By John McCartney Special to the SunPost Most locals on Miami Beach have driven by 770 Arthur Godfrey Rd (41st Street) for years. Waiting, waiting, and waiting, and even some more waiting for someone to take over The Roosevelt Theater and renovate it into something special. Did I mention we are still waiting? I recently [...]
In Miami, That Means Speed, Muscle, Beauty and a Bayful of Glamor (Not to Mention Danger) The story is as infamous as it is apocryphal, and as befitting of Miami’s glamorous and dangerous history as Biscayne Bay itself. On the afternoon of February 3, 1987, noted powerboat builder Don Aronow hopped into his white Mercedes [...]
Completing The Haulover Story There is no question that Miami-Dade County’s Haulover Park is a gem of a public facility, one which, along with Greynolds, Matheson Hammock and Crandon Parks was initiated under a parks program by long-time county commissioner Charles Crandon. It took the purchase, however, of a good bit of private property, for [...]
In the columns of the past several weeks, wherein we have been notating Miami Beach’s suburbs (which we will continue to do and complete in the next few weeks) several of the SunPost’s readers have asked me about Haulover Beach. Among the excellent questions: What does “Baker’s Haulover” mean? Was there a person named “Baker?” [...]
As SunPostWeekly.com readers know, the last several weeks of this column have been dedicated to the history of the various Miami Beach suburbs, covering, so far, Fisher Island, Surfside and the first half of the Indian Creek Village story. Indian Creek Village was originally intended to be called Miami Shores Island and was the brainchild [...]
There is something almost magical about the Indian Creek Village story. Imagine, if you will, a group of people who at the height of the great Florida boom of the mid-1920s, after building islands in Biscayne Bay and connecting them with a series of bridges called “Venetian Causeway” (built on the site of the first [...]
As readers know, our discussions of the last several weeks have centered on Miami Beach’s suburbs, focusing, for the time being on Surfside, the story of which will be concluded in this article with coming columns discussing the other suburbs and their history. The lower third of Surfside was platted and built by Henri (Henry) [...]
As was noted last week, Miami Beach has eight suburbs if Fisher Island is counted, but even without the historically interesting piece of property, the city still can claim seven legitimate and actual incorporated suburbs including North Bay Village, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Indian Creek Village, Surfside, Sunny Isles Beach and Golden Beach, which [...]
As most SunPost readers are well aware, Miami Beach, while the largest of the villages, towns and cities on the east side of Biscayne Bay, has its own suburbs, one, debatably, to the south, one just to the west and six north of the city. The “suburb” to the south, Fisher Island, was actually, at [...]
The “conventional wisdom” dealing with Miami Beach’s history has, for almost the entire history of the city, held that the first hotel on Miami Beach was Brown’s, on south Ocean Drive. The only problem with that “c w” may be that the U. S. Lifesaving Service’s Biscayne House of Refuge, located at approximately today’s 72nd [...]
As I wrote in Sunshine, Stone Crabs and Cheesecake: The Story of Miami Beach, there have been more words written about Miami Beach then any other city of comparable size in American history. That unlimited and unending verbiage is due, to no small extent, to the work of three individuals in particular and many others [...]
It is interesting that while Miami Beach is part of Miami, Miami Beach, with eight suburbs, is never referred to as “Greater Miami Beach.” Yet going back to the days when Mel Richard was a Miami Beach politician, efforts were being made to separate Miami Beach and it’s adjoining communities on the east side of [...]
