You predate our residence in the area considerably.  But your memory is right on the spot.  I had completely forgotten the Western Auto Store; I believe it was between 15th and 17th Ave. on the north side of NW 36 St.  In the months after our son Mark was born at the end of 1960, there were a couple of incidents in which Floyd had to brake the car big-time, and flung out a hand to keep baby Mark and me from crashing into the dashboard.   This is something good husbands and fathers did back then, but it also could contribute to loss of control or injury to the driver and wasn't effective in a bad crash.   Seat belts had just become available, so we went to Western Auto and bought two sets, then across the street to the tiny, hole-in-the-wall Dade Hardware to get huge washers and thick tempered bolts, and installed them ourselves.  Later as the effectiveness of these seat belts became obvious, and as our family grew, we bought four more sets; we were probably the only family in Allapattah to drive an old car with 6 seat belts.  We transferred them from car to car for years, through relatives' visits and car pools, and never have had an injury through any number of accidents on Miami's dangerous streets.  Number one rule in our vehicles has always been that the car doesn't move until everyone has their seat belt buckled, front and back.  

Back in 1959 and 1960 a really huge supermarket had been built, I think on the northeast corner of 79th Street and 27th Ave (might have been one main street south).  It had huge bins piled with produce of all kinds, and crushed ice heaped with scallops, shrimp, lobster, snapper and frog's legs, banks of coolers with sausage, lunch meat, cheeses and dairy, display cases of every kind of meat and poultry, and all cheap!   The previous large supermarket had been Shell's on 7th Ave, a major phenomenon in it's time, but it had already started a downward slide, partly due to I-95 construction practically next door and the changing neighborhood, so we started shopping at the 79th St. store, and I don't think we ever ate better or more economically.  Later the huge Northside Shopping Center grew on the northwest corner 79th St. and 27th Ave., sporting a Sears, Lerners, Hales Health Foods (which was still there a few years ago), and many other chain stores.  

In your time, the nearest large shopping area was Allapattah, built way out in the "suburbs" and ********ogous now to big suburban Malls.  As the riots and changing demographics destroyed Allapattah's commercial center, poorer population moved into the Northside area and crime also increased there until most of the large chains moved out of Northside - to Hialeah, North Miami Beach and Miami Lakes.  

Back then this area was full of suburban families, nurserymen, military, retirees - remember the trailer park on the north side of 36th Street a couple of blocks west of Miami Jackson?  I think it was called the Bluebell.   It was actually a bare, sad and ugly place by 1960, populated mostly by aging retirees and some widows of the soldiers that had been housed there during World War II and had never returned from overseas. 

Orange Blossom Hobby Shop is still there, a couple of blocks further west!   The music store on 17th Ave. at 37th Street is long gone.  So is Allapattah Stationers, a family fixture for many decades, lost as people shopped at the big chains.  Also closed many years ago is the feed store down the way closer to 22nd Ave, and the Country-Western Outfitters on 17th Ave just to the south of 36th Street.  There was a huge unpaved alley area in the back of that block, just east of 17th Ave between 35 St. and 36th, and the mounted police would bring their horses in there midday for a drink and meal while the rider would get lunch at Royal Castle on the corner, or at the big cafeteria at 18th Ave.  My daughter even at 3 years old was crazy about all kinds of animals would always beg to go see if there was a horse.  We would pass through the Western Shop, redolent with the fragrance of new leather saddles tack and fancy boots, and out the back door.  If anyone's mount was there, Elizabeth lost no time in offering a carrot or apple and petting the horsie's nose while Floyd held her up to horse-face level.  Keep in mind that this was in the sixties, in the middle of a huge city, and one starts to get a feel for Allapattah!   I was reminded of this the other day when I noticed a police mount tied to a tree, grazing St. Augustine grass on the verge of 28th St. while the cop lunched at Garcia's Pescaderia, or "fisheria" as the younger Spanglish-speakers sometimes call it.

Here's some pictures; click to enlarge and see details:

Musa Isle:  Vintage Postcards

The Miami River

Miami International Airport - NW 36th Street