Opa-locka Thematic Resource Area | |
Location | Opa-locka, Miami-Dade County, Florida |
---|---|
MPS | [1] |
NRHP reference No. | 64000117 |
Added to NRHP | March 22, 1982 |
The Opa-locka Thematic Resource Area is a group of thematically related historic sites in Opa-locka, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The area comprises 20 surviving Moorish Revival buildings which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The buildings were designed in the mid-1920s by architect Bernhardt E. Muller as part of the development of Opa-locka by Glenn Hammond Curtiss, an aviation pioneer, and his development and sales company, Opa-locka Company. In developing Opa-locka, Curtiss sought to follow a theme inspired by the Arabian Nights. The designated buildings include the Opa-locka Company administration building, considered the anchor of the Opa-locka development, the Opa-locka railroad station, and the development's first commercial building, the Harry Hurt Building.
After Glenn Curtiss, an aviation pioneer, retired from aircraft development and manufacturing in the 1920s, he became a real estate developer in Florida. In 1926, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s, Curtiss founded the Opa-locka project on 4.2 acres of land in northwestern Miami-Dade County, Florida. The Opa-locka Company was the development and sales company established by Curtiss for his Opa-locka project. [2]
Curtiss named the development "Opa-tisha-wocka-locka", which meant "a big island covered with many trees and swamps." [3] [1] He shortened it to Opa-locka. Curtiss hired the American architect Bernhardt E. Muller to design the town in the themes of an "Arabian Fantasy" or "Arabian Nights." [4] Some sources indicate that Curtiss was inspired by his viewing of the 1924 motion picture The Thief of Baghdad. [4]
Muller designed 86 buildings in Opa-locka in a Moorish Revival style. [1] The buildings elements include onion-shaped domes, minarets, crenelated parapets, Saracenic arches, watchtowers, mosaic tile, and outdoor spiral staircases. The streets were given Arabian-related names, such as Ali Baba Avenue, Sharazad Avenue, Caliph Street, Sinbad Avenue, Sesame Street, and Aladdin Street. [3] [1]
The Administration Building has been described as "the anchor of the new city," [1] and was designed by Muller as the headquarters for the Opa-locka Company. It was later used as Opa-locka's City Hall. The building has been called "The Nation's Weirdest City Hall", [4] and was reported to have been inspired by the description of the palace of the Emperor Kosroushah in One Thousand and One Nights . The Administration Building includes "a dazzling array of domes, minarets, and arches, which combined to create a delightful oriental palace and afforded the appearance of a magical, fantasy city." [1]
The 1926 Miami hurricane struck in September of that year and destroyed many of the original Moorish-style buildings, but some survived. [3] [5] Based on a survey and documentation prepared later in the twentieth century, twenty of the surviving structures have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [3] The Opa-locka Company administration building is one of the listed buildings. [3] Three other commercial buildings were listed on the National Register together. [1]
The following buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of a Multiple Property Submission with the 1981 study, or later, consistently with the study guidelines of the Opa-locka Thematic Resource Area report.
Resource Name | Also known as | Location | Added |
---|---|---|---|
Harry Hurt Building | Logan Executive Center | 490 Ali-Baba Avenue 25°54′05″N80°15′04″W / 25.901389°N 80.251111°W | March 22, 1982 |
Opa-locka Company administration building | Opa-locka City Hall | 777 Sharazad Boulevard 25°54′17″N80°15′11″W / 25.904722°N 80.253056°W | March 22, 1982 |
Opa-locka Bank | First Baptist Church | 940 Caliph Street 25°54′21″N80°15′01″W / 25.905833°N 80.250278°W | May 19, 1983 |
Opa-locka railroad station | 490 Ali Baba Avenue 25°54′01″N80°15′12″W / 25.900278°N 80.253333°W | June 25, 1987 | |
H. W. Baird House | Edmunds House | 401 Dunad Avenue 25°54′11″N80°15′22″W / 25.903056°N 80.256111°W | August 17, 1987 |
George Cravero House | Lewis House | 1011 Sharar Avenue 25°54′28″N80°15′05″W / 25.907778°N 80.251389°W | August 17, 1987 |
J. W. Crouse House | Rey House | 1156 Peri Street 25°54′33″N80°14′56″W / 25.909167°N 80.248889°W | August 17, 1987 |
Clarence Etheredge House | Raad House | 915 Sharar Avenue 25°54′27″N80°15′09″W / 25.9075°N 80.2525°W | August 17, 1987 |
R. M. Griffiths House | Ortiz-Figueroa House | 826 Superior Street 25°53′53″N80°15′04″W / 25.898056°N 80.251111°W | August 17, 1987 |
S. K. Haislip House | Payon-Diaz House | 1141 Jann Avenue 25°54′31″N80°14′57″W / 25.908611°N 80.249167°W | August 17, 1987 |
