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 1910-1911, 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

Countess Lauderdale and the Floranada Club: "a Biarritz nearer to home"

By Jane Feehan

Boom times in early Fort Lauderdale attracted the interest of a few well-heeled Palm Beach winter visitors, including the Countess of Lauderdale. Married to the head of Scottish Clan Maitland, she discovered Fort Lauderdale while boating down the waterways in 1923.

Lauderdale, no relation to the city’s namesake, Major William Lauderdale, helped found the American British Improvement Society and then bought 8,000 acres south of Cypress Creek (some of it oceanfront property) to develop.

She involved Palm Beach notables Mrs. E.T. Stotesbury (owner of the first Mizner-designed home on the island), Mrs. Horace Dodge, John S. Pillsbury, and others in a venture to create another exclusive winter resort, Floranada (a combination of names Florida and Canada) Club . It was incorporated in 1925 and included the Oakland Park community.

A 1926 advertisement for the development reminds one of today’s sales hype:

     A golden beach in a sapphire sea – boating, tennis, golf, youth and life

     and laughter –that’s Biarritz. Let’s build a Biarritz nearer to home,” said

     some of the foremost financiers of America.

    

And so it began. Ads claimed the King of Greece was to make the Floranada Club his winter home. A golf course was planned, fancy boats were bought, and building started on the Floranada Inn, near today’s 45^th Street and Federal Highway. In a year or two, the dream of these “foremost financiers” turned into a nightmare. In 1928, the principals of the collapsed American British Improvement Association were sued for $250,000 for falsely claiming to be well financed when they weren’t.

When you pass 45^th Street, also known as Floranada Road, remember the Biarritz (France) that wasn’t.  

__________

Sources:

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

Miami News, Jan. 22, 1926 
Palm Beach Post, Jul. 20, 1928

Tags: Florida history, Fort Lauderdale history,early Fort Lauderdale developers, Florida in the early 1900s, Floranada Club

Morris Lapidus: Architect with a sense of fun ... ahead of his time?

Fontainebleau today
 Creative Commons
Wikipedia 

By Jane Feehan


Once mocked by critics, architect Morris Lapidus (1902-2001) designed 250 hotels and 1,200 other buildings throughout the world. Among his most noted buildings were the Fontainebleau Hotel (1954), Eden Roc Hotel (1955) and the Americana (1956) - all in Miami Beach.*

Lapidus was a retail architect whose first Miami Beach hotel commission was to complete the Sans Souci Hotel in 1949 (another architect began the work). He was known for his use of whiplash curved facades, bright colors, and heavy adornments. His was a blend of French provincial and Italian Renaissance styles, leading some of his peers to call his work “boarding house baroque,” even “pornography.”

When he saw the Fontainebleau, architect Frank Lloyd Wright exclaimed it looked like an “anthill.” That didn’t bother the Russian-born Lapidus who said, “I’m flattered. An anthill is one of the greatest abodes nature ever perfected.” Critics said he was pandering to the public. “My critic is the masses,” Lapidus answered. “I design for them. Let’s stop educating the human race. Let’s just make them happy.”

Miami Beach 1954 41st Sreet
Florida State Archives

And he did make the masses happy. Among its many “gaudy” features, the Fontainebleau (once called “America’s grossest national product”) was known for its staircase to nowhere. It actually led to a cloak room from which people could descend dramatically in all their jewels and other finery to an admiring audience. His Americana Hotel kept alligators in terrariums to remind tourists they were in Florida. “What I try to do is to create buildings which give people a sense of exhilaration and enjoyment,” Lapidus explained in a 1959 interview.

Architects today take a kinder view of Lapidus. Some call him the first post-modernist architect. He may have been ahead of his time, especially with pedestrian-friendly Lincoln Road Mall opened in November, 1960. Spanning several blocks, the outdoor mall was closed to traffic and accented with pools, fountains, shelters, gardens and tropical foliage.

Whatever critics think of him, Lapidus, who lived on Miami's Venetian Causeway until his death in 2001, will be remembered by his creed: “Even a doghouse or a birdhouse should have an adornment.”

*Fontainebleau Hotel - Listed year 2008 in National Register of Historic Places (as of April 2024 the hotel is owned by Fontainbleau Resorts and controlled by the Soffer family).
Open today

Sans Souci - now the RIU Florida Beach: 

Eden Roc  - now a Marriott Renaissance Hotel 

Americana imploded 2007

Sources:

Miami News, Sept. 3, 1959

Miami News, Nov. 26, 1960

New York Times, Jan. 20, 2001

LA Times, Jan. 20, 2001

Tags: Miami Beach history, Miami Beach architect, architect of Fountainebleau, architect of Eden Roc, architect of Americana, Lincoln Road architect, Miami Beach in the 1950s, Frank Lloyd Wright, Miami Beach hotels of the 1950s, film industry researcher, Morris Lapidus

Lake Worth Lagoon, early Florida transportation, Worth Avenue and ...

