I'm a Miami Native.   I thought it would be interesting to come up with a list of trivial things that only a Miami Native would know or remember.   In no particular order:

1.    What was called "The road to nowhere" in the 1970s?

2.    Complete the phrase:  You should be going to ___ and _____

3.    Complete the phrase:  ____ and ____ by the railroad track

4.    What Street number is "South Kendall Drive"?

5.    Name the famous comedian that helped Miami by doing a live network TV program from here.

6.    Name the BBQ landmark that burned to the ground in 1972 and was rebuilt.

7.    The City of Miami's City hall used to be something else.   What was it?

8.    Many famous Black entertainers did a show in a famous Miami Beach Hotel, then went to Liberty City to do a late show there.  Why?

9.    What's the tower behind the current Miami Herald Building?

10.    A small area in the very North part of Miami Dade is called Ojus.  Where did that name come from?

11.    Wilcox Field is better known as?

12.    The Germans actually shot down something in South Florida in WWII.  It was the only one shot down in WWII.  What happened?

13.    Where was the original location for Tamiami Airport?

14.    What was the chain of restaurants known for their yards of beer and hotdogs cooked in beer?

15.    What was the name of the place on US HWY#1 just North of Homestead. Best Key Lime Pies
in the world. The owners would make only so many Key Lime Pies and would close the Bakery as soon as they sold out. 1960"s 

16.    What was originally located on Sunset Place that made South Miami the place to be in the 30's and up until the 80's?

17.    Which establishment in the City of Miami has liquor license #1 and was issued before prohibition?

18.    South Florida was scattered with these weapons during the peak of the Cold War.  And I'm not talking about track shoes.

19.    What Miami Dade Park was once part of a Speak Easy during prohibition?

20.    What went around a large building in Coral Gables?

21.    What is the hill at Tropical Park?

22.    What downtown Miami Hotel was a WWII radio site?

23.    What was the Krome Detention Camp before it's current use?

24.    How could an incinerator near SW 72 Ave and Coral Way be built in Coral Gables?

25.    Why was an Outdoors type store located at Bird Road and 91 Ave?

26.    What Bird Road Pizza place dates back to the 1940s?

27.    What part of Miami used to use street names instead of the County numbers?

28.    Where did the big rotating globe in the lobby of the Miami Museum of Science come from?

29.    What did the Florida East Coast Railway line in Miami become?

30.    What was the name of the drive in theater on Bird Road just west of the Palmetto?

31.    What was Tropical Park before it's current use?

32.    What were all the former names of grocery chain now known as Winn-Dixie?

33.    What was the TV show about a famous mammal based in South Florida during the 1960s?

34.    What was the name of the daily evening newspaper?

35.    One TV channel had two stations, which one?

36.    What channel was WTVJ?

37.    What hotel hosted the Arthur Godfrey show and housed his Florida ham station?

38.    What very visible landmark was just east of George Washington Carver Jr. High?

39.    US1, Red Road, Sunset. What smell do you remember?

40.    A South Miami Restaurant with a rail road theme.  It was right across from the South Miami train station and featured a working N gauge railroad under glass at most tables.  The waiter would turn on the trains so you had something to look at while you waited for your food.  Your webmaster wired many of the layouts.  What was the name of this restaurant?

Answers appear below on this page. 

And some "Do you Remember" items so you don't scroll down too fast:

An interesting Miami Trivia thread

Answers:

1.    Kendall Drive, SW 88 St. Called the Road to Nowhere because it was a 6 lane road going west to nothing but swamp.  It may have been the last road built in Miami Dade that wasn't overloaded the day it was opened.  It's overcrowded now but still 6 lanes.

2.    Kennedy and Cohen.  An electronics and appliance store.  This was their catch phase.

3.    Johnny and Mac.  A car painting company near SR 112, East of Le June.  This was their commercial catch phrase. Although closed for many years the name sign remains... badly in need of a paint job. 

4.    SW 104 Street. Now known as Killian Parkway.  North Kendall Drive, now just Kendall Drive is SW 88 St. 

5.    After the New York based Honey Mooners, Jackie Gleason did a live comedy show every Sunday night from Miami Beach.   You may remember a color shot from a helicopter flying toward the beach from the ocean that opened the show.  In its day, a live TV network show from anywhere other NYC was a technical challenge.

6.    Shorty's BBQ.  Still on US1 in Dadeland. 

7.    An Pan Am seaplane terminal. 

8.    Because of segregation, Blacks couldn't stay on Miami Beach overnight. So they would perform in the white hotels, then go back to the mainland to perform at a black club.  More info:  they would do an encore show at the lyric as well because blacks weren't allowed to go watch the show either. This is why the Lyric is considered a historical structure now.  Lissette KI4DYH   I believe the Lyric Theater's (819 nw 2nd Ave) historic listing came because most of the great black entertainers appeared there many years prior to their playing the Miami Beach nightclubs or the building of the hotel in Brownsville. The Lyric was well-known throughout the entertainment world and the area surrounding it was a mecca of popular nightlife.  Evelyn W4WYR

9.    That's the old WQAM, 560 AM tower.  WQAM was the first station in Miami.  Because of the buildings in the area blocking their signal, they moved to a new tower on Virginia Key.  I think the old tower can still be used as their backup site.

