the Shoreland Company's bankruptcy in 1927. In 1928, the New Miami Shores Corporation purchased the Shoreland Company's holdings. This corporation was controlled by Bessemer Properties, part of the interests of the Wolstenholme family of New York. Roy H. Hawkins, the general manager of Bessemer Properties, proceeded with the plans for the community. He is credited as being the "principal founder" of Miami Shores. In 1931, under his leadership, a request to grant a charter creating the Miami Shores Village was presented in the state legislature. The present Miami Shores roughly corresponds with the original "Biscayne" neighborhood of the city of Miami. With the arrival of the Great Depression, Miami gave up its jurisdiction and the area incorporated under the name "Miami Shores Village" in 1932. Previously, part of the area that now comprises the city of North Miami had been known as Miami Shores. Under the leadership of Roy H. Hawkins, a request to grant a charter creating Miami Shores Village was presented in the state legislature. On January 2, 1932, the village became official at a council meeting. The charter named the following five members to the first council: Hugh H. Gordon, a banker whose father had owned the Gordon Tract; Frank O. Pruitt, who was in the insurance business; John M. Carlisle, president of the Eli Witt Cigar Company; W.F. Andes, a prominent dentist; and M.R. Harrison, a general contractor, who constructed much of Biscayne Boulevard. At this first meeting, Pruitt was elected mayor, and other appointments were made including Village Manager Miller Williams, Village Attorney George E. Holt, and a single policeman, Ed Badger. In the decades that followed its incorporation, growth was steady. A variety of architectural styles were introduced, yet the community emerged as the type of development the Shoreland Company had envisioned. The community retains many of its original characteristics – well situated and served by major highways, having tree-lined streets and wide roads, a downtown area, well-maintained homes provided with efficient services. and a variety of community activities. Miami Shores is primarily a bedroom community for those working in the Miami metropolitan area, and it also has a sizable retired population. The village is mostly single family residential homes, with very few multi-family units and only two small commercial areas along Northeast 2nd Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard. While it is frequently referred to as Miami Shores or the Village of Miami Shores, the