First Miami Beach Post Office

The story of Miami Beach's first post office, which opened on December 1, 1920, and served the city's postal needs until 1933. The building was razed on November 5, 1997.

Cover: Original Miami Beach Post Office at 1131 Fifth Street in 1920. Courtesy of Florida State Archives.

After incorporating as a town in March of 1915, Miami Beach relied on the City of Miami’s main post office to deliver letters and packages to the newly formed town. As the municipality grew, the town reincorporated as a city just two years later on May 1, 1917. Residents of the city of Miami Beach continued to depend on the mainland for their postal services until Carl Fisher constructed the municipality’s first post office at 1131 Fifth Street, between Alton Road and Lennox Avenue, on Miami Beach.

The edifice was a “two-story building of masonry vernacular design where its front façade consisted of expansive arched windows between two full-height rounded arches” as described by Carolyn Klepser in her book entitled Lost Miami Beach. Construction of the building only took 20 days, from start to finish, and opened on December 1, 1920. In addition to serving as the city’s post office, the second floor was used by Fisher’s Ocean Beach Realty Company as a boardroom during its early years.

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This building served as the city’s post office until the institution relocated to larger quarters at 1015 Washington Avenue in 1933. The 1920-era structure was acquired by Robert Reilly and converted into a hotel.

The building stood until November 5, 1997, when it was razed by Alan Potamkin of Potamkin Chevrolet, who owned the property at the time. His attorney, Lucia Dougherty, in an article published in the Miami Herald on November 6, 1997, admitted that “he (Potamkin) got the demolition permit in anticipation of the historic designation.” The city of Miami Beach was pursuing the preservation initiative for the building when the demolition permit was filed. Dougherty went on to say, “the irony is that the building would still be standing if the city had not begun to designate it as historic.” The former location of the post office is part of a large shopping center anchored on the corner of Fifth Street and Alton Road today.

Figure 1: The original Miami Beach Post Office building in April of 1933, shortly before moving postal services to 1015 Washington Avenue. Courtesy of Larry Wiggins.

Resources:

• Book: “Lost Miami Beach”, by Carolyn Klepser.

• Miami News: “Beach Post Office Will Be Finished in 20 Days”, November 17, 1920.

• Miami News: “To Take Quick Work To Open Beach P.O. Dec 1”, November 26, 1920.

• Miami Herald: “Post Office building demolished”, by Peter Whoriskey, November 6, 1997.