Stiltsville

Stiltsville might very well win the honor of Miami’s most unique neighborhood. The community now known as Stiltsville emerged during the Prohibition years, when a haphazard neighborhood of wooden houses built on concrete pilings, or stilts, sprang up in a shallow part of Biscayne Bay. Originally just referred to as “the shacks,” Stiltsville helped cement a “sun and sin” tone for Miami that still thrives today. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the wooden houses in the bay were enjoyed as relaxing fishing outposts by day, and by night as racy speakeasies complete with gambling, prostitution and Al Capone. At its peak, Stiltsville was comprised of about 25 residences, along with two notorious nightclubs – the Quarterdeck and Pierre’s Bikini Club. The number of structures fluctuated due to their vulnerable location during hurricanes. During the 1970s, the community was forced to comply with Dade County zoning ordinances and no new structures were allowed. In 1980, Biscayne Bay National Park annexed Stiltsville, and the National Park Service declared Stiltsville to be a detraction from “the character of a pristine and public property.” Basically, the wooden shacks were an eyesore and they needed to go. After many years of battle for and against saving Stiltsville, a compromise was reached in 2000. The remaining 7 Stiltsville houses will remain unless they are destroyed by a hurricane. In the meantime, the Stiltsville Trust has been formed to create an acceptable public use for the houses such as community meeting spaces or possibly a Biscayne National Park interpretive center.