Changing Miami: Then and Now

An interesting comparison of 1952 and 2016 aerials illustrating the impact of expressways penetrating through various Miami neighborhoods and districts.

Design District Henry Flagler extended his Florida East Coast (FEC) railroad into South Florida in 1896. By 1952, a warehouse district had emerged in the vicinity of FEC’s Buena Vista railyard. In 1961, I-195 opened, severing the warehouse district from the railyard. Over the last decade, the old railyard has been redeveloped as Midtown Miami and the warehouse district has emerged as the Miami Design District.

Miami River Once lined with surface parking lots, railroad and maritime uses, the mouth of the Miami River is now dominated by high-rise condominium towers.

Biscayne Boulevard Museum Park opened in 1976 as Bicentennial Park. Prior to the park and the 1971 addition of I-395, the site was the location of several slips served by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad.

Overtown Originally called Colored Town, Overtown grew to become known as the “Little Broadway” of the South. A popular destination for prominent black luminaries during the Jim Crow era, the neighborhood proved to be no match for urban renewal and the construction of I-95, the Dolphin Expressway and the Midtown Interchange during the 1960s.