10.  Ojus is shortened from "Oh just north of Miami"  It's home to the AT&T network switching center called a Point of Presence for Miami.  Before the breakup of AT&T, every long distance call for Miami and all points south went through Ojus.

11.    Miami International Airport.  Wilcox Field can still be seen along the departure level, between the names of the airlines.

12.    On 07/18/1943, a Sunday Naval airship K-74 was shot down by a German submarine in the Florida Straits; this is the only naval airship lost to enemy action.

13    The old Tamiami Airport was located next to the Tamiami Trail. Florida International University and Tamiami Park ( Youth Fair Grounds ) is built on the site of the old Airport. The old control tower can still be found on campus.  Steven - KO4E

14.    Lum's.  "jcdaen"  You can still see a few of the buildings with the red roofs around Miami.

15.    Lees Key Lime Bakery - Albert Moreschi AG4BV

16.    Holsum Bakery - Lissette KI4DYH

17.    Tobacco Road -  Lissette KI4DYH

18.    History of the North Key Largo Nike Missile Site 

19.    There was rumored to be a tunnel from the Deering Estate to a small little building right across the road from the estate. the building was a speakeasy and the booze was brought in via the Deering Estate during Prohibition. robert ke4mcl

20.    The Coliseum in the Gables (now a Publix) had a walkway underneath that went all the way around the building. its windows which where covered up by one of its previous tenants before it was torn down where over 30 feet tall and composed of small panes of glass in a wooden frame assembly. robert ke4mcl

21.    Garbage. robert ke4mcl

22.    The everglades hotel (demolished) at one time contained a complete remote controlled Collins station. this was used during WW2. there was one station where the actual equipment was and at the second where all the faceplates of the radios linked via selsyn motors so the operator worked the remotely located radios just as if he were in front of the complete units.  robert ke4mcl

23.    Where Krome Detention Center now sits was originally just a camp used as a missile base during the Cuban missile crisis. supplies where trucked in every day, even water. those stationed there deemed it as one of the worst places to be due to the humidity and mosquitoes. robert ke4mcl

24.    The incinerator that got torn down off of sw 72nd ave between coral way and bird road was part of the gables at one time. the gables went all the way to 72nd ave. robert ke4mcl

25.    At one point in time, Jets Florida Outdoors on 97th ave was the end of the line for bird road. it was a dirt road from there on. hence a great place to put an outdoorsman's store. robert ke4mcl

26.    Bird and aprox 91st ave there's a restaurant on the north side just east of the gas station. the gas station used to be an Owens for many years. that restaurant was an old krispykreme at one point and is the original building. across from the krispykreme building is Frankies Pizza. Frankies has been in the same spot since 1949. robert ke4mcl

27.    Back over 50 years ago, the streets around westchester had names, not numbers. if you pull the plat books you can see this on some of the old plats.  robert ke4mcl

28.    The big globe in the lobby of the science museum was the one in the pan am terminal that is now the City of Miami city hall.  robert ke4mcl

29.    Much of the metrorail is built upon what used to be florida east coast railway right of way. freight trains used to run right alongside cars on US1.  robert ke4mcl

30.    The Tropicaire Theater and Flea Market.  The Tropicaire Drive-In opened in February of 1949 and closed around 1987. Car capacity is given as 800. The Tropicaire Shopping Center is now located where this former drive-in once stood.  

31.    Tropical Park was a world famous horse racing track.   Much more info here.

32.    Margaret Ann Stores among other names.   Much more info here.

33.    The TV show Flipper.  Mostly filmed at Greenwich Studios - 12100 Ivan Tors Boulevard, Miami

34.    The Miami News

35.    For many years, Channel 2 was shared by the Dade School board's station, WTHS and WPBT, the local PBS station.  The two transmitters would take turns using the channel.  WTHS was used during the school day.  WLRN, UHF Channel 17, became the School Board's channel when UHF caught on.

36.    WTVJ, now known as NBC6, is on channel 6.  It was on channel 4 for many years.   Channel 6 transmits from the Redlands.   Channel 4 comes from a tower in North Dade.   The first channel 4 was from the roof of the Everglades Hotel in downtown Miami.   They kept that site as a back up for many years after they built a 1000' tower in North Dade.   That site was also where channel 2 started, using WTVJs transmitter.  The Everglades was recently torn down.

37.    The Kenilworth in Bal Harbor.  The canopy on the upper floor would change color when Godfrey was in town. I remember a yellow striped and a green striped canopy, but I may be wrong about the green after all these years.  By Ken Olinsky

38.    A City Incinerator.   The chimney was torn down but the rest of the building now serves as the Miami Fire Training facility and the Miami EOC.

