Fort Lauderdale Beach busy in 1945

 

Yoga Rise today

During the 1940s it was easier to capture and publicize the number of Fort Lauderdale beach goers than it might be today. A report published by the Fort Lauderdale Daily News (June 5, 1945) from Porter Reynolds, supervisor of Parks and Recreation for the city, indicated the following for the month of May, 1945:

26,723 persons used the beach with a daily average of 863

9,177 swimmers, including military personnel, used the Las Olas Casino Pool

6,131 people used the lockers at the Casino pool

408 people used the municipal tennis courts

2,168 used the city’s shuffleboard courts

   

Lots of people visiting our beaches, even in 1945.

Tags: Fort Lauderdale in the 1940s

Fort Lauderdale in 1976, a U.S. Bicentenial year of news, numbers and places

 

Fort Lauderdale 1976 - looking north from A-1-A
Florida State Archives

 By Jane Feehan

Like most cities across the U.S. during 1976, Fort Lauderdale celebrated the U.S. Bicentenial. Many will also remember what defined the city that year: the places we went, the prices we paid, the movies we watched and what made the headlines.

A boat parade of 200 vessels from nearby towns converged at Bahia Mar where 600 red, white, and blue balloons were released. An air show, as well as power boat races drew crowds to Fort Lauderdale’s sands. At night, a street party with fireworks entertained hundreds at Las Olas beach. 

And, the British aircraft carrier HMS Royal Ark with more than 1,000 sailors docked at Port Everglades with 1776 emblazoned atop its deck. Its arrival honored the U.S. milestone. A few sailors teased, in good humor of course, about not losing that war, just "coming in second."

The Bicentenial here was recognized throughout the year by businesses. Retail stores ran ads with variations of 1776 as prices. Barstools were advertised on sale for $17.76 at Woolco. Scotty’s Appliances sold dishwashing machines for $177.60.  Realtors for Sea Ranch Lakes North condominium advertised “Bicentenial values,” i.e., special units for sale in the low $60s.

Fort Lauderdale in the news 1976

New Year’s Eve in Fort Lauderdale kicked off its third consecutive year of riots at the beach. Though slightly down from the prior year, arrests were made of “party” goers who threw rocks, brought down traffic lights and dared to run naked in the streets. Police arrested 60 of the partiers.

Fort Lauderdale High and Pine Crest School swimming coach Jack Nelson was named National High School Coach of the Year in 1976. The same year, he was tapped as Women’s Swimming Coach for the U.S. Summer Olympics.

Public restrooms at Las Olas beach and South Beach (Bahia Mar) were beset with problems such as drug abuse, vandalism and lewd activities.

The city’s winter tourist season was ranked as the “best ever,” but the state of the economy was top of mind for many. Fort Lauderdale saw a steep economic decline during 1974 and 1975 due to overbuilding. The unemployment rate in 1976, however, notched below the 8.9% reported the prior year.

Fort Lauderdale by the numbers in 1976

139,000: Population between census years of 1970 and 1980. Broward County was estimated at 935,000. In 1980 Fort Lauderdale residents numbered 153,279.

$13,420: Area median income estimated by the U.S. Census. Northern US income was reported  higher at $14,960.

$349: Price of sofa beds at Carl’s Furniture

$19.99: Price of bedspreads at Jordan March; pillows sold for $5.99

$4.50: cost of Easter brunch at the Galt Ocean Mile Hotel

79 cents: Price of a dozen eggs at Publix by year’s end. Two loaves of rye bread sold for 89 cents.

Fort Lauderdale nightlife in 1976 

Mai-Kai Restaurant

Le Club International
Yesterday’s
Bachelors III
Broadway Dinner Theatre
Mr. Pip’s

Movies Fort Lauderdale watched in 1976 at local theaters 

Lipstick

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Silver Streak

Theater in 1976

Parker Playhouse with Zev Bufman productions such as Same Time Next Year

What some read in 1976
Trinity by Leon Uris
The Deep by Peter Benchley

The way we were in 1976 was notable. What will Fort Lauderdale be at the close of 2026, the 250th Anniversary of the U.S.?

Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 1, 1976

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 29. 1976

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 4, 1976

Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, April 11, 1976 

Fort Lauderdale News, July 1, 1976

Fort Lauderdale News, July 18, 1976

Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, Dec. 26, 1976

U.S. Census

Tags: Fort Lauderdale in 1976, Fort Lauderdale in the Bicentenial Year

Caribe - high rise building frenzy visits Lauderdale by the Sea in the 1960s

 

Caribe near former site of hotel

Caribe, 4050 N. Ocean Drive

Lauderdale-by-the-Sea 33308

By Jane Feehan

Lauderdale-by-the-Sea did not escape the high-rise building frenzy of the 1950s-1960s in Broward County.

Though the small town had codified a five-story height limit, a variance* was granted in 1961 for a 15-story residential building in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. Land for the project, the Caribe, extended east from A1A to the beach at the southern end of El Mar Drive, not far from the Galt Mile. The property was reportedly owned by Lauderdale Surf and Yacht Estates.

When the project, designed by noted architect Charles F. McKirahan (Mai-Kai, etc.) was announced by local news in July 1962, the developer and builder, Investment Corporation of Florida, claimed they had already sold 60 percent of the 149 or 150 co-op units. One-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments were sold, which included land for the building, for $12,500-$22,500. Monthly “assessments” were expected to run about $39 (!!). The company listed several projects in its portfolio at the time: Breakwater Towers, Breakwater Surf Club Homes, Lago Mar Place and Sea Club.

Construction on the Caribe started late July 1962.

Construction costs, reported during the early days were estimated at about $1.5 million. When completed, the project topped $2 million. One news headline months later claimed construction reached the top floor in only 69 working days, thus the customary tree was placed atop (is that still a thing?). The same Fort Lauderdale News story also included builder comments about concrete pilings used for the foundation amounting to 22 times taller than the Washington Monument.

