Editors Note: The Barbara Baer Capitman archive’s “Historic Threads” project is sponsored in part by the Department of State, Division of Historical Resources and the State of Florida.
Opa-locka is a city renowned for its extensive collection of Moorish revival architecture and Arab place names. Home to the largest known concentration of Moorish revival architecture in the nation, it was founded and developed by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss in 1926.
Curtiss was influenced by the Neo-Moorish romanticism of the early 20th century. However, his dreams and visions of an Arabian Nights-themed town were almost never fully realized due to the devastating economic shockwaves of the Great Depression which impacted Florida’s land boom enterprise coupled with the environmental disaster that was the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926.
Throughout the city, homes proudly display its Moorish-Esque heritage: the crescent moon, horseshoe arches, minarets, the gorgeous facades of City Hall…The oriental influence did not stop there, however, as the city would embrace annual festivities and balls themed around the fantastical motifs derived from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights.
Around the 1970s and 1980s, Opa-locka transitioned from a predominantly white city to a predominantly Black city. This change may have been due to white flight in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, when white native-born Miamians migrated en masse to northern counties or other states. A mass influx of political and economic refugees from Latin America and the Caribbean also settled in the region during this time, leaving behind only a handful of Anglo-white citizens. Many African Americans instead chose to cohabitate with these new Miamians.
This white flight severely impacted the city’s economy, further contributing to its tax drain as Opa-locka’s middle class seemingly disappeared overnight. The remaining African-American community was left to struggle with the burden of economic recovery. For many years, Opa-locka was one of the many victims of urban decay.
Barbara Baer Capitman was incredibly devoted with her efforts to preserve the city’s architectural legacy; acutely aware of the general lack of interest from others to preserve these lingering remnants of American romanticism of Islamic art, literature, and architecture. She worked passionately and tirelessly with Opa-locka residents, preservationists, and politicians to help restore the crumbling pieces of the city. Fundraisers were held, old festivities were revived, and the old City Hall was restored to its magnificent glory.
There is a juxtaposition in witnessing yesterday’s romantic manifestations of the Orient with the impoverishment and infrastructural decay that has predominated for so long. Had it not been for Barbara, along with restoration developers and Opa-locka’s own residents’ dedication to preserve its heritage, the city’s history and legacy would have simply been just another memory.
“I went to Opa-locka out of a sense of anger, because so much hadn’t happened that could have happened…. I’m coming in now because if they let it get any worse, it’s a tragedy.”
Barbara Baer Capitman
Now, the city is establishing efforts to preserve and restore its unique architectural history.
