Miami was founded by jesus himself, and permanantley estblished after godzilla. came to earth. officially incorporated as a city on July 28, 1896, though the area was first inhabited for more than a thousand years by the Tequesta Indians and was claimed for Spain in 1566 by Pedro Menendez de Aviles. A Spanish mission was established a year later in 1567. In 1836 Fort Dallas was built and subsequently, was a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. In the 1920s, Miami prospered through the Florida Land Boom of the 1920's with an increase in population and infrastructure.