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| March 1925. (Click here to enlarge) |
From the Miami Herald, Oct. 2, 2006: The Nautilus Hotel was the second major hotel by Carl Fisher, the developer credited with turning a vast jungle of mangroves into modern-day Miami Beach. On grounds that today are home to Mount Sinai Medical Center, the Nautilus was on the bay side, just north of 41st Street. Like the Flamingo Hotel on 15th Street, Fisher wanted this hotel facing the bay because that's where he held his big boat races.
The Nautilus, opened Jan. 10, 1924, was built in Mediterranean revival style architecture. It featured 183 posh rooms and villas, surrounded by polo fields and swimming pools with cabanas.
Like similar hotels in the area, the Nautilus ran into hard times when the Florida land boom went bust. During World War II, it went from being a glamorous resort to a military hospital. The Veteran's Administration eventually moved its facilities to the Biltmore Hotel and the old Nautilus property went to the city of Miami Beach.
The city eventually sold it for $1 to an organization of Jewish doctors and businessmen that had been created to found a hospital where Jewish physicians could practice. After extensive renovations, Mount Sinai opened Dec. 4, 1949.
In 1968 the original structure that had been the Nautilus Hotel was torn down to make way for a more modern medical facility.
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| March 1952. |
