Davie, Florida, Cowboy Town and the Panama Canal Zone

 

Rodeo in Davie 1991
State of Florida Archives

By Jane Feehan

Many associate the Broward County town of Davie with its Western vibe of cowboys, horses and rodeos. But, as with several early South Florida settlements, farming was its foundation.

Developers and politicians of the first few years of the 20th century touted the possibilities of draining the Everglades for settlement and farming. Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward (served 1905-1909) ran on a platform that included draining the Everglades. *  In 1909, he called for the sale of 100,000 acres to finance such a project.  

Land sale prospects attracted real estate enthusiasts. Some say salespeople enticed American workers in the Panama Canal Zone to buy Everglades property. Panama and South Florida, after all, were similar in climate and topography. The Canal was not completed until 1914, but some workers bought land unseen and made the move to Florida in 1909-10.

One of the companies to facilitate sales was the Everglades Land Sale Company, established by Robert Parsell Davie in 1909 who purchased about 28,000 acres. Davie, a native of Flushing, Michigan, was a successful entrepreneur. He had opened a drug store in Colorado Springs, financed and was a stockholder in beet sugar factories and irrigation projects in Colorado, Kansas, and Arizona and was involved in California real estate.

Davie was impressed by the tall sugar cane he saw growing along a canal to Lake Okeechobee on an early visit. His experience in sugar production and particularly irrigation—"a hobby of mine for several years”—would be applied to Florida efforts.

Farmers in the new settlement they called Zona (a reference to Panama) were also impressed. They grew strawberries, tomatoes and peppers in the rich dark and mucky soil of the Everglades. Davie had created the Davie Farm by 1912 and constructed a $1,700 packing house for fruit and vegetable shipping December 1913 or early 1914. At that time, the town was accessible only by boat. In 1914 an announcement for creation of the Davie Farm Drainage District was published.

It was also the year Davie donated land for a school for the growing community of a few hundred. The Davie School was designed by August Geiger who also designed Fort Lauderdale High School. It still stands as part of the town’s historic district.

The name of the new settlement had to go, however, on “account of mail trouble arising from the similarity of the names Zona and Ozona” in Pinellas County. The U.S Assistant Postmaster granted their request to change the name to Davie Nov. 1, 1913. The name was changed in early 1914 to Davie in honor of the man who invested much to reclaim the Everglades, donated land for the school, and established Davie Farm and its drainage district. (Dreams of draining the Everglades faded with the 1926 and 1928 hurricanes.)

The Town of Davie was incorporated in 1925 when there were 440 residents. Frank Stirling was tapped as first mayor. A horticulturalist at the University of Florida for more than a decade and leader in the fight against citrus canker, Stirling moved to Davie because “it was far enough south for a tropical and subtropical climate and the soil was some of the best in the world.” He owned Stirling and Sons Nursery and helped establish Flamingo Growers and Gardens, now Flamingo Gardens.

In 2021, the Town of Davie was home to about 104,882 residents. The U.S. Census counted 110,000 residents in 2020.

An obituary for Robert P. Davie, born in 1867 is not available. Published accounts say he died around 1930. His wife, Martha Hays Davie died in Los Angeles County in 1949 and was then referred to as the widow of Robert Parsell Davie. With so many interests around the country he probably didn’t reside for long in the Florida town named for him, especially when draining proved to be unfeasible.

About those cowboys and rodeos

The first rodeo in Davie (Cowboy Town) was held in 1940 by Claude Tindall, a cattle rancher referred to as the “father of Florida rodeo.” A Davie resident, Tindall used his own livestock and gathered a “collection of local cowhands” for the inaugural event. Spectators sat in cars around a fenced area. Afterward, Tindall passed a hat for the production; he collected $140 that day. Tindall went on to hold two rodeos a year in Davie at the Bergeron Rodeo Arena as well as events in West Palm Beach and at Miami’s Orange Bowl. Today, rodeos are produced by the Weekley Bros. Davie Pro Rodeo at 4271 Davie Road (954-680-8005). A Western parade is held as part of the Orange Blossom Festival. Bergeron Arena at 4201 Rodeo Way holds a number of events other than rodeos for the Town of Davie.

Cowboys remain along with horses but there are far fewer farms. Developers now go where angels fear to tread.  

*Note: Hamilton Disston sponsored the first Everglades drainage project in 1881. For more, see index.

For more on Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, see index or do a search on this blog.

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

The Miami News, Feb. 7, 1912

The Miami News, Feb. 11, 1913

The Miami News, Feb. 14, 1913

The Miami News, Oct. 14, 1913

The Miami News, Dec. 19, 1913

The Miami News, Jan. 16, 1914

The Miami News, Jan. 19, 1914

The Miami News, May 23, 1914

The Miami News, Nov. 29, 1915

The Miami News, July 18, 1916

The Miami Herald, April 10, 1926

The Miami Herald, Feb. 21, 1954

The Miami Herald, July 8, 1979

Fort Lauderdale Magazine, March 1, 2017

Daily Independent, Dec. 23, 2022

Ancestry.com

Town of Davie

Davie ProRodeo

Wikipedia

Tags: Broward County history, Davie, Robert Parsell Davie, Cowboy Town, Davie History, Frank Stirling, Davie, Florida, Flamingo Gardens

Florida's second most populous county by the numbers: Broward in 1980 and 2020s

 

Aerial view of Pompano Beach 1980
State Archives of Florida

Broward County accounts for 8.8 percent of Florida’s population (2022). It is the second most populous in the Sunshine State.

