May 2012
19 posts
Choose Your Office
Following Florida becoming a state in 1845, the first person elected to represent the state in the U. S. House of Representatives was David Levy Yulee. However, Yulee never took his seat in the House.
Rather, he was elected as U. S. Senator from Florida later that year and he accepted that office. He served in the Senate from 1845 to 1851 and from 1855 to 1861.
In Florida, both Levy County...
A Few Stayed Put
Based on information from the 1964 Pompano Beach City Directory, there is only one automobile dealer that was operating then that is still in business at the same location and using the same name: Endicott Buick at 1345 South Federal Highway.
The Volkswagen dealership is in the same location (700 North Federal Highway), but in the intervening years its name was changed from Autohaus to Vista.
Kilgore was Here
Today it is occupied by Ward’s City and other businesses, but the building located on the southeast corner of Flagler Avenue and NE 3rd Street was originally the home of Kilgore Seed Company. Kilgore Seed was founded in 1909 and sold seeds, fertilizers and other farming/lawn supplies.
Mayo Begins Marketing
The idea of providing a market place for the large number of independent, limited-acreage farmers in Florida was conceived by Nathan Mayo, then State Commissioner of Agriculture. Necessary legislative authority was obtained and the State Marketing Board was set up. The need for such a market was seen for the Broward-Palm Beach (east) County area. The market facility was built at Pompano on...
Laborers Needed
During the first 50 years of pepper production in Florida many growers were operating on a tenant or share cropping basis. Mostly acreages were small and families could take care of planting and culture.
The land owner or operator growing a multiple of vegetable commodities and having a need for large numbers of harvest laborers encouraged a migration of black families from north Florida and...
Pepper Farmers
During the ‘teens and ‘twenties many north Florida farmers, particularly from Madison, Columbia and Suwannee Counties, migrated to the Pompano area to grow vegetables. These families, most of whom stayed to become bonafide pepper farmers, were aggressive and successful. They bought cheap, raw land, cleared and improved it and became established land owners and civic-minded,...
Pompano Airways
In 1981 a new commuter airline was established with the name of Pompano Airways. Although based in Broward County, the airline had no Pompano Beach connections. It went out of business in 1985.
Training in the Sunshine
Due to Florida’s mild climate that allowed year-round training, 172 military installations were located within the state during World War II. At least 40 training airfields were operational during the war, from the huge Jacksonville Naval Air Station (where over 10,000 pilots received flight instruction) to small satellite airfields such as Pompano’s.
The Informer Gets Half
In 1881, the state of Florida passed a statute outlawing interracial marriages (miscegenation). The law provided that the individual performing the ceremony would be liable for a fine of up to $1,000, with half the amount going to whoever informed the authorities about the marriage.
Bring Back the Booze
On October 10, 1933, Florida became the 33rd state voting to repeal the 18th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Eighty percent of Floridians voting approved the proposed 21st amendment, ending national Prohibition.
School Survey
A 1938 survey of Broward County schools provided the following information on Pompano area schools:
Pompano: 1st through 12th grade; 367 students; 15 teachers
Pompano Negro: 1st though 8th grade; 431 students; 8 teachers
Hammondville: 1st though 6th grade; 67 students; 1 teacher
Help is Coming
Although the Pompano Beach Library dates back to the 1940s (in its current location since 1952), it was not until 1968 that its Friends of the Library support group was formed.
A Floridian from Elsewhere
Few people are as associated South Florida’s natural environment as Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, the author of The Everglades: River of Grass (1947). From the 1920s until her death in 1998, she championed the such causes as the creation of Everglades National Park and restriction on residential and commercial encroachments into the Everglades.
Many people might assume that her dedication to...
Wind Across the Wilderness
One of the more powerful hurricanes to hit southeastern Florida came ashore just north of Miami on August 16, 1888. Storm surges were recorded at 14 feet along the beaches and significant property damage was reported as far north as Sebastian Inlet.
Fortunately, the area was then largely unpopulated, with only about 900 people residing in what is today Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Martin...
Covered Dish Supper
Mark you calenders - the Pompano Beach Historical Society will hold its “end of season” covered dish supper on Wednesday, May 16th, 6:30 PM at the Dick & Miriam Hood Center (217 NE 4th Avenue, Pompano Beach).
Everyone’s invited; just bring a dish to share. We’ll provide the drinks and tableware.
Always an enjoyable time, and you won’t find tastier food...
Payday
In 1920, the basic pay for a teacher in the Broward County public schools was $100 a month. A school principal received $150 a month.
