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| Dania Main Street 1912 Florida State Archives |
By Jane Feehan
Andrew Christian Frost was remembered for having “one of the best minds in Broward County.” He was also noted for his long list of accomplishments, occupations and life of ceaseless travel. He wandered across the United States and Europe, seeking opportunities, even after settling in Modello, now Dania Beach, in 1901 with his very large family.
Frost, known as A.C. Frost, was born in Denmark in 1846 where he worked in the logging business and carried mail. He immigrated to the United States in 1873, living in New York then moving to Illinois peddling wares. He found his way to Oconto, Wisconsin, which included a Danish community. While there, he opened a general store, served as postmaster, was elected to the state’s legislature, married and had four children.
When his wife died after seven years of marriage, Frost left his children in the care of a friend and returned to Denmark for six months. Not seeing the viability of a new life there, he came back to Wisconsin where opportunities expanded. Businessmen, impressed by his resourcefulness and initiative, asked him to travel along their new rail line from Georgia to the Gulf Coast where he could find a place to settle. Frost took them up on their suggestion, made the trip and returned uninspired.
His inspiration was to come from James E. Ingraham, resident of Green Bay, Wisconsin, an engineer and associate of Henry Flagler of the Florida East Coast Railway. Town building along the Florida coast grew rail business. Frost was encouraged to move to Florida; he saw an opportunity for growth and moved to Miami in 1899 with his third wife (the previous two died) and 10 children. What follows is an abbreviated timeline of his accomplishments and travel after his 1899 move to Florida until he died at 77.
- 1901 moved to Modello (Model Land Co.)
- 1902 built the first house in Modello
- 1904 returned to Wisconsin where he recruited a group of 30 Danes to move to his South Florida settlement
- 1904 instrumental in founding the town of Dania*, incorporated in 1904 (name changed to differentiate from a town of similar name near Miami)Dania was the first town to be incorporated in Broward County, which became an entity in 1911
- 1905 Frost built the first school building (first of two) in Dania. He also built the first post office and later the first general store.
- 1907 traveled back to Europe for six months with one of his sons
- 1907-1910 traveled to California, Mexico and Seattle (left business operations to his sons)
- 1911 instrumental in founding Broward County
- 1911 platted Lakeview, a community west of Lake Mabel (Port Everglades) with C.E. Pratt
- 1911-1914 returned to Oconto where he served for two terms as chair of the town council and on the board of city commissioners
- 1914 returned to Dania
- 1920-22 traveled to Maryland, reasons for and activities there sketchy but one historian suggests he founded another town.
- 1924 – Died in Dania
Some say he earned $100,000 selling property for Model Land Co., was instrumental in getting a canal extended from the Atlantic Ocean (from probably Lake Mabel) to Dania for drainage and encouraged draining of the Everglades to promote farming, particularly of tomatoes. A.C. Frost’s was a strange life, but one well lived. Perhaps some or part of the reports of his accomplishments are exaggerated, or not, but his progeny of 10 children underscore part of an impressive legacy.
One more thing: he built Dania’s first cemetery, where his remains … remain.
*Dania became Dania Beach in 1998. It currently has a population of about 32,000
Sources:
Miami Evening Record, Dec. 6, 1904
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Aug. 10, 2004
Daniabeachfl.gov
RootsWeb
Broward Historical Commission: Cooper Kirk, “Andrew
Christian Frost: Developer Had a New Vision Every day”
Tags: Dania Beach history, A.C. Frost, History of Dania Beach
