Hialeah City Map Poster

About Hialeah

The city's name is most commonly attributed to Muskogee origin: "Haiyakpo" or "Hialeah", meaning either "highland" or "turtle-land". Alternatively, the word is of Seminole origin with the same meaning. The city was incorporated in 1925, and its official spelling is still Hialeah (as opposed to Hialea). However, a popular folk etymology incorrectly explains the name as having been derived from Spanish: ""hijo de la ley"" ("son of the law"). The name supposedly stems from a land grant issued in 1815 by Florida governor Luis Martínez. In actuality, it is more likely that he granted multiple parcels for people who were already living there and whose names were simply joined together to make a single land grant document. This actually occurred because during those times large tracts of land were being turned into agricultural/pastoral properties; hence they needed formal documents granting them permission for such actions on their newly acquired lands.