New Year 2024, meet Miami headlines from 1924

 

Miami 1924 - State Archives of Florida/Romer

Below is a sampling of headlines from sections of the Miami News-Metropolis of January 1, 1924. A mix of local and national stories show how some themes remain the same a century later.

Panoramic view of Coral Gables from Water Tower Showing Development of Two-year-old Town

Coral Gables from the water tower 1924

 

Thousands See Monster Parade  - Seven miles of floats pass in colorful array

Fruit and Flower Pageant – 40,000 view the parade that stretched more than 100 blocks. It was a “typical June day in January.” Note: Miami held a variety of parades in its early days, including Labor Day, Shriner’s, Palm Fete and Orange Bowl parades. See index or search for Orange Bowl.

 

Construction of Large Concrete Fronton at Hialeah for Spanish Game of Jai Alai Introduced from Cuba Opened Feb. 2, 1924 (see index for short history). Most are closed today, but one still operates in Dania.

 

Hialeah Fronton 1924 State Archives of Florida

 U.S. Stirred Over Obregon Lack of Force  

“Washington hopes Mexican revolution will be halted … disappointed over its failure to solve internal problems…policy limits supply of arms.” Alvaro Obregon served as president of Mexico from 1920-1924. Deemed a centrist and peacemaker, he was assassinated in 1928.

 

Mystery Marks Liquor Supply in Washington

“Unusual conditions for guzzlers.” Why has so much illicit liquor appeared during the holiday season, the reporter asks (Prohibition – 18th Amendment, 1920 – 1933). Conflict arose between local police and federal agents about enforcing the law against liquor. Confiscated liquor disappeared or mysteriously “turned into water.”

 

Man with a drink in tourist photo booth at Hardie's Bathing Casino
during Prohibition 1920-1933 State Archives of Florida

Democrats See Chance to Win in 1924 Election

“Politically the coming year holds more at issue than is usually the case.”

Calvin Coolidge, Republican, succeeded Warren G. Harding as president when he unexpectedly died in 1923. A booming economy and world peace favored Coolidge, who won the 1924 election as the second vice president tapped as president via circumstance who later won the presidency in an election.

President Calvin Coolidge and wife Grace
State of Florida Archives

Tags: Miami in the 1920s, Miami Jai Alai Fronton, Fruit and Flower Pageant 

Progresso Plaza: a stroll through early Fort Lauderdale history

 

Progresso Plaza
901 Progresso Drive 

Dixie Highway

By Jane Feehan 

Those of us who grew up in Fort Lauderdale have driven frequently by that Spanish-tiled building on Dixie and NE 3^rd Avenue without a glance. Progresso Plaza has been so much a part of the city’s landscape that it remains unnoticed. It would, however, be missed if it disappeared. A trip into its past may cast a different perspective about its significance.

The story began during Fort Lauderdale’s first land boom of 1910-1911, when hopes for draining the nearby Everglades for farming superseded reality.  

Lots were sold sight unseen to people around the country who eyed quick profits. Promoters threw in free lots with an Everglades purchase of 10 acres. Those free lots sat in what became the Progresso area of the city. The boom proved to be a bust when Everglades draining attempts failed. Buyers, according to news accounts, also discovered the free lots were in a swampy area without a road (a road was built in 1914). They also found out the free lots were only 25 feet wide.

A second, more significant boom occurred in the mid-1920s. Many who owned free lots given them in the 1911 Everglades purchases sold these properties for $500-$12,000 in cash during 1925. House construction soon followed. Realtors advertised a four-bedroom house on one lot selling for $2,500. Two houses on one lot were offered for $2,350. The Progresso community grew rapidly. In 1926 the Fort Lauderdale Daily News claimed it was “the most densely populated and fastest growing section of the city.”

 Adding to interest in the new community was its location adjacent to the Florida East Coast Railroad tracks along Dixie Highway. Rumors abounded about Seaboard Air Line Company (not an aviation company) and their interest in a freight and passenger stop at Progresso. A new building could serve as a train station, a market – or a much-needed post office annex. Whatever the motivating factor, the city decided to build a post office annex and trading center, the Progresso Arcade.