Comparison of Broward County demographics in 1980 and 2022 reveals how the county has changed. Some statistics parallel those of the nation, of course, but most spotlight the area’s singular growth. Categories changed over the years, making contrasts of some statistics impossible. But recent numbers reflect the current picture if not changes.

In 1980, people were drawn to the area for its weather. The biggest problems in Broward County then were thought to be traffic congestion and high crime. In 2022, the weather remains a big pull factor, though traffic is worse than ever. Today, push factors such as high taxes and rampant crime in home states loom large as motivation to leave for the greener pastures and white beaches in Florida.

1980

Broward County Population  

Total: 1.018 million

50% lived in the county less than seven years

36% moved here from the New York City metropolitan area

54% female

90% white

Average age 39.3 years of age (30% over 60 years in age; 27% 20 years or less)

Politics: 28% identify as liberal

Education: 46% have some college

Income

60% of households earned more than $15,000/year

11% of household earned $35,000 or over a year

10% earned less than $4,000 a year

Housing

Median price of a single-family house: $62,884

 59% lived in single family homes

18% lived in condominiums

13% lived in rental apartments

10% lived in mobile homes or boats

Religion

43% Protestant

32% Catholic

15% Jewish

Fort Lauderdale 2022

2020-2023

Note: “Median” refers to the same number of prices or ages or other quantifiers above and below.

Broward County Population  

Total:  1.944 million

34.2% White (non-Hispanic)

27.6 % Black

30.9% Hispanic

7.3% other

Ages

Median age in 2020: 40.5 (not necessarily the same as average age)

Under 5 years – 5.7%

5-17 – 15.6%

18-34 – 20.9%

35-64 41.2%

65-74 - 9.5%

75+ 7.1%

Largest cities and population

Fort Lauderdale: 189,019

Pembroke Pines: 171,309

Hollywood: 154,909

29.8% live alone

Residents by birth - 2022

Other from throughout United States: 578,268 or 29.9%

Florida born: 682,587 or 35%

Foreign born: 673,696 or 34.8%

Income and jobs - 2022

Median household income: $64,522

Median family income: $77,610

Top job sectors by industry sector

1. Retail

2. Healthcare and social assistance

3. Accommodations and food service

Housing

Median price of a single-family home: $91,800 in 2021

Median sales price of a single-family home April 2023: $398,999 (Rockethomes.com) The county reports $540,000

Education 2022

College – some and up to advanced degree: 63.1% as reported by Broward County (this stat may include broader age group than that below)

U.S. Census reports 34.3% for those over 25 have some college

Religion - primarily Protestant

Politics - 48.85 registered as Democrats

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 13, 1980

Sun-Sentinel, June 6, 1991

State of Florida

Broward County: 

Rocket Homes: 

U.S. Census 

Tags: Broward County history, Broward County statistcs, Broward County in the 1980s

Seaweed, a frequent Florida visitor (only more of it these days)

Ernie Settembre with
seaweed catch
 1948/State Archives
of Florida

By Jane Feehan

South Florida beachgoers climb over smelly seaweed clumps during summer 

months as they look for a spot to sit. Swimmers may have to maneuver around this annoying plant, a form of algae. Long-time residents know this is a seasonal occurrence. A mix of history with a pinch of science may frame the April 2023 media hype about it (it’s always the worst ever, right?).

Seaweed is called sargassum because it’s usually produced in the Sargasso Sea, a body of water—an area not bordered by any land—within the Atlantic Ocean south of Bermuda to the equator. Sargassum is composed of 50 percent nitrogen, 20 percent phosphorous and a mix of iodine, calcium, magnesium, iron, sodium and other minerals. This algae can support sea urchins (an animal, class Echinoidea), tiny shrimp and other small animals; it can be perilous for larger animals who may get tangled up in its mass. 

The bloom of 2023* may be the largest ever with a 5,000-mile-wide patchwork of clumps (not a blanket). According to Harvard University the last record was set in 2018. The BBC (British Broadcasting) said 2020 set a record. 

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration claimed 2011 was the turning point for the preponderance and rate of growth of these algae blooms because of climate change (sigh). Sargassum or seaweed, a rootless, stemless, leafless mass, has washed up on Florida beaches via high winds and rough seas for thousands of years. Some scientists say today’s rate of growth—a mass can double its size in 10 days—is tied to pollution. Nitrate fertilizers, human waste or sewage and industrial waste run into the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River and into the Atlantic Ocean from the Amazon River, fueling such growth.

