The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926

By Sigur Whitaker
One of the major players in the development of Miami Beach was Carl Fisher, one of the four founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He first fell in love with Miami on a visit in 1910 and decided to build a winter home in Miami.  Pretty soon, Carl, who was always doing something, decided that Miami Beach would be the perfect place to develop. Having been involved along with IMS co-founder Jim Allison in the development of the Speedway City, Fisher quickly saw the possibilities presented by the sun, the sand, and the warm weather.
With plenty of money from the sale of Prest-O-Lite, Fisher helped local businessmen finish a bridge linking Miami to the beach. In return, he received 200 acres of land. Later, he helped developers with the loan of $150,000 and in return received 150 acres of land. Having accumulated the land, Fisher formed Alton Beach Realty Company and started development work.
Initially, his development plan was modest but soon, he started upgrading it to where it became a destination, particularly for the wealthy visiting from the Northeast and Midwest. He built upscale hotels, golf courses, polo fields, and a board track for auto racing. By the 1920s, the development of an upscale resort was proceeding. Soon people began speculating on the land. By 1925, Miami Beach was a hot spot. Unfortunately, there was overcrowding of hotel rooms during that year and by 1926, Miami Beach had lost some of its luster. Soon the land speculation busted.
In 1925, Carl Fisher decided to build a northern resort at Montauk, New York. It would provide the amenities to the rich in the summer that Miami Beach did in the winter. He was soon sinking much of his available cash into his Montauk development. With land sales of Miami Beach slowing considerably, Fisher was strapped for cash.
Then disaster struck. The first was the sinking of the steel-hulled schooner Prinz Valdemar on January 11, 1926, in Biscayne Bay, effectively blocking the small port of Miami for 42 days. One of the last great sailing ships, it was to become a floating hotel.
Throughout the growth period of Miami Beach, South Florida had not been hit by a hurricane, the last occurring in 1910. In July 1926, a small hurricane hit North Miami causing minor damage. In mid-September, the United States Weather Bureau advised of three tropical depressions. One of the storms passed to the east of Miami Beach and brought large rains to the area. The second storm passed over the Virginia Capes. Around 2 a.m on September of 18, a Category 4 hurricane with wind gusts of up to 132 miles an hour hit Miami Beach and did significant damage to the resort. At the time, Carl Fisher was at Montauk.
Initial reports of the damage of the hurricane were sketchy. The Miami Daily News reported that Miami was laid to waste. Even more concerning was that Miami Beach was isolated from the mainland and a monster tidal wave swept across the entire island. Houses in Hialeah were reported to be leveled by the hurricane while Coral Gables was cut off from all outside communication.
Those living in Miami Beach and the greater Miami area were unprepared. The hurricane had traveled through the Bahamas with estimated winds of 150 mph. The United States Weather Bureau believed that the storm would not hit Florida. Forecasters issued a hurricane warning just before the Category 4 storm made landfall. The eye of the storm passed directly over Miami. That was when many residents, believing that they were through the worst of the storm, left the security of the place they were sheltering. The storm surge was estimated at 11 feet above mean high tide. Flooding was three to five feet of water after the storm had passed by. Many buildings in the area were destroyed.
The damage to Miami Beach was extensive. The Causeway, which linked the beach to the mainland, was condemned. Carl Fisher's home on Lincoln Road at the oceanfront. was heavily damaged as was the Firestone estate which had 1600 feet of oceanfront. Also destroyed was Fisher’s board racetrack, the Fulford-Miami Speedway. It had hosted just one race. Reportedly, all of the casinos were leveled. Many hotels along the oceanfront were severely damaged.
The great Miami hurricane was not finished. After leaving the Miami area, it transversed the state where it caused damage in Fort Myers and Bradenton. It then entered the Gulf of Mexico and hit Pensacola, Florida, dumping more than 8 inches of rain on an area extending from Pensacola to southern Louisiana.
The impact of the hurricane on Miami when combined with the real estate bubble bursting, plunged Florida into an economic depression three years before the rest of the nation.
*Editor's note - Carl Fisher's Fulford-Miami board track was destroyed in the 1926 hurricane.