A legal notice in June 1926 indicated the owner and builder of the arcade (at North Dixie and Avenue D) was Stetson Company. Its principals (J.V. Slaughter, president) were from Philadelphia, PA; they operated from an office in the Palm Court Arcade in Fort Lauderdale. Frederick C. Arnold from the George H. Gillespie office at the Palm Court Arcade served as architect. John R. Hogan was tapped as contractor and engineer for supervising construction. 

The Fort Lauderdale Daily News reported the arcade was completed by late June and the post office would be finished by July 17 (timing of the legal notice earlier in June remains curious).

 After a delay in receiving building supplies, the post office opened in August 1926 and was recognized as Fort Lauderdale’s first post office annex or substation.  The arcade was marketed as a community and trading center. The post office occupied 1,300 square feet, with 640 post boxes and $10,000 of equipment and parking—an unusual amenity at the time.                                             

The “Triangle building” as it was referred to, featured a triangle footprint with 265 feet of frontage on Dixie Highway, 180 feet of frontage on Twenty First Street, and 170 feet on Avenue D. The building was made of concrete and stucco with “ten [sic] modern apartments each with a kitchen, living room, dining room and bath to be rented by renters of the 10 stores.”  Design of the arcade reflected a 16^th-century motif with “three towers, a Cuban tile roof, arches supporting the arcade, a courtyard and dark-colored sidewalk …”

Other than the post office substation, tenants included Gordon Delicatessen, a Sunoco filling station, a hardware store, barber shop and fruit and vegetable market.

The Great Hurricane of 1926 occurred a month after the arcade opened. Most concrete structures, as this was, made it through the storm. Businesses were less resilient. By November 15 realtors were still seeking tenants for the apartments.

Fast forward only 23 years and the arcade had hit hard times. The building was condemned in 1949, but realtor H.S. Ratliff bought the building and, according to the Sun-Sentinel, rented the 10 apartments at boarding-house low prices and opened a few retail spaces to artists. The building was sold again in 1979 to Bill Capozzi who renovated it. The Progresso Arcade or Plaza (by this time) was vandalized and sold again. A subsequent owner, Julio A. Ruiz restored the building and earned recognition with a 1986 Community Appearance Award. The stepson of Ruiz, Tony Ropiza, purchased Progresso Plaza in late November 1986, hoping to open a Spanish restaurant. 

Today, the Progresso Plaza (about 6,100 square feet) is owned by Brian Parenteau who operates the Patio Bar and Pizza there.

I spoke to a tenant recently who told me Progresso Plaza is now a “busy place.” She said there are four bars, a few hair salons, her tanning salon and a few pottery or ceramics studios. Parking in a rear lot is easy. A walk through this historic building provides a view of authentic architectural elements of the 1920s. Its history reflects that of Fort Lauderdale.

The patio at Patio Bar and Pizza

 

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale Daily News Oct 27, 1925

Fort Lauderdale Daily News July 20, 1925

Fort Lauderdale Daily News July 21, 1925

Fort Lauderdale Daily News June 9, 1926

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, June 13, 1926

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, June 27, 1926

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, July 31, 1926

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Aug. 17, 1926

Sun-Sentinel, Nov. 5, 1986

Sun-Sentinel, May 22, 1994

Tags: History of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale history, Frederick C Arnold, Progresso Arcade, Progresso Plaza

One expectation for Broward County Convention Expansion a puzzle

View from 17th Street bridge: Hotel rising at Convention Center 

By Jane Feehan 

The Broward County Convention Center expansion will dominate the 17^th street causeway area when completed.

The convention center first opened in 1991 and currently offers 600,000 square feet of meeting and other space. The $1.3 billion expansion, expected to open late 2025, will increase meeting capacity to 1,200,000* square feet. Project plans include a larger waterfront plaza with restaurants, an amphitheater, additional water taxi service, and a new bypass road from Federal Highway.

Its 29-story hotel – Omni Fort Lauderdale—with 800 rooms will be the area landmark instead of Pier 66, which rises 17 stories and has been the local eyecatcher since 1965-66. The convention center is expected to bring 1,000 new jobs, increased tax revenue, and visitor traffic and their business to the area.

Massive hotel,
lots of parking

About that traffic: an area impact statement says the completed expansion will decrease traffic because convention programming will "attract larger, international shows that draw a fly-in audience, rather than regional conferences which typically bring in more vehicles," thus relieving congestion on 17^th Street.  

