Sweetwater, Miami Dade County, Florida

Geography

Sweetwater is located at 25°45′58″N 80°22′25″W (25.765977, -80.373624).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), all land, until December 2010. The city tripled in size upon the annexation of additional areas, including where Dolphin Mall is located. The annexed area is roughly bounded by Northwest Seventh and 25th streets, 107th Avenue and Florida's Turnpike extension.

Surrounding areas

History

The history of Sweetwater actually began during the Florida land boom of the 1920s when the Miami-Pittsburgh Land Company purchased land and laid out the original plat of "Sweetwater Groves." However, the 1926 Miami Hurricane and subsequent South Florida real estate "bust" put an abrupt end to the development venture.

In 1938, Clyde Andrews acquired most of the "Sweetwater Groves" tract and began to market lots. Among his buyers was a troupe of Russian dwarves seeking a place to retire after a career with the circus. They built several mini-scaled homes suited to their needs. For years, Sweetwater was known as the "midget" community.

In 1941, Sweetwater held a successful election for incorporation. The new town's first mayor was Joe Sanderlin, the midgets' guardian and manager. By 1959, Sweetwater had attracted 500 residents and contained a town hall, church, grocery store, service station and 183 homes. It also had a two-man police force and a volunteer fire department. In 1970, Sweetwater was still a relatively small community of about 3,000 residents.

During the 1970s, several events dramatically changed the "sleepy little country town" of Sweetwater forever. These events included the establishment of Florida International University to the south of the city, the construction of the two major expressways to the north and west, and the discovery of Sweetwater by Dade County's Hispanic community. The growth and development which was precipitated by these occurrences caused Sweetwater to more than double in population and lead all other Dade cities in growth during the 1970s.

In March 1996, Sweetwater made national news as 69 animals were found dead on 2 properties in the city. Dade County police and the local zoologist blamed a large dog, while many residents blamed the killings on the Chupacabra.

Presently, there are only a few vacant lots left to develop. The city's population has burgeoned to over 14,200 persons of which more than 93% are of Hispanic origin. The City can now boast of having their own full-service police department, which has its problems with corruption. The department is infamous for its heavy ticketing and harassment to its citizens. It also has a fire department, as well as the city hall complex, four parks, an elementary school, a county fire station, 4,353 residential housing units, 14 shopping centers, over 600 businesses, several churches and a bank. There are two 24-hour diners in Sweetwater, which are Rey's Pizza (Cuban Style Pizza) and La Esquinita Havanera (Cuban Cuisine). Both are located a short distance from each other off 107th Avenue. Sweetwater is also located near Miami International Mall. After a December 2010 vote, Dolphin Mall is now part of the city.

Demographics

Sweetwater is a city in Dade County, in the South Florida metro area.

As of 2010, there were 4,195 households out of which 1.9% were vacant. In 2000, 39.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.7% were married couples living together, 19.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.8% were non-families. 12.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.33 and the average family size was 3.55.

In 2000, the City population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.9 males.

In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $29,333, and the median income for a family was $30,823. Males had a median income of $22,378 versus $17,020 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,098. About 08.4% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.3% of those under age 18 and 21.7% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2013, Spanish was the mother tongue for 95.30% of the population, while English was spoken by 2.90% of all residents. Speakers of other Indo-European languages accounted for 0.30%, while the combined total of those who spoke an Asian language or Pacific Islander language made up 0.80%. The rest of the people who spoke any other languages in Sweetwater were at 0.70%. In total, 97.10% of the populace spoke something other than English as their first language.

As of 2000, 16.63% of Sweetwater residents identified as being of Nicaraguan heritage. This was the highest percentage of Nicaraguans and Nicaraguan Americans of any place in the country. As a result, Sweetwater is locally known as "Little Managua" after Managua, the Nicaraguan capital. It had the tenth highest percentage of Cuban residents in the US, at 49.92% of the city's population, and the ninety-sixth highest percentage of Colombian residents in the US, at 1.72% of its population (tied with Davie and Maywood, New Jersey.) It also had the twenty-ninth most Hondurans in the US, at 1.31% of all residents.

Education

Sweetwater is within the Dade County Public Schools.

Percentage of College Graduates 13% of Sweetwater residents age 25 and older have a bachelor's or advanced college degree.

Elementary Schools

Public Middle Schools

Public High Schools

Universities