Interesting facts about Fort Lauderdale during the 1980s

Fort Lauderdale 1983 Florida State Archives

Below is a small collection of Fort Lauderdale-specific news items of the 1980s. Some may jog a memory or two or evoke surprise about that decade—one of change for this beachside city.

Merchants along Fort Lauderdale’s “strip” off A1A near Las Olas Boulevard consider the “troubled area” 80 percent better than during the last few years of high crime. Two additional police officers were recently assigned to this popular spot across from the beach. 1980

Mayor E. Clay Shaw sponsors an ordinance to permit high-density hotels for two blocks at A1A near Las Olas to “prevent further deterioration of the beach area.” Merchants express new fear of being pushed out. 1980

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers draw 18,223 for a soccer game aired on ABC-TV June 8, 1980. They played the Tampa Rowdies.

Controversial ophthalmologist Dr. Frederick Blanton loses appeal and is sentenced to five years in federal prison for dispensing Quaaludes to patients. He first gained attention during the 1970s for prescribing marijuana for patients with glaucoma. He was also accused of assault of a police officer after allegedly pointing a gun at a cop. Before sentencing he says he prefers a one-way ticket to Russia rather than go to jail. 1983

Fire destroys one of Fort Lauderdale’s oldest buildings, the Ship Apartments at 303 N. New River Drive West. Built in 1905 by Fort Lauderdale pioneer Philemon Bryan for his son, Reed Bryan in 1905, the 75-year-old building, next to the New River Inn, is vacant when the fire occurs. 1980

A six-month federal investigation reveals mob ties to Heaven nightclub at 3937 North Federal Highway. Activities involving New Jersey mobster Anthony Acceturro of the Lucchese crime family are cited in a report submitted in 1983

Beach residents rally to complain about Spring Break patrons of Penrod's relieving themselves behind the popular nightspot. 1983

Sunday Brunch at the Galt Ocean Mile Hotel advertised for $6.95. 1983

The first person is arrested under a controversial anti-vagrancy law making it illegal to rummage through other people’s garbage. The violator was arrested for allegedly rummaging at an apartment building at SE 4th Avenue and 23rd Street. 1984

The inaugural Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival is approved by the city and held in late 1986. Realtor Patty Lombard serves as first president of the festival.

New York businessman Donald Trump’s $29 million, 282-foot yacht Trump Princess will berth at the Best Western Motel off the 17th Street Causeway until March that year (1988).

Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi begins service between Commercial Boulevard and Port Everglades October of 1988. Bekoff Yachting Service launches its Canal Cabs the same month. Rides on both are $2.50-$5.00

Population of Fort Lauderdale in 1989 - about 148,500

Fort Lauderdale restaurants open for late-night eats after night clubbing in 1989 (does not include chain restaurants):

Bahia Cabana

Bootleggers

Boat House Bar and Grill

North Ridge Raw Bar and Restaurant

At’s a Pizza

Peter Pan Diner and

Joseph’s Restaurant and Lounge

Bahia Cabana circa 1996 Florida State Archives

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News:

Jan. 6, 1980

Oct 23, 1980

Jan. 9, 1980

March 30, 1983

April 3, 1983

April 17, 1983

June 4, 1983

Oct. 11, 1984

South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

May 29, 1986

Oct. 8, 1988

Dec. 30,1988

Dec. 30, 1989

Biggest US Cities

Tags: Fort Lauderdale during the 1980s, Fort Lauderdale History. history of Fort Lauderdale, Trump, Water Taxi, Penrod's, population of Fort Lauderdale

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 in the 1950s - only 37,000 residents ... and today?

 

Fort Lauderdale 1955
 Florida State Archives/Florida Memory

By Jane Feehan


In the 1950s*, gasoline was 24 cents a gallon, Thanksgiving dinner was $3 at Fort Lauderdale’s Governors Club Hotel and there were only three high schools in Broward County. 

Five commissioners governed the county and its first elected representative, Dwight Rogers Sr., went to Washington. Florida’s turnpike was built, and Broward expanded west with the founding of Pembroke Pines, Plantation and six other municipalities. In 1950, Broward had only 83,000 residents while Fort Lauderdale was home to 37,000. By the end of the decade, Florida’s population grew by nearly 79 percent.

Fast forward to the 21st century and the picture is quite different.

Broward County is now the second largest in the state with a population of nearly two million in 2020 (up from 1.7 million in 2011). It’s run by nine commissioners, with districts spanning 31 municipalities and 25 unincorporated areas. The county’s school district, the sixth largest in the U.S and the only fully accredited public school district in the nation, now includes 33 high schools. Fort Lauderdale, Broward’s largest city, has a population of about 183,000 -- up from 165,521 in 2011.

Fort Lauderdale Beach 1955
Florida State Archive

*For more on Florida population of the 1950s, see:

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2020/07/floridas-population-explosion-in-1950s.html


Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan
Sources:
The Fabulous ‘50s by Jane Feehan, Sun-Sentinel (www.sun-sentinel.com), Aug. 21, 2002.
www.broward.org
www.browardschools.com
www.wikipedia.com

Tags: Broward County history, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s , Fort Lauderdale in the 50s, Fort Lauderdale history

Florida's population explosion in the 1950s; Fort Lauderdale leads

Fort Lauderdale Beach circa 1960 
Florida State Archives/Erickson

By Jane Feehan

A special census was taken* in the mid-1950s in Florida. The trend upward from the official US Census of 1950 was remarkable.

Four cities in the state joined the over-50,000 population rankings with Fort Lauderdale leading the way with the biggest increase:

• Fort Lauderdale soared from the 1950 Census of 36,328 to 62,906 persons in the mid-50s.
• Miami Beach from 46,282 persons in 1950 to a mid-decade count of 50,981.
• West Palm Beach jumped to 51,015 from 43,162 persons in 1950.
• Pensacola among the four growth cities, tallied 50,954 mid-decade; 43,479 in 1950.

And ...

• Broward County nearly doubled its population in five years – from 83,933 in 1950 to 159,052 persons by the mid-1950s.
• Dade County also climbed significantly from 495,084 to 703,777 in about five years

By 1960, the population increases in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties accounted for approximately 50 percent of the entire state’s growth.

In 2021, Fort Lauderdale's population was reported at about 182,000 residents. No doubt, 2022 will reflect another substantial increase due to different reasons from those of the 1950s: rising crime and higher taxes in other states.

 ---------------

*Locally-financed special counts were taken to qualify for additional revenues.

For more information on population, see: index for Florida in the 1950s

Sources:

Miami News, Oct. 11, 1957

Palm Beach Post, Nov. 19, 1961

Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale population in the 1950s, South Florida population growth in the 1950s, film researcher, history of Fort Lauderdale