Also mentioned in the project description are plans to promote community-based events with outdoor entertainment, more restaurants and…expanded parking for these additional local happenings. This seems to present a contradiction in traffic expectations. Not all locals will use the bypass road. If so, what about Federal Highway congestion? Local events bring in more local vehicles, something the planners say they will avoid with fly-in visitors. Let's hope these fly-in visitors don't rent cars.

Larger conventions and additional local entertainment, yet improvement in Fort Lauderdale’s traffic congestion. It's a puzzle.

----

Note: The largest convention center in the U.S. is McCormick Place in Chicago with 2.6 million square feet. The Miami Beach Convention Center offers 1,400,000 square feet of convention space.

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

Broward.org

Wikipedia

Miami Beach

Tags: Broward County Convention Center, Broward County Convention Center Expansion, Fort Lauderdale traffic congestion, Fort Lauderdale attractions

A South Florida parrot primer

 

Captive parrots - Parrot Jungle
State Archives of Florida

By Jane Feehan 

Flocks of parrots noisily flying at dawn and dusk around Broward County are a familiar sight today. Many older residents who grew up here say they rarely, if ever, saw these colorful birds during the 1950s and 1960s. The mythology of the introduction of these non-native exotic noise makers runs deep.

Newspapers present various theories about where they came from and report several early sightings. One account points to the unintentional release of parrots from an opened crate at Port Everglades in 1967. 

Others tell a tale about a bar owner releasing pet birds near Wilton Manors a few decades ago who was responsible for their introduction to that town. 

Florida railway developer and one-time oil tycoon Henry Flagler was known to have an affinity for parrots, keeping many on his Palm Beach property (Whitehall) uncaged but fed. They remained there for years after his death in 1913; that may explain a reported parrot roost at the Breakers Hotel during the past 20 years and flock sightings in Lake Worth. 

Fort Lauderdale News reported the first sighting of a flock in Broward in 1975. During the 1940s “a rare bird farm” operated in the Miami area. Flocks were spotted in south Miami-Dade County during the 1990s.

Newspaper and personal accounts aside, scientific research tells a probable story about South Florida parrot origins. One scholarly paper notes most of these exotic birds escaped from pet owners and pet stores or were deliberately released by owners and smugglers (Distribution, Populations, and Documentation of Parrots in Broward County, by Bill Pranty and Susan Epps, Vol. 30, Issue 4, Article 1, Jan. 2000). Most releases, however, have been unintentional.

About 20 species were spotted in Broward County in 1990. In 2000, Pranty and Epps reported 31 species, 20 of which were unknown before then. They suggest parrots have probably been released here since at least the 1950s. Worldwide 350-410 species exist with most originating in Central and South America (some from Pacific Islands). The Carolina parakeet was the only species native to Florida, but they were killed off by poachers by the early 20^th century.

Florida's extinct Carolina
 parakeet
State Archives of Florida

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported on flocks in Dania that seemed to appear and disappear suddenly in the early 1990s. A story suggested people captured many to sell as pets (wild birds make lousy pets of course). 

In 1995, utility workers in Deerfield Beach were seen sweeping parrot nests from tall light fixtures. Most of these birds nest in dead palm trees but some have been spotted setting up residence in vacated osprey nests.

Pranty and Epps* observed parrot populations in Dania, Wilton Manors, Fort Lauderdale’s Hugh Birch State Park, Coral Ridge, Harbor Beach, Las Olas Isles, Poinsettia Heights, Rio Vista, Victoria Park, and Oakland Park. Among species they observed were Quaker or monk parakeets (some also live successfully in Chicago!), Orange-winged parrots, Red-headed parrots, Yellow-headed parrots, and Black-hooded parakeets. The two scientists reported a large jump in all parrot populations from the early 1990s to 2000 even though poachers regularly decimate local populations.

With the human population growth of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County comes additional parrot species and even more flocks. Lucky for these garrulous birds, most of us love hearing, if not always sighting, them.

 

* Susan Allene Epps has also written a book, Parrots of South Florida (2007) available on Amazon.

