Aerial view of downtown Miami skyline, Miami, Florida, circa 1940

About this postcard

A bird's-eye view looks across the dense downtown of Miami, Florida, with a cluster of 1920s-era hotels and office towers rising above a foreground of green parkland, parking lots and a large red-roofed bayfront building. The card's own caption calls the city "The Magic Metropolis," a booster slogan of the era. Miami grew explosively during the Florida land boom of the 1920s, and the skyline shown here — including the tall white tower at right of center — reflects that building campaign, photographed in the years around 1940.