Archives

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!

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New Archives Added June 2024!

The Barbara Baer Capitman Archives

You can now access a selection of archive files directly on our Dropbox, by clicking the green button here. This project is sponsored in part by the Department of State, Division of Historical Resources and the state of Florida.

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Archive Articles

Andy Warhol’s visit to Deco District

March 5, 2021
Read Time: 2 mins 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
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Postcards from WWII

February 26, 2021
Read Time: 3 mins 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
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Burdines home of ‘Sunshine Fashions’

February 21, 2021
Read Time: 3 mins 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 retail
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ROYAL PALM HOTEL

February 5, 2021
Read Time: 3 mins In honor of Black History Month….did you know The ROYAL PALM HOTEL at 1545 Collins Avenue in 2002 was the first full-service luxury hotel in America to be owned, developed
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The Georgian Hotel

January 29, 2021
Read Time: 3 mins The Georgian Hotel was located on 1621 Collins Avenue near Lincoln Road. It was designed by architect Joseph J. DeBrita and built in 1940 at a cost of $140,000. Constructed
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Gatti Restaurant 1427 West Ave

January 22, 2021
Read Time: 2 mins From 1925 to 1992, Gatti Restaurant at 1427 West Avenue held its place as a shining star with Miami Beach eateries, serving up delicious Northern Italian homemade pasta and fresh
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1988 Art Deco Festival

January 15, 2021
Read Time: < 1 min Being that last weekend was our virtual Art Deco Weekend, we wanted to bring you a flashback to a year when the festival was also not able to be held
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The Boulevard Hotel

January 8, 2021
Read Time: 2 mins The Boulevard Hotel is lost but not forgotten….located on Dade Blvd. & Meridian Avenue, it was one of the last hotels developed by Carl Fisher. Designed by Englishman William F.
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Curry’s Restaurant

December 25, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins Curry’s Restaurant located at 7433 Collins Avenue was a North Beach favorite among many locals far and wide. It was built in 1937 as an Epicure Restaurant (yes, the same
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The Plymouth Hotel

December 18, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins The Plymouth Hotel is located at 336 21st Street in the Collins Park neighborhood. It was designed by Anton Skislewicz in 1940, as a three story Art Deco Streamline Moderne
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Espanola Way

December 11, 2020
Read Time: 3 mins Espanola Way Village, which is so popular with tourists and locals now, was the brainchild of developers William Whitman and N.B.T. Roney in the early 1920’s. Originally named The Spanish
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The White House Hotel

December 7, 2020
Read Time: 4 mins The White House Hotel at 15th Street and Ocean Drive was a three story, 178 room structure designed by Roy E. France in the Neocolonial or Georgian style. Meant to
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The Rebirth of the Cardozo Hotel

November 27, 2020
Read Time: 6 mins In the seventies, the porch at the Cardozo Hotel at 1300 Ocean Drive had no more than a row of aluminum chairs, with equal numbers of  senior citizens who lived in
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Excerpt from 1940 Life Magazine

November 19, 2020
Read Time: 3 mins Excerpt from 1940 Life Magazine article entitled “Miami & Miami Beach; Biggest U.S. Winter resort has biggest boom”….. “In 1912 Miami, Fla., was a sleepy town of 7,500 people and Miami
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Many Shades of 1430 Ocean Dr.

November 13, 2020
Read Time: < 1 min The many shades of 1430 Ocean Drive…MDPL 1940’s archival postcard of the Clyde Hotel designed by L. Murray Dixon in 1941. In the 1970’s the name changed to Delnick’s Hotel.
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Miami Beach Bathing “Casinos”

November 3, 2020
Read Time: 3 mins Miami Beach sunbathers in the early 20th century would flock to Casinos, which actually were “bathing pavilions” that had nothing to do with gambling. The first bathing casino was built by
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Sunny Isles Motel Row

