Miami Beach Art Deco District

Miami Beach Art Deco District: "The southern end of the the 10-mile-long barrier island of Miami Beach is home to the Art Deco National Historic District, the only location in the United States to be so designated. It is comprised of a few dozen hotels and apartment buildings built primarily in the 1930's. These buildings are soaring examples of pre-war modernism with charactertic rounded corners and geometric ornamentation. The highlight of the district is the strip of hotels along Ocean Drive between 5th and 15th street.

While the area is thriving today, the southern region of Miami Beach has a less than perfect history. When the first buildings were completed in the 1920's during prohibition, South Beach soon became associated with liquor and gambling and attracted the likes of Al Capone. By the early 1980's, much of the Art Deco district had become a slum and a center for drug traffic. South Beach experienced an unprecedented revival in the late 80's which some partially attribute to the success of the TV show 'Miami Vice.' More likely, it was the result of the non-profit Miami Design Preservation League and its founder Barbara Baer Capitman. Today, almost all of the original buildings have been meticulously restored and painted in a colorful array of pastels. Known familiarly as 'SoBe' the area is now the chic-est place to be in all of Miami and Miami Beach and has been referred to as 'America's Ri"