South Beach has been a place to be since the 1920s, and Lincoln Road, the backbone of South Beach, was built to become the Fifth Avenue of the south. While it may not have reached those heights, it played a key role in LGBT history, hosting the first ever gay pride parade in 1972. There have also been some incredible moments of Miami’s pop culture history — from the The Beatles’ TV performance on the Ed Sullivan Show at the Deauville Beach Resort to Frank Sinatra’s many visits at the Fontainebleau. The city’s commitment to historic preservation, especially of the iconic Art Deco buildings, has kept the sites of these key moments in history largely intact.
All those iconic art deco buildings were once considered an eyesore, and while Miami was in the midst of a drug war, they were almost torn down. Find out where that unique South Beach look came from, and what it took to preserve it.
Florida’s Jewish history stretches all the way back to 1565, with more than half a million Jews now calling South Florida home.
From the first gay pride week, to antidiscrimination laws, to the South Beach renaissance, explore Miami's LGBT history.
As Miami Beach celebrates 100 years, we are looking back at the iconic Lincoln Road.