Antioch College, Hugh Birch and Fort Lauderdale

 By Jane Feehan

Hugh T Birch circa 1920
Florida State Archives

Fort Lauderdale residents and visitors are familiar with the name Hugh T. Birch because of the Hugh T. Birch State Park along A1A near Sunrise Boulevard. A Fort Lauderdale pioneer, Birch (1848-1943) bought three miles of property at the turn of the 20th- century between the Intracoastal and ocean for $500. Those who know Birch State Park probably drive on nearby Antioch or Orton avenues without realizing they are also connected to the Birch legacy.

In the early 1940s, just before his death at 94, Birch bequeathed 180 acres to the state for the park, 35 acres to his daughter and the rest – the bulk of his estate - to Antioch College in Ohio. He didn’t graduate from Antioch but he attended the liberal arts college and played baseball there for three years until 1869.

Birch bought property in honor of his daughter near this school founded by American educator Horace Mann and built a mansion on the spot in 1931; he referred to it as Glen Helen (now Birch Manor). He spent summers at the glen and winters in Fort Lauderdale.

According to Algo Henderson, president of Antioch College from 1936-1948, Birch’s gift turned into “a Cinderella kind of venture.” The school developed and sold bequeathed property in Fort Lauderdale for considerable profit. They named some streets after former Antioch presidents (Orton Avenue for Edward Orton, president 1872-73) and distinguished graduates. Street names have changed over the years, but Antioch and Orton avenues and Birch Road remain. Antioch also donated a piece of the beach to the City of Fort Lauderdale.

But, just as in the Cinderella fairy tale, there were dark moments in the relationship between the college and beach town. Antioch filed a lawsuit in 1987 to gain ownership of the Hugh T. Birch State Park (then valued at a half billion dollars). They argued the park had fallen into neglect. Antioch College lost the suit in 1993.

A few interesting notes about Antioch College, founded in 1853: It was the first college in the United States to admit women to the same curriculum as offered to men and it was among the first to accept African American students. Horace Mann’s call to students to “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity,” remains the foundation of the school’s mission. 

Copyright © 2013. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:
Miami News (Dec. 23, 1945):
New York Times, Nov. 15, 1987
Antioch College




Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Hugh T Birch, Antioch College

Hugh T. Birch and the property he didn't donate to Fort Lauderdale

Birch State Park from the Intracoastal

By Jane Feehan   

Hugh Taylor Birch (1848-1943), a Chicago attorney and former counsel for Standard Oil, was sailing a small boat from Hobe Sound in the 1890s when a storm drove him near Fort Lauderdale's harbor.  Rescued, he was brought to Stranahan’s camp along the New River. Boat mishap aside, there was something about Fort Lauderdale that brought Birch back to buy property – more than three miles of it - along the ocean.

Aerial view of Birch property1928
Florida State Archives

At that time, most early settlers looked toward the Everglades for opportunity. But Birch made the $500 purchase ($1 dollar per acre) because it was where he wanted to live a few months each year. Some  say motion picture producer D.W. Griffith offered him $250,000 in 1920 for a portion of the land, but Birch refused to sell. (D.W. Griffith stories about land purchases in Fort Lauderdale seemed to fuel a lot of interest but ring akin to Capone stories of the time: unsubstantiated.)                    

Birch property 1900 Florida State Archives

                    On December 6, 1941, Birch hosted Senator Spessard Holland at his Fort Lauderdale estate to find out about deeding his property to the state’s park system, because, he told the senator, “he had had some friction with the city and county …”  Birch liked what he heard and moved forward to make arrangements with the state to donate 180 acres and nearly one mile along the Intracoastal waterway. He lived on the estate until his death in 1943.

               

Hugh Taylor Birch State Park was opened and dedicated January 27, 1951. The park’s entrance is on Sunrise near A1A. Its natural habitat provides a venue for hikers, bicyclists, canoeists and picnickers to enjoy the outdoors.  

Canoes at Birch State Park 1950
Florida State Archives

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Sources: 

Genealogical Society of Broward County

Gillis, Susan. Fort Lauderdale: The Venice of America. Charleston: Arcadia (2004).

Weidling, Philip J., Burghard, August. Checkered Sunshine. Gainesville: University of Florida Press (1966).

Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Florida State parks, Hugh T. Birch, Florida history, 
Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, history of Fort Lauderdale, Hugh Taylor Birch shipwreck