Miami Historian Seth Bramson to Write History of Sunny Isles Beach
By Seth Michaels

Sunny Isles Beach Mayor Norman S. Edelcup announced recently that the City has contracted with nationally known Miami-Dade historian Seth H. Bramson to write the history of the area and the municipality from its beginnings through the present.

Bramson, who is an adjunct professor at both Barry University and Florida International University, is the nation's foremost authority on the history of transportation to, from and within Florida and is the Company Historian of the Florida East Coast Railway. His book, "Speedway to Sunshine" is the official history of that famous line, and he is the author of "Miami Beach" and "Coral Gables," both published by Arcadia Publishing in their "Images of America" series as well as "Florida East Coast Railway" in Arcadia's "Rails of America" series.

The fascinating and incredible story of the city and the area prior to incorporation will be titled "From Sandbar to Sophistication: The Story of Sunny Isles Beach" and will examine, through text and photographs, the history of a unique part of South Florida that has made the transition from Motel Row to a city of glamorous and luxurious high rises and hotels.

With assistance from City of Sunny Isles Beach Mayor Norman S. Edelcup, Vice Mayor Roslyn Brezin, City Historian Richard C. Schulman, and Director of Administrative Services Alyce Hanson, Bramson will utilize much of his own collection (the largest private collection of Miami memorabilia and Floridiana in America) to tell the story, which will cover the history of the area from the arrival of Harvey B. Graves, who at one time owned most of what was to become Sunny Isles Beach as well as hundreds of acres west of Biscayne Boulevard on both sides on Northeast 163rd Street, the property that was known for many years as "the Graves tract," through the present day.

To be published by The History Press, of Charleston, the book, which will have a color cover, is expected to be delivered to the City prior to the tenth anniversary celebration in June 2007.

While the book will be marketed and sold nationwide, Mayor Edelcup and the Commission are in the process of making arrangements to make the book available to Sunny Isles Beach residents at a nominal cost following its publication.

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