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is a city located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. As of the mid decade census, the population was 15,376 as recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Opa-locka has an area of and is located in the northeastern area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city was developed by Glenn Curtiss and was based on the Arabian Nights theme, with streets that have names like Sabur Lane, Sultan Avenue, Ali Baba Avenue, and Sesame Street. Opa-locka has the largest collection of Moorish architecture in the Western hemisphere.
is a contraction of a Native American name for the area, “Opa-tisha-woka-locka”, meaning "The high land north of the little river on which there is a camping place."
Opa-locka was founded by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss in 1926. Curtiss originally called the city Opa-tisha-woka-locka, but quickly shortened the name to Opa-locka. Curtiss developed the city with a Moorish architecture theme. While the 1926 Miami hurricane badly damaged the city and brought the Florida land boom to a halt, the surviving Moorish-style buildings continue to give Opa-locka a unique look.
Amelia Earhart launched her historic trip around the world from Miami Municipal Airport, just south of Opa-locka. The famous German dirigible
visited the NAS Miami, which later became Opa-locka Airport, as a regular stop on its Germany-Brazil-United States-Germany scheduled route.