Haulover Beach Park: A Miami-Dade Heritage Park
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
One of two public beach parks operated by Miami-Dade County, Haulover Beach is boarded by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and features a total of 1.4 acres of sandy beaches. A man-made channel along the south side of the park connects the Atlantic to Biscayne Bay and today the beach is a haven for kite-fliers as well as sun worshippers, and the home of the largest public clothing-optional beach in the U.S.
Images
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Haulover Beach Park became the fourth major park in the Miami-Dade system when it was acquired in 1935, with the beach-front portion added six years later.
Public access was delayed until 1948, due to World War II. But the park was put to good use with Coast Guard vessels patrolling on the lookout for German U-boats lurking off the coast. The distinctive Lighthouse Restaurant in Streamline Moderne style was repurposed as today’s Ocean Rescue Lifeguard offices.
A significant thread of consistency during the park's development was the creative leadership of William Lyman Phillips, considered by many to be the Dean of Landscape Architecture. His work included five of the County's Heritage Parks: Greynolds, Haulover, Crandon, Matheson Hammock, and Fruit and Spice.
The name "Haulover" is attributed to several traditions all involving the necessity of "hauling over" some sort of goods from the ocean to the bayside. Depending on which account you believe, the name could have been adapted from the routine hauling fish and turtles caught in the late 1800s, or through the efforts of moving mail by the "barefoot mailman" that served the area around the same time. Another legend attributes the name to the transport of liquor during prohibition, whereby smugglers would meet up with speed boats on the bayside to move their product quickly to the good citizens of the area.
Sources
Miami-Dade County. Haulover Park, Haulover Park - Miami-Dade County. Accessed March 4th 2022. https://www.miamidade.gov/parks/library/haulover-park-heritage.pdf.
Buchsbaum, Karen. Can You Name Miami-Dade's Seven Heritage Parks?. August 1st 2018. 32 - 33.