Our Ocean View...
It says it right in the name — Miami Beach. It’s not all about sun and surf, but that’s what brings the visitors — the sun worshipers and people who just want to see and be seen.
Sand In My Shoes
As access became easier with the opening of the Collins Bridge in 1913, tourists flooded to Miami Beach. The boom was on.
Aerial views of the Miami Beach causeway
The MacArthur Causeway to the Beach was built after WWI to to move traffic off the decaying Collins Bridge. The Venetian Causeway stands where the bridge used to be.
1921 Beach Scene
Bathers pose at Smith’s Casino Baths, the first of Miami Beach’s bathing casinos. Opened in 1908, Smith’s advertised itself as the place with the “largest swimming pool and largest bath house at the beach. Bathers rented rooms (casinos), bathing suits and towels
Bathing at Lummus Park
The Lummus Park Beach with its broad expanse of sand separates the Art Deco hotels along Ocean Drive from the waves of the Atlantic.
Our Beautiful Beaches
Miami Beach played a significant role WWII. Nearly half a million men took over more than 300 hotels and apartment buildings during WWII. This 1945 photo shows a fashion show on the beach just after the war, part of an effort to bring the public back to Miami Beach.
Hotel Good
The Hotel Good was an early 100 room hotel located just south of the Firestone Estate which became the site of the Fontainebleau Hotel.
Fontainebleau Hotel
You can’t miss that curved structure of the 1,500 room Fontainebleau Hotel designed by Morris Lapidus. Opened in 1954, the Miami Modern building was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2010.
Miami Panorama
A 1920s view from Biscayne Boulevard across the bay to Miami Beach, which can be seen in the distance.