Biscayne Boulevard

Built on the crest of the 1920s land boom, Biscayne Boulevard was designed to be Miami’s most beautiful shopping street. Royal palms, 900 of them, lined the sidewalks in front of turreted Mediterranean buildings with shops downstairs and apartments above. The standards of beauty were exacting for the stretch between 12th and 36th streets. A city ordinance outlawed gas stations and heavy traffic along Biscayne Boulevard. If downtown was the heart of the city, uptown was where Miami showed off. It was the place to buy a Stutz Bearcat, or the latest fashions, or groceries: Even the Piggly Wiggly supermarket was high style. Then, as Miami grew up and out in the decades after World War II, the boulevard fell on hard times. Shoppers turned to suburban malls. The neighborhoods around Biscayne Boulevard aged and changed. The Omni mall at Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 14th Street, once home to such retail giants as Jordan Marsh and JC Penney, closed in 1999. In the past 10 years, the area has experienced a redevelopment renaissance with new businesses, restaurants and shops sprouting along the corridor.

 

11/14/1956, Bob East/Miami Herald: Biscayne Blvd.
4/14/1989, Rick McCawley/Miami Herald: 7623 Biscayne Blvd, Johelen Motel. The motel was closed by code enforcement and fire marshall.
Circa 1930: Blimp over Biscayne Blvd.
2/22/1987, Tim Chapman/Miami Herald Staff -- New Yahweh property at 7350 Biscayne Blvd. A guard is on duty behind fenced in property.
1/13/1965: Biscayne Blvd.
1/13/1965: 7000 Biscayne Blvd.
10/16/1961: One of the last of the boom-day structures on Biscayne Bouleyard has been sold. The 40-room Bomi Hotel at NE 2nd Street was to $150,000 by Maguel Angel Cano who operates the Toledo restaurant in the basement of the building. The hotel was sold by Steward McFarlene who got the place on fore closure when Vaughan Connelly’s plans for expanding the nearby Everglades Hotel collapsed. McFarlene is one of the principals of Okeelanta Sugar Co. The sale of the hotel was handled by Serge Gomez of the Keyes Co.
12/31/1995: C.W. Griffin/Miami Herald Staff: A giant Garfield balloon looms over Biscayne Boulevard during the Orange Bowl Parade. This image was scanned from black and white newspaper microfilm.
Circa 1940: Biscayne Boulevard.
Circa 1940: Biscayne Blvd. looking East into park and original Band Shell.
12/9/1970, Gus Schuettler/Miami Herald: Signs along Biscayne Blvd dwarf downtown Miami.
2/19/1988, Rick McCawley/Miami Herald: Biscayne Blvd looking north from on top of the Omni.
9/3/1976, Bob East/Miami Herald: Biscayne Blvd.
Undated: Biscayne Boulevard.
Undated: N.E. 2nd St and Biscayne Boulevard looking north on boulevard.
11/18/1956: Biscayne Boulevard.
9/3/1976, Bob East/Miami Herald: Left guard restaurant, now closed, had a church on its north side and executive Inn motel on the South side.
1962, Miami Herald: The Cuban Refugee Center, which has been bounced around downtown and suburban Miami as its size and needs grew has finally found what may be a permanent home. Beginning Monday, the 1,800 freedom-seeking refugees who arrive weekly, and the more than 100,000 already here, will do business at a new stand- Freedom Tower on Biscayne Blvd. and 11th St. Friday was moving day, which was no less troublesome for an office force than a homeowner sign: FREEDOM TOWER
1962, Miami Herald: Fire Below Deck Firefighters swarm over the deck of the shrimp boat, Carlene Marie Friday, batting a blaze in the vessel's engine room. The fire broke out shortly after crew members haf finished cleaning the oil-soaked frame of the ship, tied up at the P&O Docks, 605 Biscayne Blvd. Firemen brought the blaze under quick control and no one was injured
5/1/1959: Bob East/Miami Herald Staff -- The girls really took to it with a passion -- this poor guy parked on Biscayne Boulevard with the red flag upon his meter got caught by Ruth Siegel, Georgia Ganzos, Frances Lechleitner, and Susan Rimland; but only for the picture.
1991, Miami Herald: Coppertone sign at Biscayne Blvd and NE 6th St. (on side of Parkleigh House Apts.)
Undated: Biscayne Boulevard.
Undated: Biscayne Boulevard.
9/11/1978: Biscayne Blvd.
1986, Miami Herald: Freedom Tower on Biscayne Blvd. is trimmed with a red ribbon
9/9/1984, Robin Shields/Miami Herald: Signs on Biscayne Blvd.

 

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