Freedom Tower: Miami's 'Ellis Island' Turns 100

Long before anyone called it the Freedom Tower, a 17-story building on Biscayne Boulevard was just the tallest thing in Miami. A century later, it is one of the most emotionally loaded addresses in Florida, and it just reopened its doors.

Miami's First Skyscraper

Construction began in June 1924 and finished on July 26, 1925, making the tower Miami's first skyscraper. It was built as the headquarters of The Miami News, and its architects, Schultze and Weaver, modeled the design on the Giralda bell tower of Seville's cathedral, blending Spanish Renaissance Revival style with Moorish ornamentation.

At 17 stories and more than 82,000 square feet, it was the tallest building in Miami until 1928 and in Florida until 1926.

"El Refugio": Ellis Island of the South

The newspaper moved out in the 1950s, and the building sat mostly empty until the U.S. government took it over in 1962. From then until 1974, it operated as the Cuban Assistance Center, processing refugees fleeing Fidel Castro's revolution.

Cubans who passed through it nicknamed it "El Refugio," and it earned a lasting title: the Ellis Island of the South.

Inside, staff handled in-processing paperwork, basic medical and dental checkups, and relief aid, and helped families track down relatives already living in the United States.

Roughly 40,000 Cubans had already fled to the U.S. by the end of 1960, and more than 175,000 arrived on the "Freedom Flights" that ran between December 1965 and December 1969.

In total, an estimated 650,000 Cuban refugees entered the country between 1959 and 1974, at a federal cost of $957 million.

Miami Dade College, which now owns the building, says hundreds of thousands of them were welcomed inside the tower itself.

A Landmark Frozen in Time

The Freedom Tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 10, 1979, and designated a National Historic Landmark on October 6, 2008.

For decades it functioned mainly as an exhibition and gallery space run by Miami Dade College, a quieter second act for a building that once defined a generation's arrival in America.

100 Years, New Chapter

The tower closed in July 2023 for a $25 million restoration, covering structural repairs and a full exterior overhaul.

It reopened on September 16, 2025, almost exactly 100 years after its original opening day.

The relaunch brought new exhibits built around the building's own history, including "Languages of Migration" in the Kislak Center and an immersive experience called "Libertad," alongside contemporary art in the Wolfson Art Gallery.

Still a Beacon

The tower's rooftop beacon cupola was always meant to be seen from a distance, a literal light on the skyline.

A century after it first switched on, the building is still doing what it has always done: standing over Biscayne Boulevard as a marker of arrival, whether for a 1920s newspaper or a family that had just left everything behind.