The Caribe opened February 1963. Advertisements for the beachside co-op listed features such as a laundry room and storage on each floor, two elevators and a private beach. It took “only $5,233 “ to move into the Caribe, “the ultimate in oceanfront living.”  By 1964, all units had been sold.

 At this post date, units range in price from the $200,000s to the high $400,000s.  HOA fees and Co-op fees together are currently estimated at $1,000 (see real estate listings, these amounts are fluid and estimated as always).  

Having lived in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea once upon a time, I’ll always remember the giant cross of lights from top and width of the Caribe celebrating every Christmas and Easter. It was visible for miles. Never \more, I guess some would say.

 *Note: The 17-story Fountainhead condominium, with its Lauderdale-by-the-Sea address just south of the Caribe, was granted a zoning variance by the town about 1964-65. High rise buildings sit in the annexed beach area north of the original boundary of the town. Annexation occurred in 2001.

 

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, July 21, 1962

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov.17, 1962

Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, March 4, 1962

Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, March 16, 1963

Fort Lauderdale News, March 30, 1964

Richard, Candice. Seventy-Three Years By The Sea: A History of Lauderdale By-The-Sea,  The Community Church of Lauderdale- By-The-Sea (1997).

 

USS Fort Lauderdale highlights bond between city and U.S. Navy

 

USS Fort Lauderdale 8.14.2025. Photo by Petty Officer
 2nd Class Joseph Miller (PHIBRON)

USS Fort Lauderdale leaving Norfolk, VA 8.14.2025

Photo by Seaman Andrew Eggert, 

By Jane Feehan

The city of Fort Lauderdale and the U.S. Navy have shared a strong connection since World War II. That link served as catalyst for naming a ship the USS Fort Lauderdale.    

The Navy Air Operational Training Command (Naval Air Station) in Fort Lauderdale  trained more than 1,700 pilots and crew members for that war, including young Ensign and later President George H. W. Bush. 

Fort Lauderdale was also departure site of U.S. Navy Flight 19 with its five aircraft and  search plane before mysteriously disappearing Dec. 5, 1945. Today the NAS operates as a museum and salute to Flight 19. It Iwas added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

Decades later, a relationship with the U.S. Navy continues with Fleet Week in Fort Lauderdale when the city celebrates the Navy, Marines and the U.S. Coast Guard. Ships offer tours and displays of military equipment, drawing visitors from all of South Florida.

Mayor Jack Seiler (2009-2018) and Charles “Chuck” Black (d. 2016), U.S. Navy (retired), were instrumental in leading efforts for naming a ship for the city. Seiler brought a delegation from Fort Lauderdale to Washington, D.C. in 2011 that paved the way to a green light in March 2016 from the U.S. Department of the Navy.

It was announced then that a ship would bear the name Fort Lauderdale, specifically a San-Antonio class ship, an amphibious transportation dock vessel. (It was reported by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that city officials mistakenly thought the name would be assigned to a coastal combat ship.)

San Antonio-class vessels support a landing force with supplies and personnel. They are named for cities such as New Orleans and New York. Three ships also bear names as tribute to each of the three cities attacked on September 11, 2001.

The USS Fort Lauderdale LDP 28, the U.S. Navy’s 12th such vessel at the time, was built in Pascagoula, MS by Huntington Ingalls Industries. In 2025, 14 sail out of a planned 26 similar amphibious ships. The vessel features advanced weapons, helicopter platforms that can also facilitate vertical takeoff and landings of other aircraft, and holds about 700 sailors and marines.

Launched on March 28, 2020, and christened Aug. 21, 2021, the USS Fort Lauderdale was delivered to the U.S. Navy Nov. 30, 2021. Its port is Naval Station Norfolk. 

The ship made national news when it was deployed to the Caribbean Sea in support of operations near Venezuela in September 2025.

No doubt locals will line up to see the first ship named for Fort Lauderdale during a future Fleet Week.

Characteristics:

684 feet long

105-foot beam

Draft 23 feet

Speed -22 knots

Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources

South Florida Sun Sentinel, March 11, 2016

South Florida Sun Sentinel, July 12, 2016

Dvidshub.net or the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service  

U.S. Navy - James L. McQuiniff CDR USN LPD28

Tags: USS Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale in the 2000s 

Palm Beach Gardens - year-round and winter residents, the rich, the famous and PGA golfers

Palm Beach Gardens
shopping center

By Jane Feehan 

Palm Beach Gardens wasn’t developed as a resort community. A project of insurance magnate John D. MacArthur, the town started out with his vision of 55,000 homes for year-round residents.

MacArthur (1897-1978) moved to Florida in 1958 from Chicago. He had already made millions in Florida real estate and owned 100,000 acres, according to The Miami Herald. The newspaper also wrote that he had put up money for the development of Carol City in Dade County.

His Palm Beach County purchase of 4,000 acres sat west of North Palm Beach and three miles from the Florida Turnpike. MacArthur wanted it to be named Palm Beach City.  Palm Beach County passed a resolution in March 1959 to prohibit use of that name because it could convey that the hub of Palm Beach County was a suburb.

The name Palm Beach Gardens seemed less of a threat; the city was incorporated June 20, 1959. MacArthur hired architect Tony Sherman (who also designed the Yankee Clipper and the Jolly Roger hotels in Fort Lauderdale) to put his talents to work for the new community.

MacArthur reportedly said, “property isn’t worth much until you bring people into the area.” In August 1960, after work began on Palm Beach Gardens, he struck up an agreement with Radio Corporation of America—RCA—to open a facility in the new city with their purchase from MacArthur of 104 acres and their plans for more than 1,000 jobs. RCA opened on land not far from SR-A1A in 1961 and operated there until 1986. A street, RCA Boulevard, remains off PGA Boulevard near the "Downtown" shopping center.

