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Don Boyd | all galleries >> Memories of Old Hialeah, Old Miami and Old South Florida Photo Galleries - largest non-Facebook collection on the internet >> Memories of Old HIALEAH, Florida - Historical Photo Galleries and Commentaries - click on image to view and read > 1952 - north Hialeah, NAS Miami at Opa-locka Airport, Amelia Earhart Field and Master's Field
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16-MAR-1952 SUS of Florida / Don Boyd

1952 - north Hialeah, NAS Miami at Opa-locka Airport, Amelia Earhart Field and Master's Field

Northwest Dade County & Hialeah, Florida


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Scott 13-Feb-2018 16:25
Government Field is what everybody called it with the abandoned runways. Amelia Earhart took off from her ill fated flight thier, her last step on American soil is why the field is named after her. The motocross tracks were named after her. The first being east of LeJune Rd directly across from Hialeah Junior High. The MX track moved to the west side of LeJune Rd in 1974 to make way for the Hialeah police station's vehicle maintenance garage and UPS. I remember hearing about the MX races at school, I had my mom drop me off their in her super cool 1968 Plymouth Baracuda. It was a Saturday in February or March of 1973. I saw a racer named Boca John Estes from Boca Ratone smoke other racers on thier Maico's Montesa's, Huskies,etc. riding the brand new just released 1973 Honda CR250M Elsinore. Boca John was lapping them on this new bike , the first 2 stroke motorcycle Honda released to the public. I can still hear in my memories the racetrack announcer calling out his name and describing his new MX racer. Saturday's was practice the announcer was letting people know about the details for the races on Sunday exposing the classes and trophies, and pro $ awards. It was a classic Miami February weather that Saturday morning, windy cloudy low flung clouds moving fast, cool temp with the sun breaking through every now and then with the threat of some rain. When the Elsinore started to fly the sun broke out. It was so unreal, just many one of many Shangri La days before the concrete blob monster and uncontrolled imagination wrecked it.
Lee Bohan 04-May-2012 22:01
My name is Lee Bohan. We lived on 1043 W64th St and 1018 W64th St which was on the Lake that had the Whitaker platform across from Sparks Park. From 1963 till 1978 was when we lived there. Great diving from the tower and underwater, great fishing too. We made our own underwater reef on the southeast corner of the lake where there was a swallow sandbar. The Everglades use to be inside the Palmetto Expressway back in the day too. Great memories. I am asking my mom to go through the photo's of the platform from the 70's.
Guest 12-Dec-2011 12:16
Don, great site! Brings back awesome memories,the entire deal ,from the Seminole Indians floating down the untouched crystal clear Miami river in dug out canoes 1930 until the 1983.1983 was the end of of Shangri La !You should turn this thing over to the University of Miami and let them study this so at a constitutional amendment can be struke to limit the greedy politicians and billionares from wrecking any future Shangri La's.The right to pursue liberty and happinees !The five generations that expirieced this great time and place where blessed by mother nature and progress to a certain degree,then to much progress,uncontrolled immagration and what looks like an all out attack on our culture buy some group.What we expirenced is gone for ever .Shame Shame for the children now and for ever not to have what we had .I look in those pictures and read the stories and you see something really special .One person wrote back in the 1930's how the kids covered themseleves with the white clay and then jumped in the Miami river and left white strikes in the water(you couldn't do that now!).My friends, my brothers and I did the same thing in the 1970's,40 years later at the Whitaker's house on west lake Laurance, a crystal clear lake.God bless Mr. Whitaker and family for sharing that,we should hold a reunion and celebrate them for countless happy times swinging on the rope like Tarzan on the high dive tower in the back yard!Sorry Venitian pool Coral Gables Venitian pool Hialeah blows that away! Thank You!Thank You!Thank You! Mr. Whitaker. As you can tell everybody loves what they had and they love it more now that its gone and thay would want their kids to have it and they should have.This site lets people go back,people want this for thier kids.So many good times,so many stories to tell in so many ways .It compares to no other place and time ,maybe thats way the dolphins went 17-0 in 1972 .One person wrote that she lives in Lakeland,Fl now,reminds her of how it use to be I left Miami in 1979 for Orlando .When I got here it was cool But Orlando went down the horrid path of Miami maybe worse,Lakeland is next then Sebring.Sebring will be the meeting point of the biggest concrete biggest goverment biggest corperate blob monster this side of China and India.Help?
Guest 12-Dec-2011 12:12
Don, great site! Brings back awesome memories,the entire deal ,from the Seminole Indians floating down the untouched crystal clear Miami river in dug out canoes 1930 until the 1983.1983 was the end of of Shangri La !You should turn this thing over to the University of Miami and let them study this so at a constitutional amendment can be struke to limit the greedy politicians and billionares from wrecking any future Shangri La's.The right to pursue liberty and happinees !The five generations that expirieced this great time and place where blessed by mother nature and progress to a certain degree,then to much progress,uncontrolled immagration and what looks like an all out attack on our culture buy some group.What we expirenced is gone for ever .Shame Shame for the children now and for ever not to have what we had .I look in those pictures and read the stories and you see something really special .One person wrote back in the 1930's how the kids covered themseleves with the white clay and then jumped in the Miami river and left white strikes in the water(you couldn't do that now!).My friends, my brothers and I did the same thing in the 1970's,40 years later at the Whitaker's house on west lake Laurance, a crystal clear lake.God bless Mr. Whitaker and family for sharing that,we should hold a reunion and celebrate them for countless happy times swinging on the rope like Tarzan on the high dive tower in the back yard!Sorry Venitian pool Coral Gables Venitian pool Hialeah blows that away! Thank You!Thank You!Thank You! Mr. Whitaker. As you can tell everybody loves what they had and they love it more now that its gone and thay would want their kids to have it and they should have.This site lets people go back,people want this for thier kids.So many good times,so many stories to tell in so many ways .It compares to no other place and time ,maybe thats way the dolphins went 17-0 in 1972 .One person wrote that she lives in Lakeland,Fl now,reminds her of how it use to be I left Miami in 1979 for Orlando .When I got here it was cool But Orlando went down the horrid path of Miami maybe worse,Lakeland is next then Sebring.Sebring will be the meeting point of the biggest concrete biggest goverment biggest corperate blob monster this side of China and India.Help?
robert cruz27-Sep-2011 18:52
Pretty neat finding this link .
I used to ride in Gov. and Masters Field in the 1980's , location that has some history dating back to WWII . Gov was a blast to ride , close to home and has been missed by many . Been trying to find pictures of folks riding dirt bikes and 3 wheelers mud trucks etc .
Bill A. 19-May-2011 14:33
Stephen, to answer your question about which side the MX tracks were on. In the beginning the MX track was on the east side of Lejuene and then moved to the West side in 1975. I too rode and raced there "back in the day". The track was operated by a family that lived in Hialeah at that time. I think their name was Jenelle. That track actually hosted a couple of National championship races also. Good times!!
Don Boyd07-Sep-2009 17:02
No problem, Stephen. I remember the races being held there but don't think I took any photos at that location.

