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In 1890, entrepreneur and businesswoman Julia Tuttle used her inheritance to purchase 640 acres on the Miami River and started a movement to establish a new city there.
Legend has it, Tuttle convinced railroad tycoon Henry Flagler to extend his railway to Miami by sending him an orange, proving that tropical Miami was unaffected by the Great Freeze of 1894-1895. To top it off, she offered to split her land with him.
Within months of the first train service to the area, Miami incorporated in 1896 – the only major U.S. city to have been founded by a woman.
– Margaret Willard, The 100 Companies