Timeline of Fort Lauderdale, Florida

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

19th century

• 1893 - Fort Lauderdale trading post established in Dade County.^[1]
• 1896 - Florida East Coast Railroad begins operating.^[2]
• 1899 - Schoolhouse established.^[1]

20th century

The Stranahan House was constructed in 1901 as a trading post and converted into a residence for the Stranahans in 1906, the house is the oldest surviving structure in Broward County

• 1901 - Stranahan house built.^[1]
• 1910 - Population: 336.
• 1911
  • Fort Lauderdale incorporated.^[3]
  • Fort Lauderdale Sentinel newspaper begins publication.^[4]
  • Office of city marshall created.^[5]
• 1912
  • North New River Canal built.^[1]
  • W.H. Marshall becomes mayor.
• 1913 - Fire station built.
• 1915 - Fort Lauderdale becomes seat of newly created Broward County.^[1]
• 1917
  • Fort Lauderdale Woman's Club built.^[6]
  • Las Olas Boulevard built.
• 1919 - Filmmaker D.W. Griffith films The Idol Dancer and The Love Flower in Fort Lauderdale.^[1]
• 1925 - Snow-Reed Swing Bridge and Grand Canal Arch Deck Bridge built.^[7]

The Snow-Reed Swing Bridge is one of the oldest bridges in the Fort Lauderdale area, and one of the few remaining swing bridges in Florida.

• 1926 - September 18: 1926 Miami hurricane occurs.
• 1927 - Fort Lauderdale station built.
• 1928
  • County Courthouse built.^[2]
  • Port Everglades opens.
• 1930 - Population: 8,668.
• 1935 - Hurricane occurs.^[2]
• 1939 - Florida Theatre in business.^[8]
• 1941 - Hugh Taylor Birch State Park established.^[9]
• 1948
  • Broward County International Airport opens.^[1]
  • City Hall rebuilt.^[5]
• 1950
  • War Memorial Auditorium opens.^[2]
  • Population: 36,328.
• 1955 - WWIL radio begins broadcasting.^[10]
• 1956 - Federal Drive-In cinema in business.^[8]
• 1958
  • Museum of Art opens.^[2]
  • WFTL radio begins broadcasting.^[10]
• 1959 - Broward Community College founded.
• 1960
  • New River Tunnel opens.^[7]
  • Sun-Sentinel newspaper in publication.^[4]
  • Davie Boulevard Bridge and SE 3rd Avenue Bridge built.^[7]
  • Population: 83,648.

Fort Lauderdale Stadium

• 1962
  • Fort Lauderdale Stadium opens.
  • Fort Lauderdale Historical Society and Fort Lauderdale Yankees baseball team formed.
• 1963 - Fort Lauderdale High School built.
• 1964
  • Nova Southeastern University founded.^[2]
  • Marshall Memorial Bridge built.^[7]
• 1965 - Fort Lauderdale Pictorial Life magazine begins publication.^[11]
• 1967 - Parker Playhouse opens.
• 1970 - Population: 139,122.
• 1971 - Regional Broward County Transit formed.^[1]
• 1972 - Broward County Historical Commission founded.^[1]
• 1974 - Broward County Library System established.^[1]
• 1977
  • Snowfall occurs.^[1]
  • Genealogical Society of Broward County chartered.^[12]
• 1983 - Municipal jail begins operating.^[5]
• 1989 - Regional Tri-Rail begins operating.
• 1991 - Broward Center for the Performing Arts opens.
• 1992 - August: Hurricane Andrew occurs.^[5]
• 1998 - City website online (approximate date).^[13][14]
• 1999 - Broward County Central Homeless Assistance Center opens.^[15]
• 2000
  • Nutrition Center opens.^[15]
  • Fort Lauderdale Antique Car Museum active.[1]