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

Distribution, Populations, and Documentation of Parrots in Broward County, by Bill Pranty and Susan Epps, Vol. 30, Issue 4, Article 1, Jan. 2000

Fort Lauderdale News, May 24, 1970

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 12, 1975

Fort Lauderdale News June 29, 1985

South Florida Sun Sentinel, Aug. 30, 1995

South Florida Sun Sentinel, Jan. 29, 1990

Tags: Parrots in Fort Lauderdale, parrots in Wilton Manors, Broward County parrots, Fort Lauderdale history

One of the first registered architects in Florida - August Geiger - his Fort Lauderdale and Miami projects

1917 advertisement from Directory of City of Miami Beach

By Jane Feehan

Fort Lauderdale’s first high school, Fort Lauderdale Central, was built in 1915. Its architect was August Geiger (1887-1968), already well known in Miami and Miami Beach for his work.

From Connecticut, Geiger settled in Miami in 1905 and opened an office in 1911. He was off and running soon after, becoming one of the first (10th) registered architects in Florida.

Miami and Miami Beach grew significantly during the early 19th century with its burgeoning tourist industry, land boom and accompanying skyline of notable buildings.

Geiger’s work includes the Lincoln Hotel and Apartments (1917) on Miami Beach, demolished long ago. His firm also designed Miami’s first “sky scraper,” the 12-story Ralston Hotel (1917), and, in the same year, the Miami City Hospital (now Jackson Memorial). 

Additionally, he designed the Miami Beach Municipal Golf Course House, the Community Theater of Miami Beach, the Dade County Courthouse, and Villa Serena, home of William Jennings Bryan, noted orator and politician. He commissioned Geiger to design his home in 1913 in Coconut Grove.

Wm Jennings Bryan home, 1920
State Archives of Florida

Geiger, known for his Mediterranean Revival style, also drew the plans for the Lincoln Road oceanfront home of Miami Beach developer Carl Fisher. In 1915, demand for the architect's style prompted Geiger to open an office in Palm Beach.  Many of his surviving buildings in South Florida have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geiger designed Fort Lauderdale Central High School (demolished in 1970) and the Fort Lauderdale Women’s Club in 1915 with his signature Mediterranean Revival imprint.  His firm drew up plans for many schools in Dade County and a few others in what became Broward County in 1915, including the Davie School. Geiger was tapped as architect of record for the Dade County School Board.  Among his later works was the $1.5 million Coral Gables High School in 1950.

Though Geiger was the design force behind Fort Lauderdale’s high school and its women’s club, the city claims Frances Abreu as its own architect. Both men brought a vision to Miami and Fort Lauderdale that defined early 19^th- century South Florida. 

Lincoln Hotel, 1922
States Archives of Florida/Fishbaugh 1922

Copyright © 2012, 2023 . All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

For more on Frances Abreu, see index for architects

For more Fort Lauderdale High School history, see index.

For more on William Jennings Bryan, see index.


Sources:
Kleinberg, Howard. Woggles and Cheese Houses. Miami Beach: The Greater Miami & Beaches Hotel Association (2005)
Miami News, Mar. 16, 1917
Wikipedia

Tags: early South Florida architects, Fort Lauderdale history, Miami history

The Idlewyld story - Hortt converts swamp to top-tier real estate

 

By Jane Feehan

The history of Fort Lauderdale’s Idlewyld neighborhood reflects the story of Fort Lauderdale’s M.A. Hortt. A former streetcar conductor and gold prospector from Utah, “Al” Hortt came to Fort Lauderdale in 1910. Possibilities for wealth generation were far greater here than in the desert.

The city saw its first land boom in 1910, when, according to Hortt, it claimed only 121 residents. As he wrote in his biography, Gold Coast Pioneer, he arrived when Fort Lauderdale was just a “wide spot” in the road. Not for long. News spread “up north” about Fort Lauderdale’s real estate. The early boom proved to be an early bust but Hortt’s roster of subsequent land deals (and travel escapades), could spin heads. The focus here, however, is Idlewyld.

Hortt and business partner Bob Dye bought a piece of swampy land in 1921 that spanned from the Las Olas bridge (opened 1917) to the “intersection of New River Sound” and beyond. They envisioned a subdivision on part of it but needed a developer with money. Hortt was familiar with Miami developer Carl Fisher’s success in converting Miami Beach's water-logged land into desirable real estate; he wanted to apply the same method in Fort Lauderdale.   