Like much of South Florida, Palm Beach Gardens grew over the decades, attracting both winter and year-round residents including some high-profile sports icons such as tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams and several entertainment figures. 

Palm Beach Gardens has garnered national attention for the PGA National Resort with its golf courses and tournaments. Recreation also includes its 1.6-mile beach, which sits in the beautiful John D. MacArthur State Park. It’s a protected hammock and mangrove strip off the barrier island with kayaking, picnicking and more.  

Juno, Jupiter, Jupiter Island, and Tequesta lie close to and north of Palm Beach Gardens. Abacoa borders Jupiter. It's all nearby.

This city attracts residents from communities as far away as Vero Beach who shop at Downtown Palm Beach Gardens, a center opened in 1988. It now includes Whole Foods, Nordstrom’s, Bloomingdale’s and a roster of high-end stores not found in other parts of county. 

Shopping in other PBG locations includes a line up of specialty food and clothing stores. A few top-notch restaurants also draw locals and those from nearby towns for a night out.

Palm Beach Gardens stats (refer to sources below article for data sources; stats are very fluid)

Population (2024): 63,284

Population growth: 2020-2024 estimated 7%

Winter residents - 11% + (probably more)

Median age: 50.1 years; about 31% of the population is over 65.

Composition: female – 52.6%, 77 % white with 23% combined Asian, Black, and Hispanic minorities.

Median household income  $110,563 (Data USA)

Industries of employment: healthcare, professional scientific, and technical services

Real estate, very fluid numbers (August 2025)

Zillow lists 841 homes for sale

Realtor.com lists 1,031 homes for sale

Median listing: $799,000

More on John D. MacArthur

John D. MacArthur owned Bankers Life and Casualty, once the largest health and life insurance company in the United States. Forbes noted in the late 1950s that he was one of the 10 wealthiest men in the United States.

He owned and lived modestly in the Colonnades Beach Hotel on Singer Island where he also conducted much of his business. Upon MacArthur’s death, his net worth was estimated at $700 million.

Since his death, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has awarded more than $6.8 billion to “nearly 10,000 organizations and individuals in 116 countries and 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands” (https://www.macfound.org)

Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

The Palm Beach Post, March 20, 1959

The Palm Beach Post, March 29, 1959

The Palm Beach Post, Aug. 14, 1960

The Miami Herald, Dec. 11, 1960

The Palm Beach Post, Jan. 5, 1978

New York Daily News, Jan. 7, 1978

Palm Beach Gardens- pbgfl.gov

Data USA

Data Commons

US Census

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/john-d-macarthur-beach-state-park

Tags; Palm Beach Gardens, PGA, John D. MacArthur, Palm Beach County history, Downtown Palm Beach Gardens

McCrory's downtown Fort Lauderdale - a five and dime bows to suburban growth

 

McCrory’s Store

221 South Andrews Ave.
Fort Lauderdale, FL – Closed 1985

By Jane Feehan

The Great Depression didn’t bring Fort Lauderdale to its knees as it did in much of the country. There were signs of life in the city, including a new hotel on the beach and another on Las Olas Boulevard. Businesses continued to open downtown.

Among newcomers to Andrews Avenue downtown was the Pennsylvania-based five and dime chain, McCrory Stores. Their doors opened in Fort Lauderdale December 26, 1936. R.F. Coppedge, vice president, claimed the new store was one of the company’s finest, with its 700-ft long mahogany counters and shelves, terrazzo floors. The two-story 4,800-sq.ft. building also featured unusually high ceilings (it later expanded to 10,000 sq.ft).

McCrory’s also installed “huge ventilators” that exchanged air frequently. According to Coppedge, the company spent more on the Andrews Avenue store than they did on most others. He also told the Fort Lauderdale Daily News that he was impressed with Fort Lauderdale and its possibilities.

According to news accounts, hundreds of shoppers showed up before McCrory’s opened at 8:30 am the day after Christmas 1936. Early advertising paid off. The company bought two full-page ads several days before the big day. Help-wanted ads for “50 salesladies” to work in their 27 departments appeared December 19. They also opened a lunch counter.

McCrory’s remained a popular spot to buy inexpensive goods for decades: bar soap for 6 cents in the 1930s; lampshades for $1 and boys’ shorts for 50 cents in 1939; fabric remnants for 29 cents in 1949; jeans for $13.99 and ladies’ shirts for $2.00-6.99, Liberty Bell pencil sharpeners for a dollar in the 1980s. The most expensive item in the store in the 1980s was a $30 bike.

McCrory’s opened up additional stores in Lauderhill, Margate and Deerfield. As Broward County grew, retail businesses shifted away from downtown Fort Lauderdale into the malls. Nationally, retail shifted into a new paradigm of five and dime stores to big box stores.

In 1984, McCrory’s announced it would close its Andrews Avenue store. The news drew disappointment, including that of U.S. Congressman E. Clay Shaw (1939-2013) who reminisced about how it was in the 1940s and that he wanted to preserve it if possible. Shaw said Fort Lauderdale’s downtown held lots of promise (it did but not for retail as today’s skyline proves). McCrory’s on Andrews shut its doors Jan. 31, 1985; the company declared bankruptcy in 1992 and ceased to operate in 2002.

The old McCrory’s sign remains at the old building above a popular night spot; But why the 1921 date? According to the National Museum of American History, a Smithsonian affiliate, McCrory’s founded Oriole Records in 1921 and exclusively sold their records from 1921-1938, which may explain the signage date. In 2004, the building owner told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that he liked the sign. There it sits as a worthy reminder of Fort Lauderdale’s early days.

McCrory’s legacy leaves much beyond those five and dime stores: part of the company morphed into K-Mart and other retail businesses—much more than this post will detail. But something else the store on Andrews Avenue left are memories of great prices, a popular lunch counter and the way we once were.

Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

National Museum of American History

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, July 21, 1936

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Dec. 17, 1936

Fort Lauderdale Daily New, Dec. 19, 1936

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Dec. 26, 1936

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, June 2, 1939

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Nov. 9, 1984,

The Miami Herald, Nov. 10, 1984

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 25, 1985

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 27, 1985

Tags: McCrory's Store, Fort Lauderdale in the 1930s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1980s, Fort Lauderdale Retail history

A drive through Fort Lauderdale's Evergreen Cemetery, a visit with the city's past and its famous

  

Evergreen Cemetery (near Cordova Road, north of SE 17th Street)
1300 SE 10 Ave.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315
954-828-7050.

https://www.parks.fortlauderdale.gov/programs/cemeteries

 

Grave markers at Fort Lauderdale’s Evergreen Cemetery summon up thoughts about the city’s pioneer days. Many pioneers, as well as recent notables, lie in rest here.

According to the city, Evergreen Cemetery is one of its oldest. Before Fort Lauderdale was incorporated as a town in 1911, some residents were buried at a graveyard that later served as the site of South Side School on South Andrews Avenue.

In 1910 or 1911, pioneers Ed and Susan King carved out a section of their 90 acres for the cemetery. Near today’s Rio Vista neighborhood, it is bordered by Cliff Lake to its east. The city of Fort Lauderdale purchased the cemetery in 1917 for $2,000 and added to it with subsequent land buys. Evergreen Cemetery now occupies 11 acres.

Some graves serve as the final resting place of veterans including Civil War Medal of Honor recipient Edgar Bras from Iowa (search for post about him on this blog). A few veterans’ graves were moved from the old South Andrews site, so their markers display dates that predate that of Evergreen Cemetery.  A small section was set aside for Jewish residents, including Isadore “Pop” Sterling who owned an early Las Olas clothing store.

Other names should ring familiar: pioneers Frank and Ivy Stranahan, Philemon Nathaniel Bryan, Tom Bryan, City Attorney George W. English II, Logan T. Brown of Brown’s Good Food, gathering place for Fort Lauderdale’s influencers; former Mayor Virginia Shuman Young, early Judge Fred Shippey, third county judge Boyd H. Anderson, billionaire businessman H. Wayne Huizenga and actor-comedian Leslie Nielsen of the Airplane parody.

Evergreen is one of four cemeteries owned and maintained by Fort Lauderdale. The other three: Lauderdale Memorial Park, Sunset Memorial Gardens and Woodlawn (search for post about Woodlawn).

Evergreen Cemetery is a Florida State Heritage Site with a small, one-way road wending through grave markers. Roadside parking only. It’s a peaceful spot with gravesites still available. A brochure or map of Evergreen Cemetery with some graves listed resides at the URL above as well as hours of visitation. This cemetery is worth a visit. 

Its east border, Cliff Lake, looks like an elongated waterway rather than a lake. It includes a city park at 1331 SE 12^th Way that sits within an adjacent neighborhood.

Cliff Lake

Sources:

City of Fort Lauderdale Parks and Recreation

https://www.parks.fortlauderdale.gov/programs/cemeteries

Tags: Fort Lauderdale cemeteries, Fort Lauderdale pioneers, Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale in the 1900s

Traveling in Florida before highways: age of the stern wheel

 

Lillie and the Roseada Florida State Archives

By Jane Feehan

Canals, lakes, and rivers comprised key transportation networks throughout South Florida in the early 1900s. The North New River Canal facilitated commerce and leisure travel from Fort Lauderdale to Lake Okeechobee and on to Fort Myers.

Several stern-wheel boats, including the Lillie, Napoleon Broward, and Suwanee, operated from Fort Lauderdale carrying winter vegetables, supplies and passengers to the lake. Leaving Fort Lauderdale late in the afternoon, excursion passengers could look forward to reaching Lake Okeechobee by the next morning. 

A trip to Fort Myers was more complicated. A traveler would start in Fort Lauderdale on the North New River Canal, cross Lake Okeechobee, take the Three Mile Canal to Lake Hicpochee, then the Caloosahatchee River to Fort Myers – a trip of several days. Today, car travel from Fort Lauderdale to Lake Okeechobee would take about two hours; from Fort Lauderdale to Fort Myers, about two and a half.

Elements of the great plan to drain the Everglades, the canals. could get very low in dry winter seasons. Cargo boats would sit in mud for a week at times. When they finally made their destinations, shippers would sell vegetable cargoes for whatever they could get - or sell their boats. Everglades travel made shipping an unpredictable business but leisure travelers took in a world of wildlife we’ll never see.

Drawing of the Lillie, circa 1900 Florida State Archives/Florida Memory

Copyright © 2020, 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Tags:

Florida transporation, Florida History
_______
For Lake Worth travel, see: 

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2021/01/lake-worth-lagoon-early-florida.html

For Intracoastal as tollway see: 

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2020/12/intracoastal-waterway-toll-days.html

Tags: stern wheel travel, Florida in the 1900s, early Florida tourism, transportation

Sources:
Weidling, Philip J., Burghard, August. Checkered Sunshine. Gainesville: University of Florida Press (1966)
Weekly Miami Metropolis, Sept. 8, 1916
Miami News, Jan. 11, 1922

It's raining iguanas - once pets now reviled in South Florida

By Jane Feehan

Iguanas, once rarely seen and occasionally sold as pets, are now a ubiquitous nuisance in South Florida and elsewhere in the state. A look back at our relationship with them may evoke a few laughs.

Before appearing in South Florida, the native range of green iguanas or species I.iguana, spanned from southern Mexico to central Brazil and Bolivia as well as parts of the Caribbean including Cozumel.

