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Fort Lauderdale is known as the “Venice of America” for its extensive system of waterways, including the New River, Intracoastal Waterway and a large number of canals.
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As of February 2009 there are 31 incorporated municipalities in Broward County, the most populous of which are Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines and Hollywood.
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Broward County’s population in 2007 was 48% White, 24% Black and 23% Hispanic.
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Of all the people residing in Broward County in 2007, 31% were born in Florida, 39% in other parts of the U.S. and 30% in a foreign country.
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The City of Fort Lauderdale, now the county seat of Broward County, was incorporated on March 27, 1911.
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There are eight clans within the Seminole culture: Panther, Bear, Otter, Bird, Wind, Deer, Snake and Big Town. Seminole Indians born of a Seminole mother take on the clan of their mother; the Seminole are therefore a matrilineal society.
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What's so "new" about the New River? Nothing, really; the New River got its name as the result of an old legend that the river had come into existence overnight. A 1631 Spanish map of the area labels the waterway R. Novo (Latin for New River). Science has disproved the myth of the river's mysterious origins, but the name has stuck.
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Although Florida has an entire agricultural industry based on it, citrus is not native to this state or even this continent. All citrus plants originated in Asia and were carried by immigrants or traded to the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Christopher Columbus brought lime seeds to the New World in 1493, and Spanish explorers introduced citrus to Florida in the 1500s.
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Ethnographic and historical records show that the Tequesta Indians of south Florida obtained protein from a variety of local animals, including turtles, tuna, whales, lobster, seal, deer and raccoon.
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This area was home to a series of three U.S. military sites named “Fort Lauderdale.” The first was established in 1838 during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale, who was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort.
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On December 19, 1939, the British cruiser Orion chased the German freighter Arauca into Port Everglades, where she remained until 1941 when seized by the United States. The closest the area came to combat was in the week beginning May 4, 1942, when German submarines off southeast Florida torpedoed seven ships, one of which limped into Port Everglades.
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Interstate 95 was completed through Broward County in 1976.
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Snow fell on Fort Lauderdale in 1977, the first time in recorded meteorological history.
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The 1980 U.S. census reports more than 1 million people living in Broward County, with half the population living west of State Road 7 on land that was once under water.
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The Florida East Coast Railway gradually extended along the entire east coast of Florida, providing rapid transportation from all parts of the nation to south Florida. The first passenger train arrived in Fort Lauderdale on February 22, 1896.
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Fort Lauderdale Beach became ground zero for the college spring break craze in 1961, a direct result of the hit movie Where the Boys Are, starring singer Connie Francis, which debuted at the Gateway Theater in December 1960. Fort Lauderdale remained a major destination for college spring breakers until the mid-1980s.
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A few of Florida’s state symbols:
- Flower: blossom of the orange tree (Citrus sinensis)
- Tree: sabal palm (Sabal palmetto)
- Bird: common mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
- Animal: Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi)
- Reptile: American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
- Marine Mammal: manatee (a.k.a. sea cow) (Trichechus manatus)
- Saltwater Fish: sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus)
- Stone: agatized coral
- Beverage: orange juice
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The worst hurricane ever to hit Fort Lauderdale made landfall on September 18, 1926. Damage caused by the storm put an end to the land boom and sent the area into an economic depression.
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Broward County was created out of parts of Dade and Palm Beach counties in 1915. It was named for Florida Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, who pledged to drain the Everglades for development.
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Dania was incorporated in 1904, the first town in Broward County to do so.
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In 1513 Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León named this area la Florida, in honor of the Eastertime celebration Pascua florida, meaning “feast of the flowers.”