39.    The smell of baking bread at the old Holsum Bakery.  The smell would drift for miles.   It moved to Medley and recently closed.   Why did it move?   To make room for the Bakery Center, which didn't last long.  But there's another reason the Bakery had to move.   They were dependent on getting raw materials by rail.  They were one of the last users of the Florida East Coast rail line that was replaced by MetroRail.   In fact, the Bakery's flour silo's where on the West side of US1 near the tracks.  Underground lines carried it under US1 into the Bakery.

40.    The Depot.  Someone else's memory:  "During High School we some how all gravitated into the restaurant industry, with all of its cash in fist endless possibilities. The Depot Restaurant became our second home at Dan Guthrie's house of ill repute. What a crazy dude this guy was for sure; he was an eccentric odd ball character who was fascinated with getting people wasted all of the time by alcohol, poppers or what ever he could get his hands on. It was a great place to work while it lasted, and many celebrities dined there like Frank Sinatra, the Bee Gee's, and numerous athletes including the Dolphins football team members. One night Sweetness and I were racing home in our cars after we got off shift and we got pulled over by the local coppers. We got off by offering a comp dinner to the fuzz and his family and a verbal warning to keep it below a hundred miles per hour. I guess it pays to work at posh places in the city sometimes."

Steve McDonald, another Miami/Coral Gables Native submitted this great list of questions and answers:

I have a few Coral Gables/ Miami Native memories for you.
1. Who are Alec Gibson and Jackie Pierce?
2. Where was Viking Field (airport)?
3. Where is Larkin's Corner?
4. Some of the best Italian in Dade County was at Batista's. Where was Batistas?
5. Where was University Hospital?
6. What was Lake Catalina called before it was Lake Catalina? (located: Miller & Galloway)?
7. The road sign at the edge of Coral Gables in front of the "Happy Hour" said what?
8. How did Ralph Renick end every broadcast?
9. Where was CMQ TV and what channel?
10. Which radio stations broadcast: A. The Shadow B The Lone Ranger C. Bob Greene?
11. Extra credit, who did Bob Greene marry?
12. What was the tallest building in the Southeast?
13. How did prisoners routinely escape from the Dade County Courthouse jail?
14. Name the 4 almost identical tower buildings?
15. Extra Credit, which one was nicknamed the chicken coup?
16. Where was the John Birch Society Bookstore?
17. At what restaurant was "Shorty" the cook before he started the famous "Shortys"
18. Where was Death Alley and why was it so named?
19. Name of and where was the excellent smorgasbord restaurant?
20. The Lighthouse restaurant was on the north side of Haulover Inlet. What equally famous restaurant was on the south side of Haulover Inlet?
21 What was the name of the Miami Beach hotel that had the gigantic swimming pool on its 3rd floor (as I recall). How high was its diving board?
22. Who's home was razed to build the Fontainbleau Hotel?
23. Name two national five and dime store owners that lived in Miami Beach.
24. What was the third largest newspaper in Dade County and who was the publisher?
25. Where did Gar Wood live? What's he famous for anyway?

26. Name two major roads that did not cross the Miami River in the '40's?

And now Steve's answers:

1. Early live TV personalities at Channel 4 WTVJ.
2. Viking Field was on the west side of Venetian Causeway just across the 1st bridge from Miami.
3. Larkins Corner is the corner of Sunset and Dixie, now South Miami.
4. Batista's was on the west side of Douglas Road between Ponce deLeon and Flagler. Building is still there.
5. University Hospital now called Coral Gables Hospital is on Douglas Road south of Miracle Mile (I was born there).
6. It was a rock pit west of civilization and we got a whipping for jumping the fence and going swimming.
7. "Miami 6 Miles" .
8. "Good night and may the good news be yours."
9. Havana channel 6. (Incidentally, I believe it is still broadcasting)
10. A WKAT. B WQAM C. WINZ
11. Anita Bryant
12. Dade County Courthouse.
13. The jail was on the top floor of the courthouse. Prisoners would tie sheets together and go over the side to a lower floor window.
14. The Biltmore. The Miami News. The Roney Plaza Hotel. The Aviation Building on 27th Ave.
15 The Aviation Building
16.Quail Roost Drive, west of South Dixie.
17. The Shack, located at the south end of the Dixie Bell Inn parking lot.
18. US 1 between Bird and LeJeune was 2 lanes and covered with overhanging Ficus trees. When the road was wet, a lot of crashes occurred because of the slippery section of this road.
19. Old Scandia was in Opa Locka.
20. Broussards.
21. The McFadden-Deauville had a 5 level diving platform up to 10 meters (40 feet). Located Collins Ave at 51st Street. Pool was 20 feet deep, hence its being located on an upper floor.
22. Harvey Firestone
23. Woolworth and Kresge
24. Miami Beach Sun. Paul M Bruun.
25. Gar Wood lived on what's now Fisher Island. He invented the hydraulic piston.

26. Lejeune and 22nd Ave (I think it was 22nd; it might have been 17th ave)

Virg found someone else working on lists like this.   Click on the links.

Hialeah:  http://www.pbase.com/donboyd/image/64505494

Miami-Dade:  http://www.pbase.com/donboyd/image/64505500