Seaweed troubles have claimed SOFLA headlines for decades. In 1953, long-time residents said the nuisance was the worst they had seen in years. “We’re up to our necks in seaweed,” read one news account about the problem in Hollywood. An estimated 1,000 tons had washed ashore. Work gangs in Deerfield Beach cleared the mess up daily one summer. 

The solution, a limited one, was to bury seaweed at the beach but it takes two years to decompose. Newspaper gardening columns promoted the use of seaweed as fertilizer after washing away the salt water, then letting it dry and decompose, a long process. Others claimed it would be a good source of food. It proved not to be – not enough protein.

The city of Fort Lauderdale devised a solution during the late 1950s. The maintenance crew of what's now known as the Public Works Department hooked up a tractor to a hopper. People came from all over to see the seaweed remover. Fort Lauderdale was the “only place in the world with such a machine.” Removal was a tricky process. If the seaweed got too dry, they’d pick up too much sand.

Photos from the Fort Lauderdale News in 1976  showed a seaweed inundation stretching from the water's edge at the beach to State Road A-1-A. Another significant event occurred in 1981. In November that year, extraordinarily high winds and seas during a king tide scooped both sand and seaweed off the beach to the west side of A-1-A near Sunrise Boulevard. The road was impassable for a brief time (yes, a flooding beach road in 1981!).

Seaweed was so bad in 1991 that Florida Power and Light shut down two of its power plants (Crystal River and Vero) after sargassum clogged cooling systems.

Sargassum season runs from about March through October. Meanwhile, I have a call into the city of Fort Lauderdale to find out what machine they now use to clean the beach and where they dump the stuff these days. I may get a faster response from a lifeguard.

*July 4, 2023 Sun-Sentinel update: the super-sized  record breaking field of seaweed bloom has diminished by 75 percent. So is the news about it.

Copyright © 2022, 2023 All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

American Scientist, Vol. 101, No. 6, Nov-Dec 2013

Fort Lauderdale News, June 13, 1953

Fort Lauderdale News, June 14, 1953

Fort Lauderdale News, April 24, 1962

Fort Lauderdale News, June 24, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 1, 1970

Fort Lauderdale News, April 12, 1970

Fort Lauderdale News, April 27, 1970

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 13, 1976

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 15, 1981

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Aug. 15, 1991

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, April 6, 2023

 Tags: Florida seaweed, history of Fort Lauderdale, Broward County history

Broward County School lunches: then, now and WOW

FLHS 2022, a retro look

 

By Jane Feehan

Many at Fort Lauderdale High and other Broward County schools during the 1960s and 70s turned up their noses at cafeteria food. So, students often lunched at nearby burger joints. Menus have changed since then. Below are menu items from 1970 and 1974 followed by choices offered in 2022. 

1970 Lunch Items

Fish squares, tater tots, broccoli

Hot dog on a bun, hamburger on a bun (both steamed)

Egg salad sandwich with kidney bean salad and potato chips

Salisbury steak with rice

Ham and cheese sandwich

Mashed potatoes, buttered carrots, lettuce and tomato salad

Chocolate cake and ice cream

 

1974 Lunch Items

Meat Loaf

Turkey Sandwich

Sloppy Joe

Chicken Chop Suey

Baked Ham

Beef Stew

Peas, tossed salad, cabbage slaw

Applesauce, yellow cake, chocolate pudding

 

2022 Lunch Items

Cherry Blossom Chicken

Vegan Lentil Pasta

Asian Kale Chicken Salad  

Yogurt cup and cheese stick

Brown rice, wheat roll

Steamed edamame

Combo sub

Fresh Zucchini and Yellow Squash Salad

Pepperoni pizza

Pineapple tidbits or fresh fruits

Prices: As far back as I can remember, lunches were 35 cents at FLHS (different prices at some schools). Today, lunches for FLHS high school run $2.50. 

Broward County Schools now provides breakfasts with a choice of eggs, sausage, pancakes, waffles and cereals. Menus for those with allergies or other special needs are available in several languages. For all current choices for all meals, see: https://www.browardschools.com/me . Schools are presented at different tiles at this site. For the Fort Lauderdale High School menu, see: https://schools.mealviewer.com/school/FortLauderdaleHigh. Would high school students still scorn school lunches or prefer to dine off campus?  

Copyright © 2022. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Tags: Broward County School menus, Fort Lauderdale High School cafeteria, Fort Lauderdale history, cafeteria food, Vroward County history

Pearl Harbor spurs Broward County and Fort Lauderdale defenses for WWII

 

Fort Lauderdale Beach 1941
 State of Florida Archives

By Jane Feehan

The focus on Fort Lauderdale and Broward County war relief efforts for England shifted to defense activities after Pearl Harbor. Three weeks after that attack, the Broward County defense council reported the following to the Fort Lauderdale Daily News (Dec. 19, 1941) about its efforts:

• Near completion of the air raid warden system and more than 350 air raid warden identification cards issued to volunteers.
• Broward County defense council advises residents not to be alarmed by sudden power shut downs.
• Warning of practice blackouts with due notice through the press and radio.
• Students in their last semester will be eligible for diplomas to enter the armed service if their work is deemed up to set standards.
• The Broward School Board passes a resolution to pay expenses for architect Clinton Gamble to attend a course on building protection conducted by the University of Florida; Gamble will return to Broward and supervise air precaution work on school buildings.
• The defense council asks all taxi and truck owners in the county to register their vehicles with the council.
• Also all private car owners who want to volunteer use of their autos are urged to register with the council.
• Sheriff Walter Clark conducted a meeting of ex-service men and former police officers to form an auxiliary unit under direction of his office. They will observe and track down illegal activities when paid officers were occupied with other duties.

