Siltsville - Key Biscayne

South of Key Biscayne there is a collection of 7 'shacks' that are built on the edges of the sand flats. If you were to stand on the seawall on the south side of Cape Florida and look to the south, the structures of Stiltsville are clearly visible.  For the most amazing view of Stiltsville that one can get from land would be to climb up the stairs of the Lighthouse and look to the south from the top of the Cape Florida lighthouse.  Stiltsville and the finger channels are clearly visible.

The darker blue water indicates a channel cutting through the lighter colored waters where the water depth can be inches deep

While the A-Frame shack (above) still stands today, this high-rise triple story stiltsville shack (above) fell to tides of hurricanes 

Some of Stiltsville is more easily reached than other sections.  Those built on the main 'Biscayne Channel' are reachable by even some of the largest yachts while there are others that seemed to have chosen locations that were naturally protected from unwanted company purposefully.  There is one Stiltsville shack in particular that is perhaps only 100 yards away from the main Biscayne Channel, is not directly accessible from Biscayne Channel and the only way to pull one's boat up to the dock is to go nearly a half a mile out of the way only to navigate through the most narrow channels that are intentionally left unmarked so only those guests who know the 'secret' way in will find their way in without becoming grounded on these flats.  Being gounded out here definately means waiting for the reversal of the tides before the boat is moving again which can mean a 6 - 8 hour wait depending on when the boat was grounded in relation to whether the tides were moving in or moving out, and with all of the water moving in and out of Biscayne Bay, the current is fast.

                        Remarkably, the Stiltsville shacks have weathered multiple hurricanes and tropical storms to still be standing today.

Stiltsville actually started back in the 1930's, over a decade before the Rickenbacker Causeway was completed which means, especially for those of you who have not yet been to Key Biscayne, that Stiltsville was out in the middle of nowhere with the only people anyone would see from Stiltsville were the local fishermen, and those going out to trap crab and lobster.  Neither Biscayne Channel or Cape Florida channel were used for any of the larger cargo vessels unless they were delivering or picking up from Coconut Grove.  Any cargo trade here would have taken place at the Port of Miami. The federal laws for gambling back then were that it must take place at least one mile offshore.  In fact, the laws were yet to be written on whether such property was even part of the United States and at the same time, just 7 miles south of Stiltsville, there was a few men who declared the 'Ragged Keys' as their own and began development of the 'Oceana Yacht Club' on Ragged Key #3. This very unlikely community of Stiltsville started springing up at an incredible pace just east of Biscayne Bay and just south of the island of Key Biscayne and at that time it was just called the "Shacks" and the name Stiltsville didn't come around until decades later.  It was the wild wild west only far to the east, just 48 miles west of Bimini and the islands of the Bahamas. 

Next page of Stiltsville Shacks on stilts with historical and modern pics

See Stiltsville for yourself from the water on a private boat tour.