Stiltsville, Miami-Dade
During prohibition, “Crawfish” Eddie Walker wanted a place for he and his friends to enjoy their illegal vice without interference from the government. With prohibition in full swing, and moving out of the country an unlikely answer, they took the party off the land.
Stiltsville is an abandoned group of buildings about a mile off the Florida coast. Only accessible by boat, the view is often from afar. While many consider Walker to be the founder of the “city” others say that many of the buildings were there before Walker moved in.
Since the buildings are outside of U.S. jurisdiction it had, according to legend, become a popular home to pirates. In the 40’s the site was used as a high end gentleman’s club, but again a hurricane put an end to that in the 60’s. With about 20 buildings destroyed by Hurricane Donna, the Florida courts let the leases expire. This lead to the Stiltsville Trust to try to preserve the remaining parts of the ghost town.