__________

Copyright © 2018, 2020, 2021. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale in the 1940s, WWII in Broward County, Fort Lauderdale during World War II, film research, Clinton Gamble, Broward County history, History of Fort Lauderdale, architects

Seminoles attend their first school in Broward County despite warnings of "learning how to lie"

Seminole children & teacher,Dania
c. 1930 Florida State Archives

By Jane Feehan

Seminoles did not attend school regularly in Florida until the 1920s. There were a few reasons. One, according to L.A. Spencer, agent for Indian affairs in Florida, was resistence of older Seminoles to learning the ways of the white man. 

"They say that when an Indian learns to read and write, he learns to lie," said Spencer. "The tribe has been adverse to attending school and has shown an animosity toward the white man’s learning because, it is said, they were antagonized by a former missionary some years ago."

Also, federal money was not made available to Seminoles as was to Indian tribes in other states. "They [Seminoles] were classified as 'outlaws,' " Spencer added. They did not all leave Florida as they promised the federal government after taking money to relocate (use search box for Chief Billy Bowlegs).

Nevertheless, some funds came through in the 1920s. A school for Seminoles opened in 1927 in Dania, in south Broward County. The school opened and closed there before land was officially set aside for the Seminoles in 1938 (Hollywood Reservation).

Classes were organized by Lena King of the Creek Indians of Wetunka, OK.  King worked with L.A. Spencer, from  Fort Myers, to bring education to the Seminoles of Florida. Though the teaching group were all of the Creek Nation, they were, explained a news account, related to the Seminoles, "... the Florida group being an offshoot called the 'wanderers,' which is the Indian interpretation for Seminole."

Teachers taught English (few Seminoles spoke it). Young students attended an hour in the mornings and an hour during afternoons. Seminoles were also taught farming and "housework." Adult men attended after 7 pm. to learn English and reading. The school provided classes up to the 8th grade. One student covered two to three grades in each of the first few years he attended but wound up staying three years in the 8th grade; there was no other level.

One group of Seminoles did accept the white man's ways: medicine men. They "retired" in favor of white physicians because 80 percent of Seminole babies, according to a news account, died by age three. After a few years of help from physicians, the Seminole mortality rate was the same as that of the white population.

Copyright © 2021. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Miami News, Jan. 25, 1927

Miami Herald, Nov. 21, 1929

Seminole Tribe

  

Tags: Florida history, Seminole history, Seminole education, Broward County history

Florida shows signs of growth and development in the 1940s

Scenic New River Fort Lauderdale 1948
Florida State Archives

In June 1945, the final official Florida State Census revealed the following about Florida and a few of its counties:

Florida population in 1945 was at 2,247,039, an increase of 349,624 over the 1940 census and  640,196 more than the Census of 1930. (In 1830 there were 34,730 residents in the state.)

Broward population in 1945 reached 50,442 compared to 39,794 in 1940.

The five largest counties, ranked from the top: Dade, Duval, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Polk. Palm Beach County was 119 people short of being ranked ahead of Polk.

South Florida counties gained three House of Representative seats at the expense of North Florida. Those were: Brevard, Lee and Sarasota. Northern counties that lost representation and became one-seat counties were: Madison, Putnam and Suwannee.

The biggest population increases in Florida were in counties where there were military installations and new war industries. Broward's golden decade of growth was five or six years away.

Source:

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, June 11, 1945

U,S. Census

Tags: History of Fort Lauderdale, Florida population in 1940s, Broward County population in the 1940s, Broward Ciunty history, Fort Lauderdale history

Fort Lauderdale's Dooley's Basin and Dry Dock, WWII efforts and Broward Marine

Minesweepers under construction during the 1950s

Fort Lauderdale's Dooley’s Basin and Dry Dock, established in 1937 by Paul Dooley, built nearly 100 ships for the armed forces in World War II: two 110-foot sub chasers, 48 harbor patrol boats and 45 sea-air rescue craft. It was one of 21 shipyards across the nation approved for such construction.

Broward Marine was established in 1948 by Frank Denison when he bought Dooley's Basin and Dry Dock. During the 1950s, about 10 minesweepers (see photo) were constructed at the company for the U.S. and Dutch navies. Ross Petrie was Broward Marine's naval architect. 

Ownership has changed a few times for the shipyard located along the New River, east of I-95. It is now the site of Lauderdale Marine Center, the largest boat repair facility in the country. See: http://www.lauderdalemarinecenter.com/ft-lauderdale-marina.html.