Don
Stephen Ziers 07-Sep-2009 10:59
Don,
I had my compass in the wrong hand. It was between LeJune and the rail road rightaway. The entrance was just about across from the end of 65th street.

steve
Don Boyd02-Sep-2009 01:19
Thank you for posting, Stephen. The track I remember and where I took my photos was north of 65th Street and closer to Red Road as I recall (but then again Heineken has destroyed millions of brain cells over 39 years of drinking it). But, there were no runways west of LeJeune - the Miami Municipal/Amelia Earhart Field airfield was all east of LeJeune.

Some people think that Amelia Earhart Park occupies the old Amelia Earhart Field but that isn't true at all as one can see on this photo. The old Amelia Earhart Field was almost totally obliterated by the UPS sorting facility and the City of Hialeah Police Department and Public Works buildings.

Don
stephen ziers 02-Sep-2009 01:06
Don,
I started riding in goverment field in about 1970 and rode every inch of it. From what I rember their was only two organized tracks from 1970 thru the 80s. One was located off of LeJune road in the NE corner of the propety bordered by the canal. The other was on the west side of LeJune about W65th street, they built in in the dirt area off of the old runways over there. The funny thing is I cant rember which one was there first......I guess I bumped my head too many times on all those motorcycles I used to ride. LOL
Don Boyd15-Dec-2008 07:34
Thanks for posting, Guest. I remember that motocross track well and somewhere deep in the boxes I have photos of bikers racing on the Gov property. Not all of the Gov property went to the park - a good portion was auctioned off by the GSA and Lovell Brothers built townhouses from W. 3rd Court to W. 2nd Court in the 69-70-71-72 blocks and I suspect the motocross track was where the townhouses were built unless there was yet another track further east that you are thinking of.

Don
guest 15-Dec-2008 05:10
Mid to late 70's.... I remember skipping school, riding bikes to "The Gov" and doing motorcross biking there. Field used to be used for motorcross / trail bike motorcycle riding back in the day. The Gov is Government field, also known as Amelia Earhart Park today, just N of W 65th St & Palm Ave.