Q. What construction worker on the Royal Palm Hotel later became Mayor of Miami?*

A man once observed, "The Florida East Coast Railroad reached here the latter part of April, 1896, and the passenger trains were soon put on. Then it seemed that the flood gates were opened and people came from everywhere." This man and his brother would both go on to become mayors of Miami.

(Royal Palm Hotel and Brickell's Point, Florida. New York : S. Langsdorf & Co., ca. 1910. Credit: Historical Museum of Southern Florida.)

A. John Sewell

Q. The principle material used in the construction of the Castillo de San Marcos was a sedimentary rock formed from billions of tiny seashells. What is this rock called?

The Castillo de San Marcos was built between 1672 and 1695 for protection against pirate attacks. The material used to build it was very good for protection against cannon balls, because rather than breaking the wall they would sink into it and could later be reused by the defenders.

(Castillo de San Marcos, ca. 1900. Credit: William Henry Jackson, Historical Museum of Southern Florida.)

A. Coquina

Q. Name three items a Seminole might bring to a trading post.

William and Mary Brickell’s trading post stood for more than 30 years near the Miami River. The Seminole tribe would commute from the Everglades to the mouth of the Miami River. Goods were transported in dugout canoes to be traded for glass beads and sewing machines.

A. Deerskin, buckskin, alligator hides, egret plumes, comptie, vegetables or game.

(Seminoles in two dugout canoes, (Miami River) ca. 1900. Credit: A. Kauffman, Historical Museum of Southern Florida.)

Q. Jet service to Miami was inaugurated by Pan American with a flight from what city?

Today the Miami International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. One of the airlines that helped make this possible is Pan American Airlines. The airline's Florida connection began with its inaugural flight from Key West to Havana in 1927. President Juan Trippe began two Miami airports for his planes; one for seaplanes at Dinner Key and the other at today's Miami International Airport. Thus, the city became the hub of Pan Am's Caribbean and Latin American routes.

(Pan American passenger plane, ca. 1928. Credit: Pan American Historical Foundation Collection, Historical Museum of Southern Florida.)

A. Boston.

Q. In 1513 ________ discovered Florida and claimed it in the name of Spain.

On April 3, 1513 a Spanish sailor and his crew saw land near what is now St. Augustine. The place was largely thought to be an island and named for its flowers; Pascua Florida. This sailor returned in 1521 only to fight with the Calusa peoples and be mortally wounded. Other Spanish explorers followed but left Florida largely unexplored for the next fifty years, because no riches were found.

(Who is this?)

A. Ponce de Leon