According to Hortt, he took a beach walk near Las Olas where he met visitor Tom Stillwell. Stillwell was looking for a real estate opportunity and the garrulous broker had just the deal: if Stillwell could put up $50,000, they could create a company with $100,000 of land and cash assets; Stillwell would get a 50 percent share. 

To convince the visitor about development possibilities, Hortt took him to Miami Beach to view Fisher’s projects. Stillwell was sold on the development idea for Fort Lauderdale and brought in three partners from Indiana. The New River Development Company was formed in 1921 and dredging of the Intracoastal and New River Sound began. Dredging would provide the soil to build up the swampy tract.

The name Idlewyld was chosen and its land platted. Streets, sidewalks, water mains and electric lines were installed after dredging.

To buoy its appeal, coconut palms were planted along its streets. However, for months only a few lots sold. They lowered prices and gave lots to the investors for building homes. The Indiana partners pooled resources and built one house. The company also offered to give away 10 lots for house construction. By year’s end, only four houses were built; the town experienced a real estate slowdown. 

Intracoastal view,
with Las Olas Bridge at left

As is often said today, the best time to advertise is during an economic slump. Savvy Hortt suggested he would handle advertising if a deal could be made with the partners. He wanted a 25 percent commission on sales of all lots. Prices would depend on location and would run $2,500 to $5,000. The New River Development Company approved and the first advertisement went to the Miami Herald.

One article in the Miami Herald reported that a promotion of the subdivision would include free transportation from Miami, dinners and a river trip. An ad in the same paper beckoned visitors to buy a lot in “Fort Lauderdale’s sub-division deluxe with people you’ll be glad to have for neighbors: men of wealth and social standing and a-1 character.”

The advertising campaign proved to be a success.  Hortt claimed in his book that he and Dye sold every lot “in less than one week,” and each for the price originally agreed upon. Success led to plans for a $250,000 hotel in Idlewyld. Promised to be “bigger and better than any yet planned” the hotel was expected to sit on six lots and open in one year.

The Idlewyld neighborhood gained attention. Hortt built his home there. In 1925, while on one of his many trips, he was offered $60,000 for that house. Upon his return he upped the price to $75,000 (a steep price then) and sold it to businesswoman Helen Brooks Smith. The sale made local headlines.

Less than a year later, the aftermath of the 1926 hurricane brought the South Florida real estate boom to a halt.  It’s interesting to note that during the storm, the U.S. Coast Guard’s houseboat station, Moccasin, was lifted from its mooring and thrown across the waterway near Idlewyld. The Coast Guard took up temporary quarters in the “deluxe” subdivision in two houses donated by W.C. Kyle until they could re-establish their base.

Hortt remained solvent and developed several neighborhoods such as Beverly Heights. He was recognized for guiding Fort Lauderdale’s recovery from the storm. He served as mayor and commissioner of Fort Lauderdale and then bought large tracts of land in Pompano Beach, where he died (750 Ocean Blvd.) in 1958 at 77.

And Idlewyld? It remains one of the city’s most beautiful neighborhoods with many of the original houses replaced with multi-lot sized homes selling for millions (as of this post, 17 on the market). The Riviera Isles/Idlewyld area is home to 508 residents. 

Hortt’s legacy includes not only his sales record of early city communities but his recognition of waterside locations in boosting real estate values. Many who came to Fort Lauderdale in the early 1900s thought real estate fortunes were to be found in agricultural land to the west. Hortt knew better.

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Hortt, M.A., Gold Coast Pioneer. New York: Exposition Press, 1955.

Miami Herald, Jan. 20, 1924

Miami Herald, Feb. 20, 1924

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 25, 1925

Fort Lauderdale News, April 17, 1925

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 13, 1925

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 16, 1926

Fort Lauderdale News, June 20, 1926

Fort Lauderdale News, March 1, 1952

Fort Lauderdale News, April 15, 1958

Tags: Idlewyld neighborhood, M.A. Hortt, Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale communities, history of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale in the 1920s, Jane Feehan

Marlin catch places Bimini on world stage of big game fishing

Blue Marlin Mount, State Archives of Florida/ Dale McDonald
Circa 1970 

By Jane Feehan

Known today as the “Big Game Fishing Capital of the World,” Bimini entered the international sport fishing scene during the 1930s. Before 1930, locals were unable to land a marlin. The reason may surprise some.