Lake Worth Lagoon, early 20th century,
Florida State Archives,
Florida Memory

Florida State Archives/
Florida Memory, circa 1900

By Jane Feehan

Once a 22-mile-long fresh body of water, Lake Worth was named for General William Jenkins Worth. He served as the last U.S. general sent to Florida during the Second Seminole War (1835 -1842). Fort Worth, Texas and prestigious Worth Avenue of Palm Beach also bear his name. A monument in his honor stands at Broadway and Fifth Avenue in New York.

The lake, at some places a mile wide, runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean and was formed by seepage from the Everglades. Early travelers to South Florida would take a steamboat to Jupiter, then ride the seven-mile Celestial Railway to Juno at the north end of the lake. From there they would board another boat to continue south through the primitive area. For many years, Lake Worth was the best way to get to and from Juno and Boynton Beach and points between.

In 1913, five cents would buy a round trip ferry ride across the width of the lake. The City of Lake Worth built the first bridge to the beach side in 1919, nearly 25 years after Henry M. Flagler extended his railway to and built his hotel in Palm Beach.

At one time, Lake Worth was landlocked but two ocean inlets were constructed in the early 1900s. Now it's known as Lake Worth Lagoon because the ocean water coming through those inlets transformed it into a saltwater lagoon. The lagoon still receives intermittent freshwater discharges from canals coming from the Everglades. Environmentalists are studying ways to restore water quality and natural habitats.

Today part of the Intracoastal Waterway, the Lake Worth Lagoon provides a picturesque nautical highway that flows by downtown West Palm Beach and Lake Worth.

Lake Worth Lagoon today

Sources:

Mustaine, Beverly. On Lake Worth. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 1999.

Snyder, James D. A Light in the Wilderness. Jupiter: Pharos Books, 2006.

wikipedia.org

Tags: Florida history, Palm Beach County history, Lake Worth Lagoon, boating in West Palm, early Florida travel

Newspaper stories of 1899 Florida (don't laugh)

 

1900 Florida sunset,
Florida State Archives/Florida Memories

Local news items published by the Tropical Sun (South Florida) will leave 21^st-century readers chuckling if not longing for simpler times. The Tropical Sun was once the only newspaper between Melbourne and the upper keys. Here’s a sampling of items that kept people reading newspapers in 1899 (by city and county):

Jupiter Jottings

The Law’s, Ziegler’s, and the DuBoi’s are each the owner of a cow.

Mr. Culberson is coming back again this winter. He is expected here in a few days.

Delray Doings

The Lantana Fish Co. must be doing a land office business judging from the number of boats Mr. M.K. Lyman is building.

Tropical Sun, 1899

What the Sun’s men heard in the Lively Local Whirligig

Major Cooper is still adding to the adornment of his shaving parlor; this week’s handsome potted plants are the attraction.

Tramps are most noticeable in this town by their scarcity. We have too much use for them here on the streets so they keep well away.

The Ladies Aid Society met at the Congregational parsonage Wednesday afternoon and indulged in afternoon tea and other refreshments dear to the ladies' hearts.

-----------------

For more on the Tropical Sun, see:  http://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2013/03/two-cousins-stage-line-and-founding-of.html

Tags: Florida history, South Florida news of the 1890s, early Florida newspapers.

Pirate's World in Dania Beach: rides, big-name concerts and ... troubles

Pirate's World entrance 1967
 State of Florida Archives/Florida Memory,
Dept. of Commerce Collection

By Jane Feehan 

Pirate’s World opened to great fanfare April 8, 1967 in Dania Beach, Florida. Recreation Corporation of America had big plans for the “Disneyland-like” park located on 87 acres between A1A and U.S. 1 off Sheridan Street.

RCA built about 15 park rides and installed the vintage (1897) wooden Steeple Chase from Coney Island and the Crow’s Nest Tower from the New York World’s Fair. Kids looked forward to the Banyan Tree Slide and the swaying suspension bridge with an aerial view of the park. Family fun and all the rides came with the price of one ticket: $3.50 for adults and $2.50 for children under 12.

High school and college students comprised most of the park’s workforce; there were long lines at the employment office in its early days. Young people worked as pirates, ushers, guides at a shooting gallery and servers at the alcohol-free tavern. No doubt C.T. Robertson, president of RCA, and architect/designer Bob Mimick knew how to promote the park. With high school bands, dancing girls, a yearly Miss Pirate’s World and a Rock Music World Championship, there was no place to go but up for the popular spot. One year, children arriving on a Freedom Flight from Cuba were provided a day of fun, courtesy of a radio station; all this was the stuff of good public relations.

