Historic Silver Bluff: Rediscovering Miami's Neighborhoods

Historic Silver Bluff

Rediscovering Miami's Neighborhoods
The story of Miami's Silver Bluff neighborhood is defined by the ancient, the ephemeral, and the modern. Silver Bluff's namesake is the ancient geology of Miami's coastline, the oolitic limestone outcroppings that rise above Biscayne Bay and are the highest ground in South Florida. The streets and infrastructure of Silver Bluff were forged by an ephemeral municipality, the Town of Silver Bluff, that existed for a mere four years before being subsumed by the hyper-growth of the City of Miami in 1925. Silver Bluff is perhaps best known today for its abundance of well-built, beautifully designed, 1930s-era small homes. These homes were the product of sweeping housing reform by the Federal Government under the Federal Housing Act of 1934. Silver Bluff benefited from the resulting flood of government-insured mortgages. More than half of its housing stock was built between 1937 and 1939 as single-family homes with a unique architectural expression of Mediterranean and Moderne styles. Silver Bluff is loved for its convenient, urban location near Miami's downtown and Biscayne Bay, while maintaining a stable, predominantly single-family neighborhood with a mature tree canopy, well-maintained homes, and tidy lawns.

Prepared for: Dade Heritage Trust, Inc. and the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources

This project was funded in part by the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources, Dade Heritage Trust, and The Villagers, Inc.