This
is Pan American Airways Base at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove in the late
1930's.
The main building is the terminal. Passengers would park at the circle, come in the terminal, and buy a ticket. When it was time to board, the passengers used one of the four covered walkways to go to the plane. In the water can be seen two Sikorsky S-42s. Above the circle are the hangars. In front of the second hangar is a Sikorsky S-40 and another S-42 . The fifth building is the Coast Guard Hangar. To the left of the circle and above the ramp are two smaller amphibians parked on the grass. Perhaps they are S-38s. There are people lined up on the bulkhead on the left, on the near edge of the circle, and on the roof of the terminal. They must be about to see the clipper taxi into the bay and then take off. The tree lined road, Pan American Drive, connects the circle to South Bayshore Drive.
A photograph taken today would not be too different. The terminal building looks exactly the same. It is used for City of Miami commission meetings. On the left, just outside this picture, would be the Dinner Key Convention Center. On the farther right, sharing the bayside bulkhead are two restaurants, Scotty's Landing and the Chart House. In the extreme upper right the trees have been replaced by Monty Trainer's Restaurant. The major difference would be the boats. Five piers were constructed out from the terminal and the complex is today called the Dinner Key Marina.