Locals always knew the big fish were out there, but they didn’t have the heavier, more expensive gear to land many, according to local historian Ashley B. Saunders (History of Bimini, Vol. 1, Alice Town: New World Press, 2000). Miami Herald fishing columnist Earl Roman also knew the big ones were plentiful. But, in the early days, he returned to the mainland with broken lightweight rods, cut lines and no game fish. 

By 1933, possibilities grew; he wrote about how “shallows and flats around Bimini are good for bonefish hunting.” He recommended trolling with a heavy rod.

Earl Roman with student and
trolling rod 1948. State Archives of Florida

Bimini, with fewer than 1000 residents during the early 1900s, was known for its beautiful aqua waters, attracting the yachting set years before its sport fishing days. But the island could not provide much ice, had little electricity and no docks except for one used for mail and supply boats Nevertheless, yachters would visit from Florida, only 45 miles away, anchor in Bimini Bay, cook food onboard or get to a beach on small boats provided by locals where they could set up for meals. Steamship excursions, popular short trips from Miami, were advertised during the 1920s—until the hurricanes of 1926 and 1928 took a terrible toll on its population and economy. Bleak days.

Ill winds seemingly began to turn in 1930, thanks in part to Earl Roman’s column, Angler’s Notes, about Bimini fishing. U.S.-based Bimini Enterprises, Inc., advertised 1,000 homesites were available for purchase on this slice of the Bahamas. Flights $5 for the 20 minute-seaplane flight were offered to view the lots, there, which had the “greatest fishing grounds in the world,” and “where no passport is needed.”

Bimini’s reputation as a game fish hotspot took off when Miami-based fishing guide Tommy Gifford and fellow American Louis Wasey, visited in 1933. They hooked a marlin but lost the fish after a dramatic 14-hour fight. 

Months later, American writer and noted angler S. Kip Farrington landed the first blue marlin off Bimini weighing 155 pounds. Betty Moore, yet weeks later, hooked and fought a 502-pound blue marlin for a few hours that Louis Wasey eventually managed to land. Bimini big game fishing launched like a sailfish leaping out of blue ocean waters.

According to Saunders, Tommy Gifford designed the “first outriggers for deep sea fishing” and trained locals in big game fishing techniques, equipment and bait.

Writer Ernest Hemingway, who was also a top-notch fisherman, heard about the Bimini news. He traveled there in 1935 and remained with his family at the Compleat Angler Hotel writing and fishing until 1937 (this landmark hotel was destroyed by fire in 2006). Firsthand accounts of Hemingway’s fishing endeavors are available in Saunders’ book.

Fishing news from and about Bimini continued. The first big game fishing tournament was held in 1940. None was held during World War II but fishing events resumed and Bimini’s economy took off during the late 1940s with expanded availability of electricity, ice, freezers, drinking water and construction of docks and hotels.   

Saunders notes the island’s first nightclub – Calypso Club opened in 1947. Local restaurants also opened as did Bimini’s first straw works kiosks. By 1949 big game fishing enthusiasts from around the world traveled to the island in hopes of catching any of the game fish – bonefish, white marlin, bluefin tuna, sailfish and swordfish. Locals created the high-profile Annual Native Fishing Tournament during the 1960s; it remains as one of the key fishing events to this day with world-wide participants. About swordfish: they only swim at night. The first nighttime swordfish tourney was established in the late ‘60s or early 70s

Interest in Bimini, its people, big game fishing and today the island’s real estate, grows. A population count in 2010 indicated 1,988 residents. In 2022 the count went up to 2,417. Real estate listings show homes sell from $250,000 to millions of dollars. Resident visitors are not all there for the fishing. Bimini waters are beautiful and its people rock.

For lots of stories,tournaments, stats and more, visit International Game Fishing Association at IGFA.org (located in Dania Beach off I-95).

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Saunders, Ashley B. History of Bimini, Vol. 1, Alice Town: New World Press, 2000.

Miami Herald, Sept. 21, 1928

Miami News, May 18, 1930

Miami Herald, June 28, 1931

Miami Herald, July 12, 1933

Miami Herald, July 2, 1934

Bahamas Realty

 

 

Tags: Bimini history, Bimini fishing, Bimini big game fishing, Miami history, marlin, tuna, swordfish, bonefish, Earl Roman