How storms and time changed Coral Gables, Miami, South Beach

This collection of stories explores how storms and the passage of time have shaped Miami, Coral Gables and South Beach.

One story details how students saved historic Biltmore Hotel tiles from the landfill during a 1970s renovation for their senior prom. Another revisits how Lincoln Road transformed from a luxury shopping street to an artist colony.

Other articles look at Coconut Grove's counterculture days in the 1960s and '70s, the impact of Hurricane Andrew on South Miami-Dade and the way Key West's Duval Street and Miracle Mile in Coral Gables have evolved.

Read the stories below.

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In this file photo from Aug. 25, 1992, residents at the Saga Bay apartment complex see firsthand what happened to their units after Hurricane Andrew blasted South Miami-Dade a day earlier on Aug. 24, 1992. Here, a man is seen inside his unit. By Chuck Fadely

NO. 1: ANOTHER HURRICANE SEASON JUST STARTED. SEE HOW THE ‘BIG ONE’ IN MIAMI CHANGED OUR LIVES

Where were you on that day? | Published June 4, 2024 | Read Full Story by Miami Herald Archives

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Coral Gables High School graduate Bob Dallas turns over the historic Biltmore tiles to Karelia Martinez Carbonell in June 2024. By VCerda

NO. 2: HISTORIC BILTMORE TILES WERE HEADED TO LANDFILL IN 1974 UNTIL A STUDENT SAVED THEM

This story is about tiles. | Published July 24, 2024 | Read Full Story by CHRISTINA MAYO

A meeting of different generations in the Miami area in 1969.

NO. 3: MIAMI WAS ONCE A HIPPIE HANGOUT. SEE HOW THE STREETS LOOKED DURING THE 1960S AND ’70S

Peace, love, drugs and long hair. | Published October 26, 2024 | Read Full Story by Miami Herald Archives

The Lincoln Theatre on Lincoln Road in the 1980s.

NO. 4: LINCOLN ROAD USED TO LOOK LIKE THAT? SEE SOUTH BEACH SHOPPING MALL THROUGH SPAN OF TIME

Take a look at the shops from the 1960s. | Published November 23, 2024 | Read Full Story by Miami Herald Archive

The multi-purpose Coliseum in Coral Gables, which at one time had a bowling alley.

NO. 5: WHAT DID THE STREETS OF CORAL GABLES LOOK LIKE DECADES AGO? TAKE A LOOK

See how has the City Beautiful changed, and hasn’t changed, through the years. | Published April 2, 2025 | Read Full Story by Miami Herald Archives

President Harry Truman drives his own car in Key West in 1946.

NO. 6: IS THAT THE PRESIDENT AT A DUVAL STREET DINER? SEE KEY WEST THROUGH THE YEARS

Let’s take a step back in time. | Published April 15, 2025 | Read Full Story by Miami Herald Archives

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.