According to a 2007 study, iguanas were seen in the 1960s in Hialeah, Coral Gables, and Key Biscayne. One of these reptiles was collected in Coral Gables in 1965 for species identification and study (Krysko, Kenneth L., et al. "Distribution, natural history, and impacts of the introduced green iguana (Iguana iguana) in Florida." Iguana 14.3, 2007),

Iguanas maintained an exotic aura from the late 1960s until the early 1990s. Mangurian’s furniture store in Fort Lauderdale sold metal sculptures of them as an objet d’ art for home décor. One family member bought a sculpture then and jokingly drags it out of a closet on occasion (see photo).

Photo courtesy of Pam Feehan McDonald 

According to the Fort Lauderdale News, pet shops started importing iguanas during the 1970s. During that decade some attention seekers would walk around with them on leashes or on their shoulders. 

A few iguanas were gifted names.

Lion Country Safari in Palm Beach County displayed Fred, a Mexican spiny-tailed iguana (not the green species) until it escaped. Fred was found seven years later in 1983 happily living in a cave on the attraction’s property. He was captured and once again placed in a display cage.

It gets funnier, given today’s disdain for these creatures.

One young customer paid $350 for his pet in Palm Beach County in 1992. After four or five months of human companionship, Iggy escaped outdoors and up a tree. His owner called the fire department for the rescue. They actually came to the house and pulled out fire ladders but decided to decline the mission. Today, they would probably ask the caller to seek another kind of help

In 1999, one owner wrote to a newspaper pet care column to get advice how to stop their iguana from biting and using the sofa as a bathroom. The advice? Feed it and get it away from the sofa.

Some say there were over 3,000 iguana species in the late 1980s; Florida had 10 at the time. Location and numbers of a particular species change over time. They usually escape or set loose, but iguanas also float here from The Bahamas on debris. Others come via ships

Hurricane Andrew literally cleared the way for the iguana population to explode during the 1990s. Downed trees in the Florida Keys were mulched, providing an ideal habitat for the reptiles to burrow. Females are said to return year after year to the same burrows to lay eggs (as many as 70 eggs a year). Native plants were replaced with invasive species that the reptiles thrived upon. In addition to vegetation, iguanas eat tree snails, bird eggs, grasshoppers and occasionally carrion. Other than humans, their predators include alligators, crocodiles and dogs.   

John Meeks and pet iguana
Key West 1977, Florida State Archives

By 2003 news articles indicated they were a growing nuisance. Drivers had to brake for them through the Keys. The Florida Keys Invasive Species Task Force sought advice from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Museum of Natural History on how to eradicate iguanas. They’re also on golf courses, under foundations, seawalls and roadways across the state. At times aircraft encounter burrows on runways.

Methods to get rid of them include electric fences around vegetation and swimming pools. Some hunt them using a variety of means that they may or may not reveal.

When not burrowing for egg laying, most green iguanas live in trees. Cold temps of about 50 degrees cause some to get sluggish, fall off trees and die, but a recent study claims they may be adapting by 2 degrees. A temperature of 44 degrees is ideal for iguanas to freeze up and die.

Green iguanas turn orange in mating season, which is October and November. Their lifespan averages 10 years. Take heed; more are on the way...to stay.

Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Krysko, Kenneth L., et al. "Distribution, natural history, and impacts of the introduced green iguana (Iguana iguana) in Florida." Iguana 14.3 (2007): 142 (2007).

Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 11, 1983

Palm Beach Post, Sept. 9, 1987

Palm Beach Post, May 20, 1992

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 3, 1997

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Oct. 18, 1999

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, June 29, 2005

Miami Herald, Aug. 20, 2019

Riding the memories - Birch State Park Scenic Railway in Fort Lauderdale

 

Scenic Railway station 1964, Florida State Archives

Hugh Taylor Birch State Park Scenic Railway

3109 East Sunrise Blvd, 170-180 acres

https://www.floridastateparks.org/HughTaylorBirch

 

By Jane Feehan

How many rode the train at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park who fondly recall its tooting horn and simulated steam rising from its little engine? Its three-mile track brought passengers on a 30-minute excursion through a lush tropical paradise sitting between the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale.

Riders with pleasant memories would be surprised about the “vigorous” opposition the railroad encountered in its early days in 1964.  

 The opposition, local members of the Audubon Society were joined by residents of nearby “exclusive” apartment buildings as well as attorney Phil Dressler, executor of Hugh Birch’s estate. Audubon feared wildlife at the park would be disturbed by noise. Neighboring residents thought noise would also be a problem. Dressler said the railway would commercialize the park and violate conditions set by Birch before it was bequeathed to the Florida Park Service upon his death in 1943.  

The railroad wasn’t the first time the state considered “commercializing” Birch State Park. In 1955 an attempt was made by potential concessioners to install a pool and golf facilities. 

Dressler successfully fended off those plans claiming Birch wanted to leave his property in a natural state. He also said Birch had owned parks in Ohio and Massachusetts and knew what he wanted for the land he was to donate to Florida.

Nevertheless, Florida awarded Bob Heath and Associates of Jacksonville a contract to build the railroad for the park. Heath estimated the project would run about $250,000 and guaranteed the state $7,200 a year in rider proceeds or 10 percent of receipts, whichever was greater. Construction began April 16, 1964.

The opposition had other ideas. Fort Lauderdale attorney Carl Hiaasen (grandfather of today’s novelist and namesake) filed a suit on behalf of Audubon, et al, to halt construction while claiming a need to protect birds and other wildlife.

Despite the injunction, which was delayed until that August, the railroad opened July 3, 1964. On board the six-car train for a 37-minute ride were a reporter and photographer from the Fort Lauderdale News. The train was described as having some noise but not more than that of passing boats from the nearby Intracoastal. The reporter wrote that the engine was a “quiet gas-powered motor” (more on that below). Simulated engine steam, produced by a splash of diesel on a hot metal plate, enhanced the experience.  