Crow's Nest 
 State Archives of Florida

Named for the “devil-may-care days” when pirates like Gaspar, Jean Lafitte and Black Caesar cruised in and out of Florida’s harbors and coves, Pirate’s World proved to be more than family fun by the time it closed its doors in 1973. 

Trouble probably started with the rock concerts. Rockers Tina Turner, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull and David Bowie were among those who performed there. Concert goers numbered in the thousands. In 1971, hundreds of kids crashed the Grand Funk Railroad concert without paying. Cops were called. The city of Dania Beach asked (demanded?) money for crowd control, $5 - $25 per hour per officer. Reportedly, the chief was to get the higher amount … until Hollywood’s Sun-Tatler got wind of the arrangement and published a story. The demand for crowd control fees was quickly dropped.

Drugs commanded other headlines. As many as 35 park attendees one weekend were arrested for drug sales and use. Another weekend, 11 drug arrests. It became a regular occurance. Dania Beach wanted a head tax of five cents per ticket for crowd control and drug patrol. Robertson and his attorney claimed it was illegal (the city got a similar but less fee/tax from Dania Jai Alai).

Pirate’s World was grabbing headlines for all the wrong reasons. Sheriff Ed Stack promised to investigate and declare the park a public nuisance. State Attorney Ken Jenne promised the same. In 1973, the auditorium that hosted as many as 9,000 teenagers during its concert series was shut down because of unsafe construction. The building’s steel roof ribbing was spaced too far apart; its ceiling was a patchwork of burlap and plastic. Pirate’s World lost its license. The auditorium was closed.

Stack, Jenne and the city of Dania Beach were ecstatic. There were additional legal maneuvers, but the park’s end was clear.

Log Flume ride
Florida State Archives

The last day of Pirate’s World operations was Dec. 2, 1973. Offers from developers came in for the land and promises were made but not kept for several years to demolish the landmark. In late 1975, kids were seen jumping off the remaining condemned buildings. Today, it features residential and retail buildings.

Some blame the opening of Disney World in 1971 for the demise of Pirate’s World. Others would say troubles began with the concerts and drugs … and bad headlines. It lost family appeal.


Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Miami News, Feb 1, 1967
Miami Herald, April 7, 1967
Miami Herald, April 10, 1967
Miami Herald, May 4, 1967
Miami Herald, May 21, 1967
Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 5, 1969
Fort Lauderdale News, July 31, 1971
Fort Lauderdale News, July 26, 1972
Miami Herald, June 3, 1973
Fort Lauderdale News, June 9, 1973
Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 20, 1974
Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 4, 1975
https://theconcertdatabase.com/venues/pirates-world



Tags: Florida attractions, Pirate's World, Dania Beach, Concerts, Dania Beach history

Early Florida Attraction: Alligator Joe's Alligator Farm in Palm Beach (of all places)

Alligator Joe's Alligator Farm,
Courtesy of Florida State Archives

 By Jane Feehan

Palm Beach once had its share of offbeat attractions. In the early 1900s, the west end of what became posh Worth Avenue, was home to Alligator Joe’s Farm.

Alligator Joe, or Warren Frazee, entertained winter visitors with a collection of alligators he caught and often wrestled.  A story in The New York Times in 1907, claims Alligator Joe dragged one of the creatures into the ocean for a battle.  

He towed a crocodile weighing 200 pounds well out into the Atlantic Ocean, had a wrestling match with it, mounted it bareback, and brought it back to shore … The reptile toward the end appeared to be completely fagged, but Frazier showed no exhaustion.

Alligator Joe was also known for his 'gator farms in Chicago, Kansas City and Denver and the manatees he caught and sent to the New York Zoological Society (it was illegal then as now).

Frazee entertained Palm Beach visitors in other ways.  In 1898, he took Sir Edward and Lady Colbrooke of England on a hunt for an alligator (some thought alligators were the same as crocodiles). He successfully bagged one more than 11 feet long and was paid $25 for his services. The animal was taken to a  taxidermist where it was stuffed, mounted and otherwise readied for a trip to the Colbrooke’s home in England.  

Frazee, a large man of more than 300 pounds, died in 1915 reportedly of causes related to his obesity

Copyright 2011, 2020 , 2022 

Sources:

Miami News, Feb. 18, 1898

New York Times, March 3, 1907

https://pbchistory.org

Tags: Florida history, Palm Beach history, Alligator Joe, early Florida attractions, Florida in the early 1900s