The Hampton House

The Hampton House was a popular motel and social hub for African-Americans during the 1950s and 1960s. Wedding receptions and beauty contests enlivened the motel's pool deck, and night after night locals and out-of-towners packed the club, enjoying great music and good company.

Did you know that Muhammad Ali, in town for his epic bout with Sonny Liston, stayed at the Hampton House? Dr. Martin Luther King, in Miami to meet with civil rights organizers, held press conferences at the hotel ... and found time for a dip in the pool. In addition, a slew of famous musicians including Sammy Davis, Cab Calloway and James Brown visited the Hampton House.

This 1967 photograph from the City of Miami Collection shows beauty contest contestants arriving for a stay at the Hampton House.

As society integrated, the Hampton House faded and by the mid-1970s the motel closed.

Now the Hampton House is coming back to life. The hotel is being restored as a museum and music archive. Find out more here: Hampton House video from Miami-Dade TV.

Historic photos of the Hampton House are currently on display at the Historical Museum’s Black Crossroads: The African Diaspora in Miami exhibition.

-- Kara Sincich, External Relations Coordinator

Which “One Way”?

This picture ran in the Miami News on March 19, 1969. It is now a part of the Miami News Collection in the Research Center at the Historical Museum.

It depicts a confusing situation at NE 15th Street & 2nd Avenue in downtown Miami. Two “One Way” signs show 15th Street as being only one way, but in opposite directions. Apparently the newspaper’s efforts were rewarded, as one of the signs was replaced the day the story ran.

In answer to your unasked question, Miami drivers, “Yes, it was always this bad.”

-- Robert Harkins, Assistant Curator – Object Collections

The House of Shells

I stumbled upon this gem while refiling postcards. Apparently inspired by the Bottle Cap Inn, someone covered the exterior of this shop with sea shells, dubbed it The House of Shells, and opened for business selling curios and, presumably, souvenir shells.

The building is encrusted with abalones; Queen, King and Horse Conchs; tritons and murexes—no wonder these once common snails have become so scarce!

The House of Shells is listed in Miami city directories from 1941 to 1947, after which we can assume it went out of business. This short life can probably be attributed to its location, 1299 SW 32nd Avenue, far from the tourists who should have been its best customers and across the street from a cemetery (Woodlawn Park).

The Bottle Cap Inn, covered inside and out with—you guessed it—bottle caps, lasted much longer. But that is another postcard and another story.

-- Rebecca A. Smith, Curator of Research Materials

Jimmy's Hurricane

It’s amazing what a lost membership card can start!

Long time HMSF member Sara Ellenburg called to request a new membership card to replace a lost one. While speaking with her, I learned a fascinating story. On a recent visit to the museum Sara had seen a diner replica in the permanent exhibit, Tropical Dreams. She informed me that the diner in the photomural had belonged to her and her husband, Jimmy, who appears in the photo's background. The diner was Jimmy’s Hurricane Restaurant.

Within a few days, Sara donated menus and promotional coupons from Jimmy’s to the museum’s Research Center. She returned to the museum once again at the invitation of President/CEO Bob McCammon. They shared a lovely lunch, and those present heard many recollections about Jimmy, old Miami and how things have changed. Following the lunch Mr. McCammon’s wife, Karen Corlett-McCammon, told him that her family traditionally ate at Jimmy’s Hurricane on the way home from visiting her grandparents in Miami Beach.

Jimmy’s Hurricane Restaurant operated on the corner of Bird and Douglas Roads. Their specialty was Snapper Fingers. The Shrimp Creole, with generous sides, was listed on their menu for $1.49. Sounds like quite a bargain today! Jimmy’s Hurricane had an extensive drive-in area and an indoor dining counter. Jimmy and Sara Ellenburg presided over this Miami establishment from November 1950 to June 6, 1966.

Sara Ellenburg is someone who not only loves and supports history, but she has made her own. Meeting Sara made us very glad that she lost her membership card!

-- Hilda Masip, Membership & Data Officer

I Introduce our Blog

Look at a map of North America. South Florida stretches south, like the toe of the United States, into the Caribbean area.

This geographic proximity has made South Florida a part of the Caribbean, with Miami as the unofficial capital. From here, tourists fly or cruise east to the Bahamas and south to vacations on idyllic islands or the Caribbean slopes of Central and South America. The residents of these places come here, for their own vacations, shopping, visits to doctors and work. Visit the malls, ride MetroRail and walk the streets of Miami, Miami Beach or Key West and you will hear English, Spanish, Creole and French, in 50 different accents.

When I first visited St. Martin, many years ago, I was stunned by its main street’s similarity to Flagler Street. Downtown Miami’s little shops selling electronics, suitcases, jewelry, fabrics and clothing feel Caribbean—after all, their biggest customers are islanders. I can walk out of the museum at lunch and dine at a Cuban greasy-spoon, a Nicaraguan steak house or at an Asian lunch counter that caters to homesick cruise ship employees.

To work in a history museum in the midst of this panoply of cultures is to be constantly challenged. What shall we collect? What artifacts and photographs best capture the essence of this complex place and time? How shall we create exhibitions that catch the attention of our fragmented audiences, helping them to understand this region and their relationship to it and each other? Publications? Events? Tours? Lectures? Fund-raising? Everything we do reflects this Caribbean-American milieu.

In this blog, museum staff will share their stories about South Florida and the Historical Museum of Southern Florida. Join us on this wild adventure.

-- Rebecca A. Smith, Curator of Research Materials