Magic City Tourist Camp
The story of the tourist camp at 6005 NE Second Avenue in Lemon City, now referred to as Little Haiti, from 1925 until 2015.
The trailer park once located at 6005 NE Second Avenue in Lemon City traces its origins to the height of South Florida’s great building boom of the 1920s. The site, originally intended for a dairy farm, was repurposed by Dr. John G. Dupuis, who recognized the growing demand for affordable accommodations as waves of newcomers poured into the region.
Known at its opening as a “tourist camp,” the property operated from the mid-1920s until 2015. At its inception, it helped ease the housing shortage brought on by the boom. In later decades, the site, eventually referred to as a trailer park, continued to serve as an important housing alternative for residents on low or fixed incomes. For nearly ninety years, the Magic City Tourist Camp remained a fixture in Lemon City, later known as Little Haiti, reflecting the evolving story of Miami itself.
Origins of the Nickname ‘Magic City’
The nickname ‘Magic City’ is as old as the city it describes. Ironically, the man who gave Miami its timeless moniker had never visited Miami before he described it as magical. As the story goes, E.V. Blackman was working as a freelance writer in Daytona Beach when he was hired by Henry Flagler to write an article about a new city for a new magazine. The magazine was called “The Home Seeker” and Blackman’s article was published in one of the first issues of the magazine.
After he was hired, Flagler sent Blackman a letter with the blueprint for the city and pictures of the area to acquaint him with what he was chartered to illuminate in his report. The article was to describe the beauty and potential of Flagler’s latest stop along the east coast of Florida.
Blackman was already captivated by Flagler’s enthusiasm, but after he reviewed the blueprint and pictures, he immediately saw the possibilities for the city. He told the Miami News in 1925 the following: “In looking over the material, I got so enthusiastic over the possibilities of the city that bordered on the Gulf stream and faced the broad waters of Biscayne Bay, that I referred to it as the ‘Magic City’.” Blackman included the description in his article.
After completing the article for The Home Seeker, he sent a copy to the Jacksonville Times-Union as a form of early syndication. Within weeks after the article was published, other newspapers in the state were reporting on Miami’s progress and adding “The Magic City” to the name of the municipality in their news stories. It didn’t take long for the nickname to stick.
Ownership of Land by Dupuis Family
The land that would later become the tourist camp was part of a 2,000-acre tract purchased by Dr. John G. Dupuis in 1898 for use as a dairy farm. In 1925, a portion of that property was subdivided to establish the Magic City Tourist Camp, later known in official records as Magic City Park.
The boundaries of the carved out portion for the tourist camp were described as follows in the public records of Dade County.
“Beginning 25’ east and 304’6” south of northwest corner of the southwest quarter northeasterly parallel with Lemon Avenue 1266’6” to Railroad Avenue south 210’ southwesterly along Brown Street 1266’6” north to the point of beginning, of the plat of PIERCE’S SUBDIVISION OF LEMON CITY, as recorded in Plat Book B at Page 43 and Plat Book 2 at Page 21.”
The camp remained under the ownership of the Dupuis family until its sale to Magic City Properties, LLC in 2014. While the property was operated by a series of lessees over the years, ownership of the land itself stayed within the family for nearly nine decades.
Following the death of Dr. John G. Dupuis on September 17, 1952, control of the property passed to his wife, Katherine E. Dupuis. On August 1, 1959, the land was placed into the Katherine E. Dupuis Trust. After Katherine’s death on August 20, 1975, trusteeship transferred first to John G. Dupuis Jr., and, after his passing in 1980, to Susan Dupuis. It was ultimately this family trust that finalized the sale of the property to Magic City Properties, LLC.