Birch train 1964,
Florida State Archives

The train traversed over two trestles and through an artificial tunnel. A student was tapped as narrator for the trip. By the end of the first day, 600 passengers were counted in a total of seven trips. The fare: $1 for adults and 50 cents for children. 

Riders presented positive feedback. One train fan wrote to the Fort Lauderdale News that he saw parts of Birch Park he had never seen before his ride, giving a review of “three toots.”

Popularity—and apparent financial success—of the railway project sat like a wet blanket over pending legal proceedings. The Second District Court of Appeals overturned prior moves to halt the railway in March 1965, ending the case.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Cleo came ashore in Miami August 27, 1964 and traveled north to pummel Fort Lauderdale. The Birch State Scenic Railroad was knocked off its tracks, sending it out of commission, but not for long; it reopened Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 21, 1964.

More on the train

According to Florida State Archives, the train ran with an electric motor, not a gas powered engine as the Fort Lauderdale News claimed. It was produced by the Chance Manufacturing Company of Wichita, Kansas as a replicate of the original 1888 C.P. Huntington model.   

C.P. Huntington Train
1888

Demise of the Scenic Railway

During the 1960s, Hugh T, Birch Park welcomed about one million visitors a year. By 1985, attendance dropped to about 250,000 a year. The railroad fell into disrepair. According to Railroad.net (and some other unsubstantiated claims) the rail cars were sold to a New Jersey car dealer for his business as a marketing tool.

For some reason, today’s Friends of Birch State Park announced on a recent April 1 that the train was to make a return. April Fools, they claimed, provoking annoyance and disappointment.

The Scenic Railway is gone, but not the memories, at times silly. Some jokesters say they used to charge at the train as it went through secluded parts of the park with bags over their heads to scare passengers. Other memories include the appreciation of a ride to nowhere in the tropics with occasional glimpses of the Intracoastal.

Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

_________

Today fees for the park run $6 for adults and $2 for pedestrians. Visit the site for the range of fees, discounts and more. The park is occasionally closed for construction projects during summers. Today, the park is managed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

 

Scenic train ride, Florida State Archives 1964

Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News – April 17, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News – April 24, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News – May 13, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, July 3, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, July 4, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, July 25, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 8, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 18, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, Sept.02, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 21, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, March 13, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News. June 15, 1985

Railroad.net

State of Florida

 

Tags: Hugh T. Birch State Park, Fort Lauderdale in the 1960s, Audubon Society, Birch Park Scenic Railway

Nightclub stories: Unsolved murders at Bocaccio's in Broward County

 

By Jane Feehan

A popular club with live entertainment and flashy customers, Bocaccio’s was similar to many late-night venues in the Fort Lauderdale area during the 1970s.

Bocaccio’s in Oakland Park was developed by Morton Brown who opened its doors in February 1975 after several delays. It featured live music, dancing and prime rib dinners in an atmosphere described as “gaudy.” Membership cards—costing nothing—were distributed with the purpose of controlling who came into the late-night supper club. It was, after all, the early days of cocaine-fueled entertainment and business deals.

Evidently membership cards did not keep all out.

Less than a year after opening, four staffers, including a manager, 27 years old, bookkeeper, 35 and two maids, 27 and 31 were found missing in the morning of Dec. 2.  Also missing: about $5,000 in cash as well as some non-negotiable securities. Desk drawers had been ransacked.

The case of the missing staffers commanded headlines across the nation as possible kidnappings until Dec. 8. Their bullet-ridden bodies were discovered by three brothers hunting in west Sunrise fields. The bodies lay not far off a highway in this Broward County town.

Several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, were involved. The case also included an informant, suspects in jail for armed robbery, a Las Vegas trip, a cocktail waitress thought to have landed a job at the club to see what police knew, cocaine stories and even the efforts of Dutch psychic Peter Hurkos. All proved to be file fodder for dead-end leads. It was thought the case would be solved quickly.  It remains unsolved and mostly forgotten to this day.

Did any leads focus on club construction delays?

Morty Brown sold the club soon after the murders but continued with other nightclub endeavors. Bocaccio’s, located at 1421 East Oakland Park Boulevard sat down the street from the Players Club. The “gaudy” Bocaccio’s address was later occupied by a roster of clubs, including Studio 51, Angelo’s Alley, The Front Page, and much later, Lip’s.

If you have any information on the Bocaccio's case, call the Broward Sheriff's Office at 954-493-TIPS or 954-493-8477.

 Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

 Tags: Fort Lauderdale crime, Fort Lauderdale area nightclubs, Fort Lauderdale in the 1970s, Bocaccio's. Oakland Park nightclubs

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 6, 1974

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 20,1975

Fort Lauderdale News, March 25, 1975

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 2, 1975

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 8, 1975

Fort Lauderdale News, April 18, 1976

Fort Lauderdale News, April 9, 1978

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 1, 1978

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 10, 1986

Fort Lauderdale News, May 24, 1987

Will the 1974 -75 Fort Lauderdale real estate story be repeated?

 

Downtown Fort Lauderdale 2025

By Jane Feehan 

Fort Lauderdale has seen several building busts and booms since World War II.

A glance at 1974-75 news stories offers both similarities to and differences from today’s housing picture. 

A national recession coupled with an energy crisis played a role in Fort Lauderdale’s housing prospects then, but local factors take center stage in this summary.

