Here, we take a look inside the history of how this Miami landmark came to be, in addition to its state today after surviving Hurricane Irma, plus how you can visit the stubborn relic by way of your own boat or kayak or a guided boat tour. In , Miami was a quickly growing city — and that included the Bay. Unofficially, it was a hotbed for rum running and illegal gambling, making Crawfish a mythological figure in Miami crime lore.
The popularity of the club lead to other entrepreneurial spirits to look to the open water as a way to make money without too much interference by the law. The result? In its prime years, before Hurricane Donna, Stiltsville consisted of 27 residential and commercial structures. The Stiltsville Miami houses are not clustered closely together.
Some look almost abandoned, with rotting wood and peeling paint. Others are clearly prized and cared for, like the home leased by Miami Springs Powerboat Club, which has docks for many boats and is in excellent condition. The idea of Stiltsville may be better than the reality of it — with no AC and rudimentary facilities, staying there is probably like camping.
You can reserve your spot on a Stiltsville guided historic tour here. I recommend you come early and spend a few hours touring the two historic houses that were home from to of Charles Deering, the art- and nature-loving industrialist who was chairman of International Harvester. His half-brother, millionaire industrialist James Deering, built Vizcaya, the Mediterranean palace and gardens also overlooking Biscayne Bay, which is far better known as a Miami landmark.
Deering Estate is a great place for a picnic before the boat trip, but you are also welcome to bring food and beverages on the boat. At three hours, the leisurely paced tour may tax the patience of children. Its focus is on history and nature. You may get lucky and see dolphins and birds. We saw manatees at the Deering boat basin both as we left and when we returned, and this was in June — not prime manatee viewing time.
Even on a summer day when land temperatures hit 88, the boat tour was pleasant because of the sea breeze and movement of the boat. Most of the seating is in the shade, but there are some full-sun seats. On our tour, the folks who sat there wanted the sun. A daily alternative to this boat tour is offered by Ocean Force Adventures , which operates out of Miami Beach Marina and primarily serves visitors staying in nearby hotels.
Tours must be reserved in advance. To Reserve call or visit www. History Miami conducts large group boat tours to Stiltsville approximately 4 times per year guided by local historian Paul George. Advance reservations are required. At the very limits of the nation-state, this somewhat overblown version of Stiltsville's origin story goes, strange new architectures take shape on the horizon, with the continental shelf as subtropical autonomous zone.
In any case, by the late s and early 40s, we learned, Crawfish Eddie's gambling shack was joined by a handful of other social clubs, whose members also appreciated the legal leeway that came with distance from the mainland. The Quarterdeck, for instance -- an invitation-only private gentlemen's club built across a collection of pilings and barges -- welcomed Miami's wealthy and well-connected for drinks and, rumor has it, more.
The s era Bikini Club -- a grounded yacht that offered free drinks for women in its namesake attire and operated without the bother of a liquor license -- only added to Stiltsville's hard-partying renegade reputation. Nonetheless, in accordance with the handful of possible fates that seem eventually, inevitably, to befall all Stiltsville structures, Crawfish Eddie's blew away in a hurricane, the Quarterdeck burned down, and the Bikini Club was busted and ultimately shut down by the vice squad.
Meanwhile, as our guide put it, Miami's "frontier era" was drawing to a close. After Hurricane Betsy, in , the state issued formal leases for the bay bottom and refused to permit any new structures.
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