The Flamingo Hotel overlooked Biscayne Bay

Biscayne Bay

Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Its area is...

 on the west side of the newly formed city of Miami Beach, Florida

Miami Beach, Florida

Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...

 until the 1950s, when it was torn down to make room for the new Morton Towers development, which is now known as the Flamingo South Beach.

The hotel was built by pioneering Miami Beach developer Carl G. Fisher

Carl G. Fisher

Carl Graham Fisher was an American entrepreneur. Despite having severe astigmatism, he became a seemingly tireless pioneer and promoter of the automotive, auto racing, and real estate development industries...

 in 1920, designed by Price and McLanahan

Will Price

William Lightfoot Price was an influential American architect, a pioneer in the use of reinforced concrete, and a founder of the utopian communities of Arden, Delaware and Rose Valley, Pennsylvania.-Career:...

, and opened in 1921. Fisher was determined to avoid the ocean-side beaches where his development partner John S. Collins

John S. Collins

John Stiles Collins was an American Quaker farmer from Moorestown Township, New Jersey who moved to southern Florida and attempted to grow vegetables and coconuts on the swampy, bug-infested stretch of land between Miami and the ocean, a barrier island which became Miami Beach.Although the farming...

 had established a casino. He saw the smooth waters of Biscayne Bay

Biscayne Bay

Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Its area is...

 as the perfect place for a boat racing spectacle, as an attraction for wealthy and refined tourists. The pioneer automobile racing promoter established the famous Biscayne Bay Speed Boat Regattas near Belle Isle

Belle Isle, Miami Beach, Florida

Belle Isle is an artificial island and neighborhood of Miami Beach, Florida, United States. It is the easternmost of the Venetian Islands, a chain of artificial islands in Biscayne Bay in the cities of Miami and Miami Beach. It is home to apartment buildings, a portion of the Venetian Causeway, a...

 as a publicity draw for his giant new hotel. He would continue to stoke the exotic vacation destination image that drove the land boom

Florida land boom of the 1920s

The Florida land boom of the 1920s was Florida's first real estate bubble, which burst in 1925, leaving behind entire new cities and the remains of failed development projects such as Aladdin City in south Miami-Dade County and Isola di Lolando in north Biscayne Bay...

 in the area with stunts like his publicity photos with his elephant Rosie

Rosie the Elephant

Rosie, an Asian elephant, was an instrumental figure in the history of the U.S. city of Miami Beach, Florida. Her appearance in publicity photos helped to contribute to the area's early reputation for being a place that a visitor had to see to believe....

. The Flamingo site overlooks Flagler Monument Island

Flagler Monument Island

Flagler Memorial Island is an artificial island that was built in 1920 along with the other Venetian Islands of Miami and Miami Beach, Florida, complete with a monument visible from the Flamingo Hotel in Miami Beach. A high obelisk with allegorical sculptures at its base stands as a monument to...

in Biscayne Bay.