21st century

• 2003 - Fort Lauderdale Fire and Safety Museum founded.[2]
• 2009 - Jack Seiler becomes mayor.
• 2010 - Population: 165,521.^[16][17]
• 2014
  • Higher-speed rail Fort Lauderdale station (Brightline) construction begins.
  • Mormon temple built.
• 2017
  • January 6: Fort Lauderdale airport shooting occurs.
  • Ted Deutch becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 22nd congressional district.^[18]

See also

• History of Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• List of mayors of Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Broward County, Florida
• Timelines of other cities in the South Florida area of Florida: Boca Raton, Hialeah, Hollywood, Miami, Miami Beach, West Palm Beach

References

1. "Broward County History: a Timeline" (PDF). Broward County Government. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
2. Hellmann 2006.
3. Florida Legislative Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (2001), Overview of Municipal Incorporations in Florida (PDF), LCIR Report, Tallahassee, archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-04-28
4. "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
5. Pat Ruby. "Police History". Fort Lauderdale Police Department. City of Fort Lauderdale. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
6. Wallman, Brittany (March 25, 2019). "Fort Lauderdale Woman's Club added to National Register of Historic Places". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
7. Historic Highway Bridges of Florida (PDF), Florida Department of Transportation, 2012
8. "Movie Theaters in Fort Lauderdale, FL". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
9. Florida Division of Recreation and Parks. "Region: Southeast". Florida State Parks. Tallahassee: Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
10. "United States AM Stations: Florida", Yearbook of Radio and Television, New York: Radio Television Daily, 1964, OCLC 7469377 – via Internet Archive
11. "Gold Coast magazine: 50 years of chronicling glamor", Sun-Sentinel, April 20, 2015
12. "Genealogical Society of Broward County". Retrieved April 26, 2017 – via Ancestry.com.
13. "City of Fort Lauderdale Online". Archived from the original on December 12, 1998 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
14. Kevin Hyde; Tamie Hyde (eds.). "United States of America: Florida". Official City Sites. Utah. OCLC 40169021. Archived from the original on August 24, 2000.
15. "Timeline: Homeless in Broward County", Sun-Sentinel, November 12, 2014
16. "Fort Lauderdale city, FL". QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
17. Florida Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research; U.S. Census Bureau (2011), "City of Fort Lauderdale", 2010 Census Detailed City Profiles
18. Civic Impulse, LLC. "Members of Congress". GovTrack. Washington DC. Retrieved April 23, 2017.

Bibliography

• "Fort Lauderdale". Florida State Gazetteer and Business Directory. R. L. Polk & Co. 1911.
  • 1918 ed.
• Federal Writers’ Project (1939). "Fort Lauderdale". Florida: a Guide to the Southernmost State. American Guide Series. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 317–318.
• Philip J. Weidling and August Burghard. Checkered Sunshine: The Story of Fort Lauderdale, 1793-1955 (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1966)
• Ory Mazar Nergal, ed. (1980), "Ft. Lauderdale, FL", Encyclopedia of American Cities, New York: E.P. Dutton, OL 4120668M
• Susan Gillis; Daniel T. Hobb (1999). Fort Lauderdale. Images of America. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. ISBN 9780738542027.
• Susan Gillis (2004). Fort Lauderdale: The Venice of America. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. ISBN 9780738524719.
• Paul T. Hellmann (2006). "Florida: Fort Lauderdale". Historical Gazetteer of the United States. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 1-135-94859-3.
• William G. Crawford, Jr. (2007). "Long Hard Fight for Equal Rights: A History of Broward County's Colored Beach and the Fort Lauderdale Beach "Wade-ins' of the Summer of 1961" (PDF). Tequesta. 67. Historical Association of Southern Florida. ISSN 0363-3705.

External links

• "Fort Lauderdale". Viva Florida: History Happened Here. Tallahassee: Florida League of Cities.
• "(Fort Lauderdale)". Digital Archives of Broward County Library. Broward County Government.
• "(Fort Lauderdale)". Florida Memory. Florida Department of State, Division of Library and Information Services.
• Items related to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)