What began as a humble beginning when Eddie "Crawfish" Walker set up a bait shop on Biscayne Bay, selling bait, beer and becoming known for his dish he called chilau, a crawfish chowder made with crawfish he caught under his shack in the 30s, grew over the decades to be a popular gathering place for fisherman, boaters, club goers (the first social club built at Stiltsville was named the Calvert Club), well-known citizens and more by the 1950s. Built on stilts or concrete footings, over two dozen structures were built before Hurricane Donna (1960) reduced their numbers to seven. Luckily, public outcry saved the remaining homes and today are part of the Biscayne National Park.