Lincoln Road used to look like that? See South Beach shopping mall through span of time

Lincoln Road has reinvented itself through the years.

High-end shopping street. Pedestrian mall. Movie capital. Discount corridor. Artist colony. Cafe society. Culture stop. Chain-store central.

Lincoln Road, stretching from Collins Avenue to Bay Road, was paved during the 1920s and within a decade the shopping district became known as the Fifth Avenue of the South. During its heyday, such exclusive stores as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bonwit Teller, the Cadillac Salon and Elizabeth Arden all prospered on Lincoln Road between Washington Avenue and Alton Road.

In 1962, following a national trend, eight blocks of Lincoln Road — from Washington Avenue to Alton Road — were repaved and revamped as a pedestrian mall, no cars allowed.

By the late ’70s, the mall, like much of South Beach, hit hard times with the deterioration of housing and the decline of affluent shoppers.

New life began to stir in the mid-’80s, when artists moved in.

By the early 1990s, Lincoln Road had become Miami Beach’s living room, a locals’ hangout where artists milled about, models walked their dogs after returning from shoots and in-line skaters paused at outdoor cafes for bottled water.

In recent years Lincoln Road has once again reached critical mass, gaining recognition from retailers and investors as one of the great shopping streets in America.

Here is a look at Lincoln Road through the years as we open the Miami Herald archive vault:

This story was originally published November 23, 2024 at 5:00 AM.