For a list of boats/ships built at Broward Marine, see:

 http://shipbuildinghistory.com

Fort Lauderdale News, May 3, 1940

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 30, 1952

Tags: Broward County history, south Florida shipbuilding history, South Florida employers during the 1940s, 1950s, minesweepers, Fort Lauderdale history

Napoleon Bonaparte Broward and Everglades drainage disappointment

Former Gov. Jennings w Gov. Broward (r)
on Everglades tour 1906, Florida State Archive

By Jane Feehan


Few governors of Florida can claim the notoriety and impact of its 19th governor, Napoleon Bonaparte Broward (1857-1910).

Born in the Jacksonville area, Broward drew national attention for smuggling weapons aboard his steamship, The Three Friends, to aid Cubans in their war for independence from Spain. He ran arms for three years until President McKinley declared war against Spain in 1898.

Broward’s political career included a stint as Duval County Sheriff and one term in the Florida House of Representatives (Democrat) before he became governor.

He ran for governor with a platform that included a plan to drain the Everglades. Thus evolved the notion “Empire of the Everglades,” an idea that reverberated throughout the country, and especially in South Florida. He said canals used for draining could also be used for transportation. “Look at Egypt and the Nile,” he said, or “Look at Holland.” It wasn’t a new idea, but appealed to many with dreams of farming - or land speculation. Broward took office in January, 1905 and served until 1909.

1916 cartoon: disappointment 
Everglades not drained ,
Florida State Archives

Under his administration, the Florida legislature established a Board of Drainage Commissioners to take charge of the Everglades project. To move forward on the plan, they created drainage districts, issued millions of dollars in bonds and levied taxes. Broward also managed to secure federal funds. By the time he left office, many claimed that Broward had drained the Everglades, when in fact, he had just begun.

The drainage project spawned a Fort Lauderdale land boom in 1910, but by the 1920s, its feasibility was in doubt. During the 1928 hurricane, a muck dyke at Lake Okeechobee, part of the drainage plan, broke; more than 2,000 died.

Everglades champion Marjorie Stoneman Douglas denounced the drainage project in her book, The Everglades: River of Grass. She claimed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, while building the muck dyke, failed to note rivers that used to flow naturally from Lake Okeechobee, some “100 feet wide and 10 or more feet deep” that drained the lake for a mile or two. Broward’s project, she wrote, left a legacy of damage, destroying wild life, natural habitats, and covering Indian burial mounds.

Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, nevertheless, captured the imagination of those who helped transform Florida into today’s reality. Broward County was established in 1915; the use of his name was an affirmation of his vision for the area. Copyright © 2011. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

For the first attempt to drain the Everglades in 1881, see: https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2020/09/hamilton-disston-and-early-attempt-to.html
______________
Sources:
Douglas, Marjorie Stoneman. The Everglades: River of Grass. Miami: Banyan Books, 1978.
Weidling, Philip, and Burghard, August. Checkered Sunshine. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1966
www.broward.org
www.Wikipedia.org

Courtesy Broward County Commission

Tags: Florida history, Everglades drainage, Broward County history, Everglades history, Fort Lauderdale history, Florida Everglades, Florida in the early 1900s

Murf the Surf: Jewel thief, murderer and violin prodigy

Star of India

Picture taken by Daniel Torres, Jr. January 14, 2007,        

                           via Wikimedia Commons

By Jane Feehan

Florida crime headlines of the 1960s were dominated by the capers of Jack “Murf* the Surf” Murphy. Born in 1938, prodigy violinist, surfing champ and stuntman Murphy was convicted of a New York jewel heist and later, the murder of one of two women found bludgeoned to death in Broward County’s Whiskey Creek waterway.

Murphy, along with robbery mastermind Allan Kuhn, and Roger Clark were nabbed a few days after their 1964 theft of the 563-carot Star of India, the Midnight Sapphire, the de Long Ruby and about 20 other gems from New York's American Museum of Natural History. Poor security was faulted. The trio left their fingerprints all over a window and display case, leading to their arrest.

A few months later, an anonymous tip led police to the uninsured Star of India sapphire at a Trailways Bus station locker in Miami. The de Long Ruby was recovered in September 1965 in a phone booth near the Palm Beach Gardens exit off the turnpike. Businessman and philanthropist John D. MacArthur paid a $25,000 ransom for the historic jewel “as a public service.”

Murphy and Kuhn, who were living at Brickell Town House in Miami at the time of the heist, were sentenced to three years. They were released two and a half years later for good behavior.  Murph’s good behavior did not extend past his release.

On Dec. 8, 1967 the bludgeoned bodies of two women, Terry Rae Frank, 24 and Annelie Mohn, 21 were found in Whiskey Creek, south of Port Everglades. The California secretaries were involved in a securities scam; prosecutors suggested Murphy and accomplices did not want to share proceeds with the women. The glamorous playboy was convicted in 1968 and sentenced to life for the crime.

