Municipal seaplane base is created in Biscayne Bay

In July of 1927, Venetian Islands Associated Companies offered to lease 3.5 acres on Causeway island to the City of Miami for three years. For a dollar a year, the city could use the land as a seaplane base in exchange for tax exempt status. The lease was authorized by the City Commission on August 1st and by mid-January 1928 the base, though rudimentary, was ready for use. It consisted of a single landing ramp built to Navy specifications and a wooden platform. A waterproof gas tank was also installed and small administration buildings later added.

Despite rocky start, hub is soon in high demand

From the outset, interest in the base was keen. Local aviator Harry Rogers, who had been operating a seasonal airline charter service and giving flying lessons in Miami since 1920, requested space there. Other requests soon followed. All did not initially go well. The first airline to inaugurate the base, Cuba America Airlines, suffered a series of mishaps. The aircraft was damaged by a boat at Key West on its inaugural flight to Havana on January 18, 1928. Back in Miami a month later, it crashed in Biscayne Bay while conducting a load bearing inspection test for the Department of Commerce. 19 passengers were aboard, many of them volunteers who had simply been visiting the base when asked if they would like to participate. Miraculously, all survived, but one passenger was seriously injured when he attempted to grab a still moving propeller.

Things ran more smoothly after that rocky start, however. The “Venetian seaplane base,” or “municipal seaplane base” as it was called, was in continuous demand, providing facilities for airlines and aviation services such as Curtiss Flying Service and Ford Stout Airlines, as well as refueling facilities and repairs on short notice for itinerant fliers.