South Beach, which is also commonly known as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach located east of Miami. It is situated between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses all of the barrier islands of Miami Beach
This area was the first section of Miami Beach to be developed (which started in the 1910a) in large part due to the efforts of Carl G. Fisher, the Lummus Brothers, and John S. Collins. Joh S Collins is most known for the construction of Collins Bridge, which provided the first vital land link between mainland Miami and the surrounding beaches.
The area has gone through numerous artificial and natural changes throughout the years and was hit by a devastating hurricane in 1926, which destroyed much of the area.
South Beach initially started as farmland until Charles Lum built the first house on the beach in 1886. Lum and his brother Henry initially purchased 165 acres of land in the area for the purpose of coconut farming.
The Lum brothers left the island in 1894 and left control of the plantation to the aforementioned John Collins
The Lummus Brothers, businessmen, later acquired 400 acres of Collins’ land. They aspired to build an oceanfront city that consisted of modest single family residences. In 1920, the Miami Beach land boom began.
Later, in the 1930s, an architectural revolution arrived in South Beach. This revolution of sorts brought Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, and Nautical Moderne architecture to the area and was a major factor in it’s growing popularity.
South Beach became even more famous when Jackie Gleason brought his weekly variety series to the area for taping, which was a rare occurrence at the time. Gleason’s show first came to the area in 1964.
South Beach was once considered a very poor area with a very high rate of crime which made it very unappealing and a hard place to develop communities as it had reputation issues. However, today it is considered one of the wealthiest and most prosperous commercial areas on the beach and a very appealing destination for both tourism and real estate in the United States.
Today, the South Beach section of Miami Beach is an extremely popular entertainment destination both locally, nationally and globally with hundreds of nightclubs, restaurants, boutiques and hotels to accommodate visitors and inhabitants.
South Beach is continuing to grow and continuing to appeal to businesses as more development has continued and even boomed in recent years.
It’s important to explore everything about South Beach before visiting so you are sure to take it all in accordingly.
With the expected arrival of marijuana dispensaries, you can expect that more tourists will flock to South Beach, especially as marijuana doctors set up their practice.