Murphy’s story, which includes dropped charges for pistol whipping actress Eva Gabor at Miami’s Racquet Club, was brought to the silver screen in the 1975 movie, Murph the Surf, co-written by crime partner Allan Kuhn. It starred Robert Conrad and Donna Mills and was filmed in Miami. But Murphy’s story was not over. He found religion, became an ordained minister and was released on parole in 1986. In 2000 his parole was terminated. 

Murphy died in September, 2020. He had lived in coastal central Florida (forbidden to return to Dade and Broward counties) with his family. Jack Roland Murphy worked with a prison ministry around the world and wrote  Jewels for the Journey. 

* or Murph the Surf

 Copyright © 2012, 2020 All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

Miami News, Jan. 8, 1965

Miami News, Sept. 3, 1965

Miami News, Sept. 1, 1967

Miami News, Oct. 23, 1986

                                          

Tags: Florida crime history, Jack Murph the Surf Murphy, Jack Roland Murphy, Whiskey Creek murders, film industry researcher, Florida film research,  historical researcher

Broward County's Female Firsts

By Jane Feehan

Broward County can boast about a few female firsts. Below are several of these "first women" who made significant contributions to our local history. Lifespan dates are included when found. Also, some milestone dates vary in different sources but do not impact the significance of their contributions.

Eva Oliver or Mrs. Frank Oliver (1883-1964) – Eva Bryan and Frank Oliver were married in 1902, making theirs, according to some news accounts, the first wedding in the settlement of Fort Lauderdale. They stood in a rowboat while Capt. William Valentine read vows from the bank of the New River. A number of firsts can be attributed to her: first woman to drive a car in Fort Lauderdale; among the first to be baptized in the New River. A suffragette, Eva was active in town civic activities. She was the first president of the Woman’s Civic Improvement Society, the predecessor to the Woman’s Club of Fort Lauderdale.

Eula Gandy Johnson (1906-2001) - The first woman president of the Fort Lauderdale NAACP (1959-1967), this Georgia native moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1935. She owned a grocery store and two gas stations on Sistrunk Boulevard. Johnson was known for her fight to defeat Jim Crow laws, including those that kept Fort Lauderdale beaches segregated. Johnson, along with Dr. Von D. Mizell supported the first of 200 swim-ins the summer of 1961 that led to equal access by Blacks to the city's beaches.

Margaret Linardy (1903-1986) – First female mayor in Florida. She was elected mayor of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea in 1947 when the town was incorporated for the second time (the first time was in 1933). She served one term.

Easter Lily (or Lilly) Gates  (1889-1985) - The first female school bus driver in Broward County. Her husband died shortly after the 1926 hurricane; Gates took up bus driving to support her family. A hat maker by trade (and later known for appearing in many of her over-the-top-millinery creations), Gates was elected Broward County Supervisor of Voting Registration in 1928 (some say 1929), making her the first woman elected to office in Broward County. She was tapped the first female president of the State Supervisors of Elections in 1938. While serving Broward County, Ms. Gates registered the first Black and Seminole Indian voters. She held office for 40 years.

Katherine Rawls (1917-1982) – First woman to win four national swimming championships at a single meet (1932); winner of 33 national diving and swimming titles. Katy  brought home bronze and silver medals from the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. In 1937, the Associated Press named Rawls the “Number One Athlete of the Year” among female competitors. Rawls was the first person, the first woman, to be inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in 1965. (See index for more on Rawls)

Bette Mae Tiger Jumper (1923-2011) also known as "Potackee," was the first and only woman  elected to chair of the Seminole Tribe of Florida (1967). A woman of several firsts, Jumper was the first Seminole to earn a high school diploma. She was also the Tribe's first Health Director. She was one of two women appointed by President Richard Nixon to the National Congress of Indian Opportunity.

Lillian M. Smith – the first woman tax collector in Florida, this Fort Lauderdale resident was tapped as Broward County Tax Collector in 1925. She replaced Mr. W.O. Berryhill who resigned because of his health. It was also said he wanted to work in the real estate business, a booming sector that year.

Alice Guy Blaché (1873- 1968) – Though not from Fort Lauderdale, this French-born filmmaker was one of the first women to write, direct and produce a film. She brought a crew from her New Jersey studio to Fort Lauderdale in 1917 to make Spring of the Year. Blaché chose the city for its tropical, swampy environment. She is also considered by some to be the first in the industry to develop narrative films. For more, use search box.

Louise Virginia Kirk – A Hollywood resident, she was the first woman inmate of the newly constructed jail cells for women in Hallandale. She was arrested Feb. 6, 1960 for an alleged traffic violation that escalated to disorderly conduct. Ms. Kirk looked at the bright side of her incarceration, however, and claimed she’d as soon stay in jail than face house cleaning the next day. No doubt she  prefigured the women’s movement of the following decade ...  😊

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 16, 1925

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 13, 1928

Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 8, 1937

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 30, 1950

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 6, 1960

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 22, 1978

https://flwomenshalloffame.org/

SoFla Times

Roots web genealogy

Broward.org

Tags: Female firsts of Broward County, Fort Lauderdale history, Broward County history, women's history, African American History, Seminole history

Fort Lauderdale boom brings first bank heist, second in Broward County

By Jane Feehan

John Ashley, far right,
entering prison 

Fort Lauderdale’s boom era of the 1950s brought development, population growth, tourism—and the city’s first bank robbery.

