Richmond Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,944 at the 2020 census. History At the beginning of World War II, the United States Navy purchased of land in southwestern Dade (now called Miami-Dade) County for the purpose of constructing an airship base. The land was owned by the Richmond Timber Company, a major supplier of Dade County Pine (a denser, harder, sub-species of Pinus palustris, or longleaf pine). The base was named Naval Air Station Richmond, after the lumber company, and was home to the 25 ships of ZP-21 (Patrol, Airship Squadron 21 and Airship Wing 2). NAS Richmond was the second largest airship base in the United States, NAS Lakehurst in New Jersey being the largest. NAS Richmond was destroyed by a hurricane and fire in September 1945. After the end of World War II, Captain Frank C. Martin, a Pan American pilot, purchased farm land adjacent to the base in rural southwest Dade County. With this purchase he created Richmond Heights, as a new community for returning African American veterans. Of the original he purchased in 1949, the federal government had used to build the headquarters of Naval Air Station Richmond, a blimp base constructed in the early months of World War II Richmond, and was eventually home to 25 K-series blimps, three hangars, and 3,000 men. The hangars were 16 stories tall, built of Douglas fir brought in by train. The blimps protected ship convoys in the Florida Straits, and Richmond was the headquarters for the fight against U-boats operating in the Caribbean. Geography Richmond Heights is located southwest of downtown Miami at (25.633415, -80.372362). It is bordered to the north and east by Kendall, to the south by Palmetto Estates, and to the west by Three Lakes. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.93%, are water. Demographics 2020 census As of the 2020 United States census, there were 8,944 people, 2,748 households, and 2,219 families residing in the CDP. 2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 8,479 people, 2,653 households, and 2,101 families living in the CDP. The population density was . There were 2,771 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 12.45% White (of which 3.4% were Non-Hispanic White,) 82.83% African American,