1974-1975

• A halt  "to one of the biggest building and real estate booms in the area’s history” occurred in 1974.
• The area had seen five construction downturns since World War II; the 1974 slump was viewed as the worst.
• Interest rates across the nation rose to over 11 percent. Congressional spending then was reported “as greatly responsible for today’s double-digit inflation.”
• South Florida newspapers reported “too much building going on.” One analyst claimed more units were being built than could be absorbed by population; the “absorption rate was key to the health of the construction industry.” Some condo and rental building projects plunged into financial straits.   
• The number of Broward County’s condo units increased 122 percent by 1974. This steep trajectory began in 1973.
• Adding to the condo glut were speculators unloading multiple units at the same time. 
• Few visited condominium models at sales centers, pointing to both near- and long-term gloomy sales prospects.
• Some rental buildings were only half occupied. Developers thought about converting some buildings into condos but reversed plans as the condo market worsened. A few developers rented out unsold condo units.
• Construction of single-family homes grew at a fraction of new condo and rental units.
• Thousands of construction workers were laid off.  County unemployment in 1975 stood at 8.9 percent—a rate that exceeded that of the state and nation.The Fort Lauderdale News reported (May 21, 1975)  that "16.6 percent of its overall workforce is unemployed." Some disputed the math. Rates aside, the Fort Lauderdale News (May 20, 1975) claimed Broward "to be the fifth most job-depressed metro area in the nation."
• Even before 1973 the list of Fort Lauderdale new condo buildings was impressive. New condos opened as reported by Fort Lauderdale News:

1970: Birch Crest, Marine Tower, Royal Mariner; Regency Tower South and the Venetian;

1971-mid 70s: Riviera, Shore Club; Point of Americas; Embassy Towers; Plaza South.

• By 1975 other problems hit the condo market: Construction and safety concerns; recreation leases and confusing regulations and restrictions. Condo sales were still down by the end of 1975.                                  See below for 2024-25 

   

Downtown Fort Lauderdale 2023

 

2024-2025

Though numbers for late 2024 and 2025 Fort Lauderdale and Broward County are not in yet, some comparisons prove noteworthy.

• Interest rates, though lower than they were during 1974-1975, are higher than in recent decades; they are expected to be about 6.3 percent or a bit lower by the end of 2025, driving many to rentals instead of condos or single-family dwellings. 
• Many today blame Congressional spending for inflation woes.
• The condominium market is flat while single-family dwelling sales are up. Condos are not selling because of high special assessments to bring buildings up to new standards required by law after the Surfside condominium collapse in 2021. 
• A new law also requires increasing condo reserves for repairs, another financial obstacle for condo buyers. 
• Many former condo owners are not relocating to area rentals; they're moving north up the coast or to other states such Georgia.
• The Florida Chamber of Commerce reported in early 2025 that the number of new Florida residents was nearly equal to those moving out of the state in 2024, reversing a trend that hit a high for newcomer traffic in 2021-22.
• Broward County unemployment rate in March 2025 (unadjusted) stands at 3.4 percent.
• Ten-X.com published a report in early 2024* that indicated Fort Lauderdale saw the highest rental vacancy rate since the beginning of 2023. It was also reported that most new rental buildings focus on building apartments with an average rate of $2,400+ per month for a one-bedroom apartment.
• The 2024 rental building construction wave is expected to continue until at least 2026. Ten-X also reported that apartment fundamentals softened in 2024. Vacancy rates in Fort Lauderdale at four-and five-star buildings stand at 9.8 percent.
• Another company reports the vacancy rate in downtown Fort Lauderdale averages across all rental buildings 4.9 percent. Pompano Beach reports a 3.8 percent vacancy rate; southwest Broward and Coral Springs report a 4.9 percent vacancy rate.
• A vacancy rate over 10 percent indicates low demand (or overbuilding?). It is interesting to note that the vacancy rate in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area was at 15.3 percent in 2023, the highest vacancy rate in the nation that year.
• New construction and vacancy numbers vary according to the year, the quarter and the publication. Varying reports claim 10,000-14,000 units going up in the next year or so in the Fort Lauderdale area.

Numbers for 2024 and 2025 will reflect economic and political uncertainty. 

Many factors differ from 1974-75 while some ring familiar. Let’s hope the 1974-75 story does not repeat.

 Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, May 30, 1974

Fort Lauderdale News, June 1, 1974

Fort Lauderdale News, July 11, 1974

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 19, 1974

Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 7, 1974

Fort Lauderdale News Jan. 16, 1975

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 22, 1975

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 22, 1975

Sun-Sentinel, Feb. 7, 2025

U.S. Census Bureau Construction Coverage

*TenX 2024 Knowledge Center: Jan.11, 2024

Matthews Real Estate Services: Matthews.com, Broward County, Sept. 18, 2024

 

Tags: Fort Lauderdale building, Fort Lauderdale developments, overbuilding

Sign of those times, the Space Satellite Hotel, Pompano Beach

Pompano Beach 2024

 Space Satellite Hotel

Once at 1450 So. Ocean Blvd. Pompano Beach (now Lauderdale-by-the-Sea)

By Jane Feehan 

The space race between the United States and the Soviet Union was in full orbit by the late 1950s. The U.S. announced plans in 1955 to launch the first satellite* into space, but the Soviets launched the first one Oct. 4, 1957, kicking off competition and sparking imaginations across the globe.

Explorer 1 - U.S launched
Jan. 31, 1958 
NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Broward County builder Otto Milbrand incorporated a space theme in his plans to build a new ocean front hotel in 1959 at 1450 South Ocean Boulevard in Pompano. Construction began in July 1959 for an unusual building—perhaps “one of the most unusual in the country”— according to Milbrand.

The 60-room hotel, designed by Boca Raton architect Carl A. Petersen, featured a 36-foot- high dome. Walls in the dome depicted a moonscape of mountains and water flowing from ceiling to floor. A twinkling Milky Way scene from above added to “weird surroundings designed to represent life on the moon.”

Three levels within the dome held a lounge and two dining areas, according to reports, for more than 200 guests. The bar area or Outer Space Room held seating for 80. Blue carpeting with planets, the sun and, of course, the moon and a satellite, greeted hotel and dining guests.

Space Satellite Hotel opened in January 1960. The hotel was popular with vacationers and a long list of area civic clubs for dining and special events. Summer newspapers advertised “Out-of-this World” vacation packages. Double occupancy on weekends included two dinners, two breakfasts and two cocktails per person for $16.95.

