Miami Design Preservation League is pleased to make a selection of archival photos, documents, and collectibles available online. Please see below for our most recent posts. Keep this page in your bookmarks and come back to see the latest postings of history, memorabilia, and more! Our archives are interactive and we encourage discussion in the comments section of each post. Stay tuned as we work on new updates and features.
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In honor of Black History Month we call attention to the Blackstone Hotel on Washington Avenue that often went against the prevailing racism of minorities including welcoming blacks to Miami Beach.
At 1000 South Miami Avenue you will find both a turn-of-the-century restaurant and a living museum for the Mediterranean styled Firehouse No. 4, that is listed on the U.S. National
Every year from 1978 through the 1990’s, there was a black-tie bash in Miami Beach benefiting the Miami Design Preservation League, called the “Moon Over Miami Ball”. This very anticipated party would
The Helen Mar Apartment Hotel at 2421 Lake Pancoast Drive was designed by Robert E. Collins in 1936 for the owner John Marsa. Helen, the locals say, was the name
Thirty-three years ago in October 1988, one of the foremost Art Deco hotels built in 1939 in the historic district, was sadly demolished. Designed by the prolific Art Deco architect,
The Hotel Leonard at 54 Ocean Drive was built in 1925 by the owner H.E. Glickman, who named it after his son Leonard. Across from Hardie’s Casino, it was designed
In April 1935, The French Casino at 1235 Washington Avenue was designed by architect Thomas Hunter Henderson and built as a supper and vaudeville club, featuring cabaret acts and showgirls. By
This July 2021 we honor what would have been the 76th birthday of Leonard Horowitz. Leonard Eugene Lazar Horowitz was a young furniture designer from New York, who created window
Originally opened in 1930, The Surf Club located at 9011 Collins Avenue was designed by pioneering Miami architect Russell Pancoast. It was the ultimate place to be seen. Located between Miami
Carl Fisher’s Clubhouse built in 1916, just one year after the incorporation of the city of Miami Beach, was located at his executive golf course on Dade Blvd. and Washington
In honor of the Memorial Day Weekend we present a 1942 postcard from our archive collection written by Private Paul Munson, stationed in Miami Beach to his mother. “Dear Mother,
On May 14th, 1979, the Miami Beach Art Deco District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the nation’s first urban 20th century Historic District. This year we
In the early 80s in the Art Deco Historic District, in the lobby of the Washington Storage Company, 1003 Washington Avenue, you could find the eclectic antique and gift shop
The New Yorker Hotel once stood at 1611 Collins Avenue. It was the destruction of this iconic 1940 hotel in January 1981, considered by some the masterpiece of local architect
The “Nut Club”, known in the 40’s as “The Gayest Spot in Town” with “Continuous Screwey Entertainment”, offering “Dancing and Dinners from $1.50”, was located on Alton Road and Dade
On April 9th, 2021, we celebrate the 101st year anniversary of the birthday of MDPL’s founder, Barbara Baer Capitman. We will be forever be in debt for her dedication, fierce
El Chico’s swank nightclub was built in the 1930s and located in the new Art Deco Architectural District at 22nd St and Park Avenue. In 1982…”the leaders of the MDPL
Once located on Belle Isle, the only natural island on the Venetian Island—the rest are man-made, the Monterrey Motel and Yacht Club was built in 1953 and designed by architect
This excerpt comes from a March 4th, 1940, archival Life magazine article entitled, “Miami & Miami Beach; Biggest U.S. winter resort has biggest boom” “All beaches are noteworthy for the
The landmark Colony Theatre at 1040 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach opened January 25, 1935, and was built for the Paramount chain. It was a superb example of the Art
March 2021 marks the 41st anniversary of the world-famous artist Andy Warhol’s visit to the South Beach Art Deco District. As one of the pioneering Art Deco collectors, Andy Warhol
To honor the boys who served and were stationed in Miami Beach during WWII, we searched our archive collection for postcards from that era that were sent by the soldiers
In celebration of Black History Month….The downtown Burdines had a place of real significance when the nation entered the civil right’s era. Burdines was the flagship for Florida’s first family of
The Deauville Hotel, 6701 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach was designed by Melvin Grossman in 1957. This MIMO style hotel was named “Hotel of The Year” as it attracted many
February 2021 is the 33rd anniversary of when preservationists campaigned to expand South Beach’s Historic District to include the triangle of 18 blocks east of Washington Ave. between 17th Street