A Brief History of Burke’s Motel Early Beginnings While hard records on the exact founding date are scarce, Burke’s Motel appears to have emerged around the 1950s or 1960s, an era when roadside motels proliferated across Florida’s major thoroughfares to serve burgeoning postwar automobile tourism. Southwest 8th Street—often referred to as Tamiami Trail—was a main artery linking Miami to the western part of the state, bringing a steady stream of travelers, snowbirds, and businesspeople. Independent or Part of a Chain? Over the years, Burke’s Motel has remained primarily an independent entity. Local directories and historical listings of chain-affiliated properties in Coral Gables and Miami do not show Burke’s operating under…