A resident of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea at the time, Cindy Geesey, remembers it well.

"I remember going there when I was about 14 to 16. Television host and funny man Durwood Kirby's mom stayed at the Space Satellite often. I met all the entertainers who played the Dome back in the day and dated Kirby's son.  It was quite the place for this teen!"

Maybe the hospitality business was not for Milbrand. Or a bigger profit could be made selling the place in an area growing in popularity with real estate developers. Whatever the reason for Milbrand selling the hotel, businessman Gene Harlan purchased the Space Satellite Hotel in November 1964. He expanded its footprint to include property he bought adjacent to and south of the hotel. He also had plans for entertainment.

Restaurateur Jimmy Fazio of Fazio’s Fireside Steak Ranch and other dining establishments took over management of Space Satellite’s food and beverage operations and added entertainment. He installed a dance floor, booked music acts like Les Paul and kept doors open until 4 am. Fazio also brought his chef, Alex Rondeau, from his steak place on Las Olas to present a similar menu.

Ownership changed hands again in January 1965. Harlan sold the Space Satellite to Dean Vezos and leased its land to Vezos for 99 years. Vezos owned the Sherwood Motel and Tale O’ the Tiger on Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. He also owned and operated Ranch House restaurants in Broward County.

It wasn’t known if Fazio planned to continue to lease the dining and beverage operation when the hotel sale was announced but ads appeared in local papers that he booked entertainment for March 1965. But, by late March it was reported by Fort Lauderdale News that Fazio had recently “relinquished his food and beverage” lease. (see index for more on Fazio and his restaurants).

By 1965, local interest in the space race theme seemed to have waned. Vezos had other plans for the Space Satellite Hotel. He refurbished it with a “Pan-American theme” and renamed it the International hotel.

Today the Surf Rider Resort sits near the old hotel site and the Europa By-the-Sea condos at 1460 South Ocean Boulevard lies to its south.

Though interest in the space race receded through the decades, a resurgence in popularity grows with each SpaceX launch (and rescue mission) and Elon Musk’s vision of a Mars landing. Maybe someone will open an interstellar entertainment venue with a life-on-Mars theme one day. Elon?

* The Soviet satellite was about the size of a basketball. The U.S. successfully launched its first satellite, Explorer 1 Jan. 31, 1958 pictured above. It was about three or four feet long.

Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News Aug. 15, 1959

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 9, 1960

Fort Lauderdale News, July 20, 1960

Fort Lauderdale News Nov. 13, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec 23, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan 19, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 3, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News, April 9, 1965

Tags: Space Satellite Hotel, Pompano Beach hotels, Pompano Beach in the 1950s, Pompano Beach in the 1960s Ranch House restaurants, Sherwood Motel

Riviera Isles off Las Olas - brisk sales, a hotel and a hard landing after the Great Hurricane

 

Riviera Isles 1996, State Archives of Florida

By Jane Feehan

To some, Fort Lauderdale is known as a modern Venice. Finger islands bordered by canals off Las Olas Boulevard gently suggest images of that beautiful city in Italy. The area was the vision of early Fort Lauderdale developer W.F. Morang who began the dredging process during the early 1920s.

Where he left off other developers continued. One of those islands, Idlewyld, adjacent to the Las Olas Bridge, was successfully developed in 1924-25 by pioneer M.A. Hortt, his business partner Bob Dye and new man in town, Thomas Stilwell.

Encouraged by the success of Idlewyld, Stilwell headed the Fort Lauderdale Riparian Company and bought a few parcels of land near that project. His company placed 270 lots for sale in March 1925 in what became Riviera Isles: Flamingo Drive, Solar Isle Drive and Isle of Palms Drive or Southeast 25^th Avenue. Lots were priced from $4,000 to $15,000. Every lot offered a waterfront vista, newspaper ads declared.

All 270 lots, according to the Fort Lauderdale Daily News in May 1925, were sold in less than two months. Resales ensued. One real estate speculator advertised a cash offer for three lots in Riviera Isles.

With $1.4 million in total sales of those lots, work began on dredging. They pumped two feet of sand onto the Riviera finger islands to raise each to the level Idlewyld sat—five feet above the high tide mark. They then installed roads, lighting and other infrastructure.

Perhaps the most interesting chapter in the Riviera Isles story was the one about Hotel Riviera or Riviera Hotel. With an estimated cost of $500,000, the 200-room guest accommodation was to be constructed in the Dalmatian style of architecture with small bricks and dome-like roofs featured in Romanesque churches. The ornate structure would face Las Olas Boulevard and its Sunset Lake. The hotel was expected to open October 1, 1926.  

What wasn’t expected was the Great Hurricane of September 1926. Stilwell and his company tried to regain financial footing in the months and few years that followed. Hotel plans never reached fruition. Properties throughout town were auctioned off to pay taxes during the late 1920s and into the 1930s. The real estate boom went bust.

By the 1940s a few Riviera Isles houses built in the slow years sold for $21,000 to about $40,000. A building and development boom followed in the 1950s with very little slowdown since.

Houses today in this exclusive area (most all the Las Olas isles) run as high as $20,000,000, or more. Let’s hope these land-filled islands with their beautiful homes survive a Cat 5 hurricane; some predict they won’t.  

Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Hortt, M.A., Gold Coast Pioneer. New York: Exposition Press, 1955.

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, March 19, 1925

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, May 20, 1925

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, June 2, 1925

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Aug. 12, 1925

For Lauderdale Daily News, Oct. 31, 1925

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Nov. 21, 1925

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Feb. 23, 1927

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, April 20, 1928

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, June 25, 1930

Tags: Fort Lauderdale in the 1920s, Las Olas Boulevard, Las Olas isles, Riviera Isles, Fort Lauderdale communities