities,[81] with particular national status in the fields of business, engineering, law,marine science, medicine, communications, and music, is located in Coral Gables.[82]
Coral Gables schools are part ofMiami-Dade County Public Schools, which serves Miami-Dade County. The district has several high schools in Coral Gables, most notablyCoral Gables Senior High School and International Studies Preparatory Academy, both of which educate students in grades nine through 12. It also has a K–8 school,Coral Gables Preparatory Academy (formerly Coral Gables Elementary School), with two campuses, including a historic campus located on Ponce de Leon Boulevard. Henry S. West Laboratory Elementary is another school for K–6. Finally it has two middle schools:George Washington Carver Middle School located on Lincoln Drive and Ponce de Leon Middle School located across from the University of Miami on the east side ofU.S. Route 1 on Augusto Street. Present day George Washington Carver Middle was moved to the current location on Grand Avenue on land donated byGeorge Merrick. When Carver died in 1942, the school was renamed in his honor.[83]
Gulliver Academy, Marian C. Krutulis Campus, a PreK–8 school that is a member ofGulliver Schools, is within Coral Gables.[84] The management offices of Gulliver Schools were formerly located in Coral Gables.[85] The lower campus ofRiviera Schools is located in Coral Gables.
TheMiami Herald is the region's predominant daily newspaper. Coral Gables has one newspaper,Coral Gables News Tribune, which is published twice monthly and covers local and regional news and one weekly newspaper that is part of the portfolio of Miami Community Newspapers publications.[86]
^Language spoken at home among residents at least five years old; only languages (or language groups) which at least 2% of residents have spoken at any time since 1980 are mentioned
^Freeland, Helen C."George Edgar Merrick"(PDF).www.digitalcollections.fiu.edu. Florida International University Digital Collections. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on May 2, 2021. RetrievedMay 2, 2021.
^"Census Counts: 1890-2020".Florida Municipal Population Census Counts: 1890 to 2020. Office of Economic and Demographic Research, The Florida Legislature. 2023.Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. RetrievedJune 21, 2023.
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