I was born in Miami in February 1953 and moved to Opa-locka in 1960 with my parents. I remained there until 1994. What a great little place that sat out alone in the early and mid 1960s. The community was rather close and it even had its own downtown shopping area. There was a bus service called "Coach City:" that would take you downtown Miami for 50 cents. The bus would leave Opa-locka on NW 135 Street and go down the expressway on some routes.
I use to play in the air base with my friends and in the Minton Lakes area south of 135th street and west of NW 27th Avenue, The lakes there were dug I understand by a comp[any in the 1950s called Silica Sand. N That area turned in to a crack and coke pushing area in the 1980s.
The rest of Opa-Locka faired no better and when my parents passed away in late 2003 where they lived since 1960 ion Sultan Avenue the places was the "pits" and real downer to what it was like 40 years earlier.
I recall the teachers at Opa-Locka Elementary in the first part of the 1960s would walk us from the school grounds several blocks away to the ”Dairy Queen” at times and we would purchase something there. Not all of the field trip forms that have to be filled out today so as to avoid some scam lawsuit. I taught at the elementary school there about five years ago before transferring out and to say its day had passed was an understatement.
