Panoramic View of Downtown Miami in 1955

The cover photo is a view of downtown Miami in 1955 looking east from the Dade County Courthouse. While the view has changed dramatically in 70-years, some buildings still remain.

Cover: Panoramic view of the Miami Skyline from the Dade County Courthouse in 1955. Courtesy of Casey M. Piket.

The cover photo, taken from a high floor in the Dade County Courthouse in 1955, captures the skyline of downtown Miami during the middle decade of the 20^th century. Although this panorama has changed dramatically over the past 70 years, it looked nearly the same in 1955 as it did at the end of the building boom of the 1920s. Although other areas in South Florida had mini-development booms beginning in the mid-1930s, such as the construction of the Art Deco hotels on Miami Beach, downtown Miami’s skyline remained largely the same as it was in 1926.

Figure 1: The Congress Building 1926. Courtesy of Miami-Dade Public Library, Romer Collection.

A lot of the buildings in this aerial photograph were products of the boom of the 1920s and some are still standing today. The tall white building in the center of the picture is the Congress Building (1), at 111 NE Second Avenue, which opened on January 1, 1927, and was erected by T.O. Wilson and the Realty Services Corporation. The structure was converted into a condominium building in 1999.

Figure 2: The Meyer-Kiser building in 1944 (left), and 2016 (right). Courtesy of Florida State Archives.

To the west of the Congress Building in the photo stands the Dade Commonwealth, originally called the Meyer-Keyser Building (2), located at 139 NE First Street. It was constructed by Locke T. Highleyman and Jerry Galatis, with Martin L. Hampton as the architect. The building opened on March 3, 1926, but suffered severe damage during the September 1926 hurricane. In the aftermath, it was modified and reduced in height to address the storm’s destruction. Though abandoned today, it received historic designation in 1999 and is still standing today.

The Security Building (3), located just west of the Dade Commonwealth at 117 NE First Avenue and distinguished by its bell tower, was designed by Chicago architect Robert Greenfield and opened on December 15, 1927. Originally home to Dade Security Trust, it later became the first headquarters of Pan American Bank.

Figure 3: Gesu Catholic Church and the Security Building in 1927 (left), and 1945 (right). Courtesy of Florida State Archives and Casey M. Piket.