Stiltsville

This collection of seven houses that stand on pilings out in Biscayne Bay has been around since the early ‘30s, when ‘Crawfish’ Eddie Walker sold chowder from his shack, out on the mudflats, and soon gained neighbors who liked the idea of off-shore living. By the end of the ‘50s there were 27 houses on stilts. Most were wiped away by hurricanes, but the rest are visible, way off in the distance, from the southern shore of Bill Baggs park. In 2003 the nonprofit Stiltsville Trust was set up by the National Parks Service to rehabilitate the buildings into as-yet-unknown facilities; proposals include an NPS Visitor Center, artist-in-residence colony or community center. For updates, call the Stiltsville Trust (305-443-2266) or take a boat tour (305-375-1621) out here with the illustrious historian Dr Paul George.