South Beach began as farmland. In 1870, Henry and Charles Lum obtained 165 sections of land (67 ha) for coconut cultivating. Charles Lum constructed the primary house on the sea shore in 1886. In 1894, the Lum siblings left the island, leaving control of the ranch to John Collins, who came to South Beach two years after the fact to overview the land. He utilized the land for cultivating purposes, finding crisp water and expanding his bundle from fourteenth Street to 67th in 1907.[citation needed]

In 1912, Miami agents the Lummus Brothers procured 400 sections of land (160 ha) of Collins' territory with an end goal to assemble an oceanfront city of unobtrusive single family habitations. In 1913 Collins began development of an extension from Miami to Miami Beach. Albeit some nearby inhabitants put resources into the extension, Collins ran shy of cash before he could finish it.