Helm Stores and Apartments | 1217 Sharazad Boulevard 25°54′18″N80°14′53″W / 25.905°N 80.248056°W | August 17, 1987 | |
Roy Helms House | Rose House | 721 Sharar Avenue 25°54′24″N80°15′17″W / 25.906667°N 80.254722°W | August 17, 1987 |
A. H. Higgins Duplex | Smith House | 1210-1212 Sesame Street 25°54′20″N80°14′53″W / 25.905556°N 80.248056°W | August 17, 1987 |
King Trunk Factory and Showroom | O'Dell Apartment House | 951 Superior Street 25°53′55″N80°14′54″W / 25.898611°N 80.248333°W | August 17, 1987 |
C. E. Long House | Peterman House | 613 Sharar Avenue 25°54′21″N80°15′20″W / 25.905833°N 80.255556°W | August 17, 1987 |
E. E. Root Building | Rondon Building | 111 Perviz Avenue 25°54′15″N80°15′14″W / 25.904167°N 80.253889°W | August 17, 1987 |
L. M. Taber Duplex | Brown House | 1214-1216 Sesame Street 25°54′21″N80°14′52″W / 25.905833°N 80.247778°W | August 17, 1987 |
W. A. Tinsman House | Morales House | 1110 Peri Street 25°54′34″N80°15′00″W / 25.909444°N 80.25°W | August 17, 1987 |
W. P. Tooker House | Quick House | 811 Dunad Avenue 25°54′23″N80°15′12″W / 25.906389°N 80.253333°W | August 17, 1987 |
H. Sayre Wheeler House | Riopelle House | 1035 Dunad Avenue 25°54′24″N80°15′01″W / 25.906667°N 80.250278°W | August 17, 1987 |
Miami Springs is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. As of 2020, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 13,859.
Opa-locka is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. Spanning roughly 4.1 square miles (11 km2), it is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 16,463, up from 15,219 in 2010.
Opa-locka station is a Tri-Rail commuter rail station in Opa-locka, Florida. Parking is available at this station, which is located near the intersection of Ali Baba Avenue and Sharazad Boulevard. The current station opened for service in 1996 directly adjacent to the former Opa-locka Seaboard Air Line Railway Station.
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The Opa-locka Bank is a historic bank in Opa-locka, Florida. It is located at 940 Caliph Street. On May 19, 1983, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The Glenn H. Curtiss Mansion and Gardens is a historic home located at 500 Deer Run in Miami Springs, Florida and open to the public as an event space or for private tours by prior arrangement.
The Harry Hurt Building is a historic site in Opa-locka, Florida. It is located at 490 Opa-locka Boulevard, on the corner of Ali-Baba Avenue. On March 22, 1982, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The Opa-locka Company administration building is a historic site in Opa-locka, Florida. It is located at 777 Sharazad Boulevard. On March 22, 1982, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
The Miami Shores Thematic Resource — in Miami Shores, Miami-Dade County, Florida
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This is a list of the 58 Multiple Property Submissions on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida. They contain approximately 400 individual listings of the more than 1,500 on the National Register for the state.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Miami, Florida.
Coast Guard Air Station Miami is an Air Station of the United States Coast Guard located at Opa-locka Executive Airport in Opa-locka, Florida. The station operates the HC-144 Ocean Sentry maritime patrol aircraft and the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter.
Bernhardt Emil Muller, usually known as Bernhardt E. Muller, was an American architect who worked chiefly in Florida, where he designed many buildings in the 1920s and 1930s that have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The 19th Century Spring Hill Neighborhood Thematic Resource is a multiple property submission of buildings that were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places. It covers eight properties in the Spring Hill neighborhood of Mobile, Alabama, all built during the mid-19th century.
Curtiss & Bright were developers in the Florida cities of Hialeah, Miami Springs and Opa-locka.
The Crouse House, in Opa-Locka, Florida, was designed by architect Bernhardt E. Muller for owners J. W. and Jennie Crouse. The house includes Moorish Revival elements, and it was constructed in 1926 at the corner of Peri and Ahmed Streets in Opa-locka. The house is part of the Opa-locka Thematic Resource Area, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places August 17, 1987. Original features of the house included a bell tower at the Peri St. entrance and a dome above the garage entrance on Ahmad St., but neither feature survived numerous alterations.
Albert Tresvant was an American politician who served as the first African-American commissioner and mayor of Opa-Locka, Florida and first African-American mayor in Dade County.
Media related to National Register of Historic Places in Opa-Locka, Florida at Wikimedia Commons