Viewed from the edge of Hobie Beach off Virginia Key, the houses on the far horizon appear almost as apparitions in Biscayne Bay.
But they’re not.
They are the seven remaining houses of Stiltsville, the quirky, beautiful, battered collection of wood stilt houses that rise from the bay bottom in Biscayne National Park.
Some historians believe houses started sprouting atop the flats of Biscayne Bay as early as the 1920‘s, originally as ice houses for fisherman plying deeper waters. Eventually there were as many as 25 houses out there, with some becoming notorious party houses, worthy of police raids.
In June 1980, Congress expanded Biscayne National Park’s boundaries to include the “community” of Stiltsville whose property owners had once leased the bay bottom from the State of Florida.
Today, the National Park Service, in conjunction with the Stiltsville Trust, maintain and operate the structures, which are made available to groups for special events and educational purposes. The Park Service indicates the ultimate goal is to rehabilitate the buildings for community meeting spaces, a National Park Service Visitor Centers, research facilities or an artist-in-residence program.
Learn more about the colorful history of Stiltsville and its denizens in a new documentary
“Stiltsville: Generations on the Flats” that premieres Sunday, August 22 at 7 p.m. and 11:30 p.m on WLRN - 17. It will also air again Wed., August 25 at 9:30 p.m. and Thurs., August 26 at 9 p.m.
Resources:
http://www.nps.gov/bisc/historyculture/stiltsville.htm
http://www.wlrn.org/stiltsville/
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