South Beach During the Roaring 20’s

         The Starlite Hotel, Ocean Dr.

                   South Beach, FL

In the early 1920’s Miami, Miami Beach and, of course, South Beach were the playgrounds of the rich and famous. The topical weather attracted northerners like honey attracts flies. As transportation improved, crowds multiplied. The area projected a healthy and relaxed attitude and life style. People came from near and far to enjoy the white sandy beaches.

Then in 1926 and 1928 two very important events took place that changed the area for the worse.

The 1926 event was a hurricane...a force of nature. Hurricanes were not named in those days so the hurricane is referred to as the 1926 Miami Hurricane or the Big Blow. Hurricane predictions were not very good in those days either and the population of Miami, Miami Beach and South Beach had no idea what they were in for. Ground speed winds were recorded at 125 miles per hour and there was a 15 foot storm surge. The eye of the storm passed directly over South Beach.

Because the population was uninformed about hurricanes, when the eye passed over, many people thought the storm was over and they left their homes trying to get to higher ground only to be swept away by the rear eye wall.  The local weather chief, Richard Gray wrote, “The lull lasted 35 minutes, and during that time the streets of the city became crowded with people. As a result, many lives were lost during the second phase of the storm."

The damage was almost immeasurable. In 1920 dollars the estimate was $100 million...at today’s prices that would be $100 billion dollars. There was a significant loss of life, of course. The land boom came to a screeching halt and South Florida began to feel the effects of the depression that wouldn’t grip the rest of the country for another three years.

The second event was when Al Capone decided to make Miami his home in 1928...it was a hurricane of a different kind but just as devastating in many ways. With Capone came organized crime and everything that implies.

Miami, Miami Beach and South Beach didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet for Al Capone. As a matter of fact, they went to great pains to make it exceedingly clear that he was not welcome in the area. But...he WAS Al Capone and what Al wanted, Al got. Using middle men to avoid detection by the IRS, Al Capone bought Clarence Busch's Palm Island estate as his permanent residence. The Miami authorities were known for looking the other way or closing a blind eye to illegal gambling and prostitution before Al Capone arrived on the scene. It was obviously his kind of place.

Miami did everything that it could to rid itself of Al Capone but they never succeeded entirely. He spent years in prison several time over the ensuing years but he always returned to his Miami home when he was released. The last time he was released from prison in 1939, he did exactly that. He died at the ripe old age of 48 years and one week of cardiac arrest brought on by syphilis on January 25, 1947. Miami was at last rid of Al Capone.