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Don Boyd | all galleries >> Memories of Old Hialeah, Old Miami and Old South Florida Photo Galleries - largest non-Facebook collection on the internet >> 1960 to 1969 Miami Area Historical Photos Gallery - click on image to view > Mid 1960's - closer view of the "South Beach" that we remember, between the pier and the jetty
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Mid 1960's Courtesy of Robert Bowman

Mid 1960's - closer view of the "South Beach" that we remember, between the pier and the jetty

South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida view map

Thank you to Robert Bowman for contributing this great old image of the most popular beach for teens in Dade County in the 60's. This beach between the jetty and the fishing pier was packed with teens, surfers and skim boarders every weekend during the year and every day during the summers in the 1960's. The Miami Beach Kennel Club's two-story parking garage offered close convenient parking at a reasonable fee and shade from the blazing sun on the first floor. Life was great!

This photo must have been taken after a bad storm with high seas, and at high tide, because of the deep erosion in the shoreline. I remember the beach being much wider than what is depicted in this photo.

See the article on the destruction of the South Beach Pier in 1984 at: http://www.pbase.com/image/94510466


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Fernando Rivas 04-Dec-2010 14:17
In the summers we had relatives that would come down from NY to spend time on Miami Beach. I remember being 16 and walking with my first girlfirend on that pier. Lots of great memories. I also remember that they used to have forties-style big bands there at night, (don't remember if it was on the weekends) and we'd watch the seniors dancing to what we thought of as 'old' music. Life was simpler then.
Don Boyd07-Feb-2010 15:52
Prem, your memories of the bagel bakery are accurate. We used to patronize them every time we went to South Beach and the fresh hot bagels were a nickel each and delicious. There is a 70's photos of the stores across the street with some guys in front in the Individuals & Small Groups gallery athttp://www.pbase.com/donboyd/image/113361145 so you can see how it looked.

Don
prem 07-Feb-2010 15:05
Spent some of my best days ever at South Beach in the early to mid sixties. Surfing and snorkling off the Govt. cut jetty were the order of the day. I remember a wholesale (I think) bakery nearby that would sell fresh baked bagels out the back door; with a soda machine right there you could have an ice cold Pepsi and a huge bagel so hot you could hardly handle it. Wonderful memories!
Guest 15-Oct-2008 03:38
does anyone remember a pool that would have been in the vicinity of the dog track circa 1948?
Mayra R 30-Jul-2008 05:58
The building behind the beach was the parking lot for the old Dog Track. We all parked our cars during summer breaks and walked over to the beach.
robertbowman24-Mar-2008 22:45
The walk from pier to jetty is one of the things that will remain very special in my memory. Whether it was in the cool mornings chasing a school of hungry Jacks along the shore or surf casting into a thick school of mullet to snag one for a mystery fish attack.(After you snagged a mullet with a trebble hook something would eat it) At night time The snook were the thing on the jetty. You could make the trip quite a few times to the cleaning table to fillet your catch. Sometimes you would stumble upon a Giant sea turtle coming up to lay her eggs.Then of course the days you swam snorkled or surfed were without compare. You could call Al at the snack shop under the parking lot to find out what the surf was too.