October 30, 2020
Read Time: 3 mins “It used to be called Motel Row. And for good reason. Dozens of two-story motels lined Collins Avenue. Some had whimsical themes and architectural flourishes. Concrete camels, mermaids and pyramids…Families
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Hot Button Issues

October 23, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins Buttons that had a saying or a political statement were a very popular item to wear in the 1970’s – 1990’s. Courtesy of the Kinerk-Wilhelm Collection shown are photographs of
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A Woman With Her Own Design

October 19, 2020
Read Time: 3 mins Barbara Baer Capitman was always an art and design lover. Perhaps she inherited this passion from her mother, Mrs. Myrtle Baer, who was an artist in her own right in the 1950’s.
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Carl Fisher’s Hotels

October 13, 2020
Read Time: 3 mins Developer Carl G. Fisher (1874–1939)—was a self-made millionaire who transformed Miami Beach into a winter tourist destination at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was Fisher who built several of Miami
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La Flora Hotel 1238 Collins Avenue

October 2, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins La Flora Hotel at 1238 Collins Avenue, when opened in 1924, was a Mediterranean Revival Hotel designed by architect George L. Pfeiffer. It was three stories high and had 45 rooms, each
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Christo’s Pink Islands

October 1, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins On June 1, 2020, artist Christo, known in South Florida for his public art project “Surrounded Islands”, passed away. Christo’s 30-month project to encircle eleven islands in Biscayne Bay with bright pink plastic
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Art Deco Spires

September 25, 2020
Read Time: < 1 min Here at MDPL we love Art Deco buildings with decorative spires! Pictures from our 2001 archives of the Tudor, Kent and Tiffany Hotels were taken by Alex Rodriguez (the late
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Flamingo Plaza Hotel

September 18, 2020
Read Time: 3 mins Flamingo Plaza at 1051-1055 Meridian Avenue in the Flamingo Park area, was a classic Art Deco Hotel. Designed by L. Murray Dixon in 1937, this 38 room structure has a
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Mid Century Marvels

August 25, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins Synopsis of the November 1996 Ocean Drive article by Tom Austin with photographs by Bill Wisser entitled, “Mid Century Marvels; A new tour and increasing appreciation are spurring interest in
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The Wofford and Traymore Hotels

June 30, 2020
Read Time: 3 mins Mrs. Olive Wofford, a widow in the early 20th century, opened a guest house in Miami Beach at 23rd and Collins Avenue. After seeing how the market was so successful,
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The Hampton Hotel

June 26, 2020
Read Time: 3 mins The Hampton Hotel located at the corner of Lincoln Road and Michigan Avenue, was built in April 1926, and designed by Martin L. Hampton. He also designed the old Miami
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The Nemo Hotel

June 22, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins The Nemo Hotel at 100 Collins Ave was considered to be a Mediterranean Revival gem that was built in 1921 by New Yorkers Sam Magrid, and Joseph and Harry Goodkowsky.
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The Strand Restaurant

June 16, 2020
Read Time: 3 mins The Strand Restaurant located at 671 Washington Avenue, designed by Yosse Friedman, was the keystone in 1986 to revitalizing dark Washington Avenue years before Micky Wolfson bought the Washington Avenue Storage
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The Neron Hotel

June 15, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins The Neron Hotel previously located at 1110 Drexel Avenue, was a fine example of the Art Deco/Streamline Moderne architecture built by architect Henry Hohauser in 1940. The building exhibited many
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The Great Hurricane of 1926

June 1, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins These 1926 vintage photographs of the days after the “Great Miami” Hurricane were generously gifted to the MDPL in early 2018 by Alice McCollam Neary. Her father Hugh Kenneth McCollam
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Carl Fisher’s Yacht “Shadow K”

May 26, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins These 1920’s vintage photographs of Fisher’s yacht the “Shadow K”, and its passengers, were generously gifted to the MDPL in early 2018 by Alice McCollam Neary. Her father, Hugh Kenneth
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1983 Art Deco Weekend Poster

