1647-2 Espanola Way •
à •....
each had its Spanish touch . �, .�
during revelry of Prohibition.,
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By WILLIAM ILCKER •
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BWIL win aILC r..re and suns..:.1.s lank fondly o❑
Old Spain could be expected to • 1s,
llasor the Cuban exile community / � r+cn rhe short rut's tawdry p;st,
here but — surprise -c SpanishI I%-Il And acs riot times a year,the Span.
kcii
t would he roped off for a true Span-
+pict perked up Miami Beach long ostreet
�. iah exactlystyle fiesta. Even Rudy Vallee.
belnre Fidel Castro sent refugees .d-
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fle,ore to the Dade County main• not the grandee type,would
land. �� 1�t� ' spend turnings lh,•re before doing
''�� lI.g i his croon.swr n shows at the Beach
tet. rte Bear,LaroF • ((nn}} _•, �, I hotels farther north. •
4?4t,z)
.hors,narrow a aGy.�t ,t, r On one corner of Espanola Way,
•nd 15th suttee,goes hack to ++�� ;y.'
the days of Prohibition. And as illkil at Washington Ascnue, stands the
might be expected,it turned nut to .`f f +' r 1 Clay Hotel, with second floor
he more of a hangout for boo0.•g• f.I 11--e•
p P`.% •' rooms reaching hark through the World •
narrow thoroughfare.dwelt in thee
gerh and gamblers than a reminder War If, servicemen these
l the quiet Spanish way of bit rooms and they gave the street a
Now,it lies with peeling th er •mac i - ;� - - y"+rti _
raucous sequel to its Prohibiliop
and faded caning k beneath the Y� req•t years.
mu' lengthening shadow of the • •• r • .1' i +� •f�j ar AR The :0-year-old Espanola Way
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high-rise apartmerts and modern c r'•Yl �tii4:27still has its 6rnof rse and oahitrr-
hnleis on the Beach. Its wrought- tr �•'•• q lure and a few of its original buss•
i run sbaltoMesthe Bull hang over pat- s a ems,•,•t''''''''' ;i4' ;'c
�+t� r nesses. One is a liquor store, To-
sagewaya into courtyards withfou - �"F 'i• + ;r :r• meds, eel er in the early 30'6,
was ofna like tourists find in New
Then—Spanish VIIIG • in 1926 which his FKrnmt■ Irgal and re.
Orleans French quarter — which 9erectable establishment.
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was bash Spanish design despite - \s ,` f -.t >.. �* s Roney built Espanola dWayet for
its name. •
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r Y'(:.-i •
} $LS million—
which would erect a
A fe•:r Beach oldsters still rcmem- - f0. `• far shorter block today. The idea
her when Espanola Way 6A was a retreauon of Nrw York's •
from Y �:hope ` 'pf\,� Greenwich Village or the artist's
the busy brain of N.B.T. - 7 ° - •'/I...•
Ronfy,a pioneer Beach resident and 'let° ..,':;' ,..iii• `.- /((( •• s.* quarter in Paris, which 1160 ked a
holder.It was Ror,cys Idea to re- ' �i 3 �I ,,t, t ,. •t'`� � '• Spanish flavor. •
!lett the rich history of old Spain ' , • i A 1925 Miami News account of
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with a minute stretch of iandscap- , S r' -�
:, '<:• ' �'lr ., ' �l x 1' • Ronty'a plan struck a prophetic if
ing, gardens and Spanish facades- •y� '. `I(7i , _ �:• Espanola note about the future of
And Miami Beach had the sun and • ,ti - `Y Espanola Way,
climate foe the re-creation, - .• ♦ t e
�' • Qt - r • The Alar sty enough,
wide not
alone
Sad to rotate, many of the t f- •• 4 1... and "curiously enough, nm alone
Beach's early residents did not con. t - Y i , • ' I ' among artists rut also among fart.
form to the erandee Image. They • I:• y Y i pie who ordinarilyhavigare never sus•
had their own stye, watch was - ' 1i. . ti l -, . petted of having any interest in
like the freebooters T• such maters," the News reported.
the morelikeSpanish thatgaof•sa aufr a chess • `
outout of the Bay of Blau - ._ '•t'`: iT2 -. The same account noted that
of sd with Blau pot to be "The European custom, which has
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Ya p. " come down through the ages, •
tnf
o
These free anus took advantage sipping the cooling draught white
of the bootlegging opportunities •.• • •s Idly the sidewalk tablessactivities in front re•
here,which were rut M the open • - of is to he ic• •
apirlt of tarty Dade County,and the Now—Espanola Way 50 years later• t'I`'ed'^
gambling s that went with them.The Nobody thought,limit the"tooling that
Spanish trete thronged with honk. oars• and illegal whiskyrnnld M Still nostalgia swirle through Es.
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makers m little Georg, Raft felt tin Prohibition wnuide thell—
, ppryl down•t sidewalk fables, pannla.Way becawe violence was and l di9nnl"e Ira or coca-Cola—