Since the 1920s, the Detroit-based Miami Beach Heights Corporation—headed by industrialists Robert C. Graham, Walter O. Briggs, and Carl G. Fisher—owned 245 acres (99 ha) of undeveloped, partially swampy land that stretched from the bay to the Atlantic.

As a goodwill gesture to the government, Robert C. Graham rented the land to the United States Air Corps for $1 per year.

The ocean front area was used as a rifle range and the barracks were set up on the west side of Collins Avenue.

After the war ended, the Air Corps left the barracks buildings intact, which were converted into apartment homes by Graham in 1946.

Graham had twenty five families move into the apartment homes that he had converted in order to qualify the Village for incorporation.

After the charter was completed, the Village of Bal Harbour was incorporated on August 14, 1946, by Graham and 25 male registered voters.

Bal Harbour Village was re-incorporated by a special act of the 1947 Florida Legislature and its own charter was issued June 16.

The Council elected were: Edward L. Bonneau, Robert C. Graham Jr., Glenn E. Massnick, George Whittaker, and Judge Julien Southerland.

It was imploded on November 18, 2007, to build a set of condos and a luxury aparthotel as the St. Regis Bal Harbour.

[4] In 1984, the residents of an exclusive neighborhood in Bal Harbour were successfully sued to remove the clause preventing Jews and blacks from owning property there.

[4] In 2012, The last oceanfront undeveloped Beach Club site was sold for $220 million in order to make way to the ultra luxury Oceana at Bal Harbour.

[8] In 2015, it was reported in the press that "the Bal Harbour Police and the Glades County Sheriff set up a giant money laundering scheme, but it all fell apart when federal investigators and the Miami Herald found strange things going on.

[11][12] In the words of Town & Country, Bal Harbour is the "ne plus ultra" of South Florida luxury.

[13] The Village, specifically its Resort Tax Committee, has invested in developing Bal Harbour's reputation as a luxury destination.

Bal Harbour is the northernmost barrier island in a chain that extends southward up to and including Key West, Florida.

The main traffic corridor running south to north through Bal Harbour is Collins Avenue, also demarked as Florida State Highway A1A.

A bridge, maintained by the State of Florida connects Bal Harbour to Haulover Park, to the north.

As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 58.29% of residents, while Spanish was at 35.14%, Polish at 2.63%, French 2.13%, Portuguese 0.99%, and Russian made up 0.82% of the population.