A history of Opa-locka,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Opa-locka from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Opa-locka was founded in 1926 by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss, who had retired to become a real estate developer during the nascent Florida land boom. The city's unique "Arabian" or "Moorish" architectural theme was executed by American architect Bernhardt E. Muller, who had designed several Mediterranean and Spanish-style homes in nearby Miami in 1923. There are various accounts regarding how Opa-locka came to adopt its iconic architectural style. Curtiss had met Muller in 1925 at the suggestion of Curtiss' mother, Lua Andrews Curtiss. Muller is said to have viewed Opa-locka as an opportunity to create a new community based on an architectural theme from a literary work; he was particularly inspired by the exoticism and splendor of the One Thousand and One Nights, also known in English as the Arabian Nights. By some accounts, Muller met with Curtiss on the site of the future city to …
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Opa-locka’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewConnecticut -New Haven County - -…, 1940: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Opa-locka
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Opa-locka, decade by decade
CommonsConnecticut -New Haven County - -Windham County- -- Delawar…1940
CommonsConnecticut -New Haven County - -Windham County- -- Delawar…1940
CommonsAll American Girls Professional Baseball League members per…1948
CommonsAll American Girls Professional Baseball League player Marg…1948
CommonsAll American Girls Professional Baseball League player Marg…1948
CommonsChicago Colleens on April 22, 1948, from- All American Girl…19481990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Connecticut -New Haven County - -Windham County- -- Delaware -entire state- -- District of Columbia -- Florida -Alachua… (1940) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.