Police records of the day report a robbery of the People’s Industrial Bank at 7 East Broward Boulevard, Oct. 10, 1952. Two robbers tied up several bank employees and made away with $9,028. A third participant drove the stolen getaway car, which was later found abandoned in the “Gateway section.”    

The trio continued their crime spree, which included a murder and other bank heists, one in Alabama for more than $30,000. Eventually, they were picked up by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. But Lurton Lewis Heflin, Jr., Albert Sidney Denton and Samuel Jay Hornbeck were not brought to trial for the Fort Lauderdale robbery. Instead, they served lengthy sentences for a murder committed before the South Florida caper, their first bank robbery, and another murder after.

The first bank robbery in Broward County occurred decades earlier, a crime committed by the notorious Ashley gang in 1923 or 1924. Leaving their base camp in the Everglades near Fort Lauderdale, they summoned a cab for the job. They robbed the Bank of Pompano of a reported $23,000. The driver of the cab was then tied to a tree and given a bullet and message for Sheriff R.B. Baker to find them. Some accounts say the sheriff found them in the Everglades, shot and killed four. With activities of the gang cloaked in myth and hyperbole, accounts differ.

What is certain: John Ashley escaped the sheriff that day. But he and several gang members were killed in a shootout Nov. 1, 1924 at the Sebastian Bridge, about 25 miles north of Fort Pierce. Law enforcement had had enough of their South Florida antics.

Copyright © 2018. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Douglas, Marjory Stoneman. Everglades: River of Grass. Miami: Banyan Books (1978)

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 11, 1959

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 27, 1978

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 22, 1984



Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale crime, Fort Lauderdale in the 1920s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, 

Prohibition arrests leave Broward, Fort Lauderdale high and dry without local law enforcement

Man raising his glass in a toast. 19--.
 State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.

By Jane Feehan

Liquor flowed to and from South Florida during Prohibition (1920-1933) and according to Jacksonville-based Federal Prohibition Administrator P.F. Hambsch, many across the nation knew about it.

In 1926 Hambsch decided to clean up that reputation.

In April that year, he wrote to Broward Sheriff Paul C. Bryan outlining the problem and asked for monthly reports on arrests of bootleggers and seizures to refute the widely-held notion that little was being done to enforce the law. According to Broward County Sheriff historian, William P. Cahill, Bryan said he “was ready to cooperate.”

Cooperation included Bryan’s invitation to send agents so he could get to know them. Unbeknown to Bryan, two agents were sent to work undercover as bootleggers for three months, gathering evidence for arrests. They paid $750 to the sheriff and his men in weekly installments of $5-$15.  

With protection payments, bootleggers enjoyed full police protection to make and then distribute booze to Miami, Palm Beach and other east coast resorts. There was evidence a few bootlegging rings were financed by some wealthy and respected citizens of Broward County and Fort Lauderdale. (And so evolved the moniker, Fort Liquordale).

In January 1927, raids were conducted by 18 agents, and a few Coast Guardsmen and customs inspectors, resulting in 41 (some say 32) arrests, including Sheriff Bryan, Broward County’s second sheriff, all six of his deputies, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Bert Croft and eight patrolmen. The raiders seized eight large stills, 10,000 gallons of mash, 300 gallons of moonshine and a quantity of bottled beer.

The arrested lawmen were brought to the Coast Guard Station (near today’s Bahia Mar). They were heavily armed but their weapons were confiscated. Bail was set at $5,000 for Bryan and Croft; for the others, $2,000. The arrests left Broward County and Fort Lauderdale without local law enforcement, but according to Cahill, Bryan served out his term until 1929.The Broward Sheriff’s website states he served until 1927.

Paul Bryan, son of Louis H. and Elizabeth Bryan, was born in Volusia County in 1891 and came with his family to Fort Lauderdale in 1900. His father helped lay out the town of Fort Lauderdale. After Paul left the Sheriff’s Office, he helped run the Dania café owned by his wife, Maude Henson Bryan. Bryan died in 1942; his wife died in 1988 at age 90. Local history is framed (and here, peppered) by Bryan family civic contributions.

Sources:

The New York Times, Jan. 28, 1927

William P. Cahill, Broward Legacy, Vol. 24, No. 2 (2004)

www.sheriff.org

Roots Web



Tags: Prohibition, Broward County, Florida, Jane Feehan, Fort Lauderdale history

Dooley's coffin nails - building ships for WWII in Broward County

Fort Lauderdale beach today

By Jane Feehan

Thousands of military trained in South Florida in preparation for World War II, but training was only one aspect of Broward County’s contribution to the war effort. On Labor Day, Sept. 7, 1942 Dooley’s Basin and Dry Dock (later Broward Marine) launched three war craft, the largest mass launching of such vessels in Florida at the time. 

