The Royal Palm Hotel was one of early Miami’s most luxurious and famous winter resorts. Its main competition, the Halcyon Hotel, sat on Flagler Street and Northeast Second Avenue — and for a while was just as well-known as its bigger rival.
Salem and Emily Graham, a Canadian couple who managed winter hotels in Florida and summer hotels up North, became managers of the three-story Biscayne Hotel in downtown Miami in 1899. The enthusiasm and optimism felt by many Miamians at the turn of the century proved contagious to the Grahams, and they soon began to dream of owning and operating a hotel that could compete with the elegant Royal Palm.
After drafting detailed plans, the Grahams got a loan from the Fort Dallas Bank…