Question: What collection of houses on stilts in the shallow waters of Biscayne Bay became a Prohibition-era party haven?
Answer: Stiltsville
Beginning in the 1930s, entrepreneurs built shacks in the bay just offshore from Miami. “Crawfish Eddie Walker” built the first shack on stilts above the water. They hosted fishing clubs, gambling dens, and cocktail lounges. Hurricanes and new regulations reduced the number of surviving homes to just a few, now managed by the National Park Service. Their weathered silhouettes remain an eccentric piece of Miami’s maritime history.
