miami beach

Exterior of Jungle Inn in 1921

Miami Beach’s First Speakeasy Raided in 1921

In February of 1921, Miami Beach was incorporated as a city for less than four years. Following the incorporation of Miami Beach as a town in March of 1915, the citizens of the Town of Miami Beach formally became the…


John Collins and Carl Fisher

An Unlikely Partnership – Fisher Meets Collins

Although Carl Fisher told his wife, Jane, it was his intention to retire when they bought their home on Brickell Avenue, his retirement wasn’t meant to be. Within a few weeks after the Fisher’s chance encounter with John Collins on…


Carl Fisher

Carl Fisher Discovers Miami Beach

While the thin barrier peninsula that would later become the City of Miami Beach was discovered long before Carl Fisher arrived in South Florida, Fisher’s personal discovery of the peninsula was courtesy of serendipity and then the formation of an…


Capone Fishing

Al Capone in Miami – Part 4 of 4

Al Capone sat in county jail from the time of his sentence in October until May of 1932. Capone’s lawyers had been granted a stay to keep the government from moving him to a federal prison until his appeals had…


Mug Shot of Capone's Arrest in Miami in May of 1930.

Al Capone in Miami – Part 3 of 4

For the first time in his life, Capone was serving time in jail. His sentence began in May of 1929 and by the spring of 1930 his jail time was approaching its end. After multiple attempts to appeal his year…