A 110-foot sub chaser (P-710) and two 104-foot rescue craft (P-150) slid into the New River in Dania. The sub chaser was to be outfitted with guns and armaments and the rescue boats with hospital facilities before deployment.

The boats were christened with bottles of wine by an employee and the wives of two other employees—one of whom had four sons serving in the war. In accord with the federal War Production Board's wishes, there was no other observance of Labor Day. It was back to work for the company’s 300 plus employees.

The company’s president, Paul Dooley, said the vessels were another nail in the coffin of the enemy; he hoped there would be many more. By war’s end another sub chaser and 95 other rescue boats were produced by Dooley’s shipyard. The nation built 124,000 ships of all types during World War II. (America’s ramped-up production of military weapons and aircraft during World War II was remarkable. According to historian Stephen E. Ambrose, the U.S. produced 800 military airplanes in 1939. By 1942, it was producing 4,000 a month; at the end of 1943, the monthly count was up to 8,000.)

Dooley’s Basin and Dry Dock was recognized by the American Legion for its hiring of vets after the war. However, business did not fare well for long. Military contracts came to an end and Dooley’s government contract for pre-fabricated houses fell through in 1945. More than half its employees were laid off. The company was purchased in 1948 by Frank Denison and was then known as Broward Marine, once the county’s largest employer. Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

Miami News, Sept. 7, 1942

Miami News, Feb. 13, 1945

Miami News, Sept. 19,1945

Ambrose, Stephen E. D-Day June 6, 1945. New York: Simon & Schuster (1994)

www.nationalww2museum.org

https://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/

Tags: Broward County history, Broward County in World War II, Broward County shipbuilding in WWII, Broward County in the 1940s, Fort Lauderdale historian, Miami historian

Broward County reaches milestone in 1966

Broward County reached a milestone in 1966. By the end of March that year, 500,000 people claimed the county as permanent residence. The headcount rose at an estimated rate of 90 people a day: 20 being born, 12 dying and roughly 80-85 moving to the area each day.   That rate began in 1964 and continued through 1966.

The 1966 population number doesn’t seem impressive when compared to that of 2021 which points to an estimated 1.9 million in Broward. In contrast, the 1950 population was counted at 83,933 persons; in 1960 the U.S. Census recorded 333,946. The rate slowed during the next decade; in 1970 the U.S. Census tallied 620,000 residents.

Broward County, established in 1915, is comprised of 30 municipalities within 1,196.9 square miles, including about 787 square miles (65 percent) of conservation area. (Little wonder that land values continue to soar.) The county’s boundaries, which extend 50 miles west and stretch 25 miles north to south, include 23 miles of sandy white beaches and 126 miles of navigable canals.Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, March 16, 1966

U.S. Census

Broward.org

Tags: Broward County history, Broward population, Fort Lauderdale historian, Miami historian

Broward County's Black-White teacher exchange and desegregation

By Jane Feehan

Though public schools in the U.S. were ordered to desegregate in 1954 (Brown v. Board of Education), they remained segregated for decades in schools across the nation and in Broward County, Florida.

When Broward County announced its Black-White teacher exchange program was a success in March 1966, it made news.

The pilot exchange program was conducted for a week, with no major problems, reported William Drainer, Broward County elementary education supervisor. 

White teachers were sent to teach Black students, Black teachers taught in White schools. Sixteen elementary schools participated in the program.  Teachers, parents, and students favorably evaluated the exchange afterward, leading to plans for a second exchange weeks later at 16 different schools.

“A good teacher is a good teacher no matter where he teaches,” said Drainer. A teacher is a teacher.

Apparently the program did little to abate resistance to desegregation by parents and some county politicians. In August of 1966, Broward County did not (at first) sign federal guidelines for desegregation, jeopardizing $4.5 million in federal funds. A confrontation among different stakeholders brought the county back to the drawing board.

By 1970 there were four public school systems in the South that refused to bus students to desegregate: Dade and Broward counties in Florida and two counties in North Carolina. 

Miami-based attorney Ellis Rubin, on behalf of United Stand for America, Inc., filed a petition against busing in the court. The group, which was also headed by Rubin, contended that a recently adopted state law prohibited expenditures of state or county funds for desegregation purposes. 

Based on that reasoning, a judge granted a temporary injunction to prevent busing. Eventually, Broward County received a $1.7 million federal grant to help pay for the school buses but lost that temporarily for noncompliance to federal requirements.

William Drainer, acting superintendent of Broward Schools in 1970, fully endorsed the transfer of 500 teachers and 3,000 students. Though his pilot program four years prior underscored a teacher was a teacher, it did not take into account politicians. 

The busing controversy was not resolved until the early 1970s. Today, many desegregated schools in Broward and Miami-Dade are once again minority schools.

Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, March 17, 1966

Palm Beach Post, Jul 16, 1966

Palm Beach Post, Jul 23, 1966

St. Petersburg Times, Jul 24, 1966

Daytona Beach Morning Journal, Dec. 22, 1969

Palm Beach Post, Aug. 26, 1970

 Tags: African American history, Broward County history,  Broward County in the 1960s, Broward County in the 1970s,