May 21, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins …depicting nude on blue background with palm leaves. Created by Woody Vondracek who stated, “A last minute decision by the Miami Beach Junior Chamber of Commerce killed this design as
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The Coleman House, Asheville NC

May 18, 2020
Read Time: < 1 min The Coleman House at 36 Montford Ave. (where the Chamber of Commerce now sits) was a cause célèbre in the late 1970s when its owner, William Coleman died. “The Coleman
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The Biscaya Hotel

May 7, 2020
Read Time: 3 mins The Biscaya Hotel was a 134,000 sq. foot Mediterranean ten story structure, located on the north side of MacArthur Causeway. Originally built in 1925, as The Floridian Hotel, it replaced the
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McCrory’s Department Store

May 5, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins McCrory’s Department Store was located on the southeast corner of Washington Avenue and Espanola Way in Miami Beach. The commercial architect William F. Simpson designed this classic Streamline building in
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Barbara Baer Capitman’s Drawings

April 30, 2020
Read Time: < 1 min Did you know that in between saving our Art Deco Historic District, the founder of MDPL Barbara Baer Capitman was a talented artist as well? Check out our virtual exhibit
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Protestors Chained to Senator Hotel

April 28, 2020
Read Time: < 1 min Miami News editorial photograph by A.G. Montanari with the caption “Protesters chained to Senator Hotel”. Description says “The waiting game at Miami Beach’s Senator Hotel continued today, as Ray Halm,
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Demolition of The Revere Hotel

April 28, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins Gianni Versace purchased the Revere Hotel at the corner of 11th Street and Ocean Drive which was next door to his building Casa Casuarina for $3.7 million in 1993. His intention
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The Royal Palm Hotel in Miami

April 27, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins This hotel was a large resort built by railroad magnate Henry Flagler in Miami. Opened in 1897, the Royal Palm Hotel was one of the first hotels in the Miami area. It sat on the north
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Original Andy Sweet photographs

April 21, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins Andy Sweet was a gifted photographer who from 1977-1982, documented the residents of South Beach through his camera lens. In 1982 his life was tragically cut short when he was
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Discriminatory Language of the 1940’s

April 21, 2020
Read Time: < 1 min Shown are two archival 1947 magazine ads for The Cromwell and The Pancoast Hotels. These ads referred to “Selected Clientele”and “Carefully Restricted Clientele”, and offering “Congenial Companionship”. These catchphrases all
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1950s ad for The Essex House Hotel

April 20, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins   The Essex House Hotel at 1001 Collins Avenue, is considered one of Henry Hohauser’s best designs. Built in 1938, the hotel has the streamlined shape of a ship, with
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Lincoln Center Hotel

April 20, 2020
Read Time: < 1 min 1940’s Postcard of the Lincoln Center Hotel at 630 Lincoln Road and the corner of Euclid Avenue. The Lincoln Center Hotel was designed in 1937 by famed architect Igor Polevitzky
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Last Call to Save The Senator!

April 20, 2020
Read Time: < 1 min 1988 Flyer “LAST CALL TO SAVE THE SENATOR!” at Miami Beach City Hall on Convention Center Drive on June 1st. BE THERE TO WITNESS THE FINAL MEETING….Join us at our
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Miami Beach Dog Track

April 16, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins MDPL archival postcard of Miami Beach Dog Track circa 1930’s-1940’s. Located at the southern tip of South Beach on 1st and Ocean Drive, it brought an exciting cosmopolitan spark to Miami
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Andy Sweet Archives

April 14, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins In January of 2020, MDPL contributed their digitized Andy Sweet archival files to the National Gallery of Arts, in conjunction with the Sweet’s family archives. Andy Sweet was a gifted
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Wolfie’s and Rascal House

April 13, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins Wolfie Cohen’s Rascal House was the brainchild of Wilfred “Wolfie” Cohen, who started his foodie career as a busboy in the Catskills. In the late 1930’s, he moved to Miami
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