Last Saturday, August 23, it was time to kick off Miami Springs’ year long Centennial celebration as residents, guests and local dignitaries hopped on their bikes to visit some of the historic sites in Miami Springs.
Escorted by Miami Springs Police officers, hundreds of adults and kids took off from the Curtiss Mansion for a one-mile bike tour encompassing landmarks that included the Marine Corps Memorial, the Lua Curtiss House, the Osceola Apartment Hotel and the Hotel Country Club.
One year from now, on August 26, 2026, Miami Springs will turn 100 years old and Saturday’s event officially kicked off what will be a series of celebratory events over the next 12 months.
The kickoff celebration also paid homage to Glenn Curtiss, who developed Miami Springs, founded the U.S. aviation industry, and owned bike shops in the South Florida area.
He owned the iconic Curtiss Mansion which has been refurbished as a museum in his honor.
Miami Springs Senior High School Theatre Arts teacher Marielva Sieg and her drama club students hosted the landmark sites during the bike tour with story-telling at each site.
They were dressed for the occasion as well, in attire circa 1920s Miami Springs.
Among the many stops was the Marine Corps Memorial which is also a mainstay of Miami Springs rich history.

As the bikers toured the structure at the intersection of Curtiss Parkway and Deer Run, they learned it was dedicated to the First Marine Aviation Force and General Roy Geiger.
It was built in 1948 by the First Marine Aviation Force Veterans Association to commemorate Geiger’s contributions to Marine aviation history including his role in establishing the Marine Corps’ aviation program and training pilots during World War I and II.
It also marks the site of the original Marine airbase.
The Lua Curtiss House, built by Glenn Curtiss for his mother Lua Andrews Curtiss Adams, is a historic home known as The Alamo.
It’s a Y-shaped, two-story Pueblo Revival-style building that was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Place in 1985, as recognized as a Miami Springs historic site.
The City of Miami Springs, the Miami Springs Centennial Committee and Miami Springs Historical Society are collaborating for the city’s 100th birthday bash, planning a string of events leading to the big day in 2026.
Miami Spring Councilman Jorge Santin, who’s also the liaison for the Centennial Committee, said the bike tour was the first of many events for celebration.
“The bike tour is an opportunity for kids to engage in the history of the city,” said Santin. “What better way to do it than a bike ride. The bike ride is the start of adventures.”
Gazette columnist Buzz Fleisheman, who has lived in Miami Springs for 45 years, said Miami Springs is deep in history like no other community.
“The bike tour and the Curtiss Mansion, people are able to see what we have here,” he said. “Miami Springs is a great community where residents look out for each other. It’s like a glue that keeps us all together.”
Longtime Miami Springs resident Rebecca Kordsmeier said the bike tour was wonderful and should be a recurring event.
“I think we should do it more often,” she said.
Kordsmeier said the Centennial celebration undoubtedly is a game-changer for Miami Springs.
“It will definitely bring the community together,” she said.
Monica Ann Cedars, a former Miami Springs resident who now lives in Jacksonville, said she plans on being part of the 100th birthday bash.
Cedars recalls the times she and her family shared in the city for 30 years.
“Walking in the park, having coffee at the soaps and mingling were the best times in the Springs,” she said. “The city’s gatherings for years made Miami Springs a great community.”
Also at the bike tour event, Nick Acosta and his Miami Springs High School students who cooked and helped showcase their aerospace program including drones.
Local Boys Scouts Troop 334 were also on hand volunteering to watch the bicycles at Curtiss Mansion.
Though Glenn Curtiss is synonymous with aviation, his life and contributions in Miami Springs is cemented in the annals of the city’s 99 year history.
Rick Leisenring, Jr., emeritus curator of the Glenn Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York, wrote a book chronicling Curtiss’ life and is currently writing a second Curtiss novel.
Leisenring said when he became the curator for the museum, he had to dig into all the aspects of Curtiss’ life, from the time he joined the Aerial Experiment Association to build flying machines and his aviation contributions during World War I, to developing Miami Springs, Opa-locka and Hialeah, while also opening up his own bike shops in 1899; before later shifting his interest over to motorized bikes.
By 1902, Curtiss began building his own motorcycles.
Leisenring said Curtiss, who died in 1930, was an ambitious man but always gave the credit to those who assisted him in history-making endeavors and entrepreneurships.
“I always thought, as brilliant as he was, he realized he couldn’t do everything by himself,” Leisenring said. “So he found the sharpest minds to assist him. He was humble and always gave other people the credit.”