Electrifying the Light
When the Hillsboro Lighthouse became operational in 1907, its beacon light was provided by a vaporized kerosene lamp. In 1920, the original lighting mechanism was replaced by four 250W electric lights.
The Governor Takes a Trip
The seventh Spanish governor of Florida, Gonzalo Mendez de Canço, served in office from 1596 to 1603. During this time he sought to better explore the peninsula and mounted at least four expeditions for this purpose. In 1597 he traveled up the east coast from the Keys to St. Augustine and came into contact with the various Indian cultures, such as the Tequesta and Ais, that lived in the area.
10-4
Prior to 1954, all dispatch calls to the Broward Sheriff’s Office (which then provided law enforcement to most of the county) were handled through the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. In that year, the Sheriff’s Office received its own radio system, located in a small room with two phones, two desks and a radio.
April 2012
20 posts
No Business in the Morning
It is said that William L. Kester, perhaps the most influential person in Pompano Beach’s development from the 1920s through the 1950s, did not drive a car and never conducted business before noon.
Just a Couple Fish
Pompano Beach is named for a fish, and given that Florida is a fisherman’s paradise, one would think that quite a few cities in Florida would carry fish names. Such is not the case.
Other than Pompano Beach, the only other sizable Florida municipality named for a fish is Tarpon Springs in Pinellas County.
The Palm
The palm tree is associated with Florida, and there are quite a few communities in the state that reference the tropical tree. Locally, in Broward County, when Coconut Creek was developed in the 1960s each house sold had at least one coconut palm planted in the yard.
Other Florida municipalities that pay homage to the palm include: Palm Beach and West Palm Beach (Palm Beach County), Cocoanut Key...
Wood to Stone
When Broward County was established in 1915, one of the first projects of the new school board was to replace existing wood-frame school buildings with new masonry structures.
Polish Catholics
Our Lady of Czestochowa, a Polish Catholic Church, was founded in 1997. It is located at 2400 NE 12th Street, Pompano Beach and is a parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami.
The church’s name references the town of Czestochowa in southern Poland and the famous “Black Madonna” painting which has been located there sine 1382.
Merchants Organize
In the fall of 1956, the Downtown Hammondville Merchants Association was formed to promote the “the advantageous shopping facilities available in this area.”
The organization’s first president was Ray Kohl, who owned Kohl Office Supply at 61 NE First Street, and Moe Hirshman, owner of Pompano Pharmacy at 60 NE First Street, served as treasurer.
Ball Coach Born
In 1945 on this day, April 20th, future University of Florida quarterback and coach Steve Spurrier was born in Miami Beach.
The City with a Plan
When Jack Marquesse began promoting his new residential community in the mid-1950s, he advertised Margate as being “The City with a Plan.” Unlike other residential projects in Broward County, Margate was not a neighborhood within, or adjacent to, an existing municipality. Rather, it was stated from scratch miles from the closest city — Pompano Beach.
Beachway Bargain
Pompano Beach’s Beachway Manor residential neighborhood was developed in the early 1950s, located east of Federal Highway between NE 4th and NE 6th Streets. A three-bedroom house with 1150 square feet of living space on a 65’ x 140’ lot was sold for $10,490.
The Pompano Origins of Coconut Creek
Wednesday, April 18th
7:00 PM
at the Dick & Miriam Hood Center
217 NE 4th Avenue, Pompano Beach
The City of Coconut Creek was incorporated in 1967, the last municipality to be created in northern Broward County. Before its development, however, much the area was agricultural land, farmed by Pompano with the names of Blount, Collier, Jones, Green, Vinkemulder and Lyons, among others....
Fire Sale
Pompano’s first fire engine, a 1926 La France, was in service with the City for almost half-a-century. In 1973, Pompano Beach sold it at auction, and for a while the vehicle was exhibited in a transportation museum in North Carolina. At some point, the fire truck was purchased by a Fort Lauderdale resident and moved back to South Florida.
By the early 1980s, several Pompano officials...
Promoting the Jubilee
In 1983, during Pompano Beach’s celebration of its 75th anniversary of incorporation, the Diamond Jubilee committee organized “promenades” and “caravans.” The purpose of both was to promote the Diamond Jubilee’s schedule of activities.
Promenades were short walks by committee members dressed in period costumes through local shopping areas. Caravans took...
Here Comes the Blimp
The effort to acquire the Goodyear Blimp base for Pompano Beach took place quickly:
When the manager of the Pompano Beach Airport, Morris Rankin, read of the dissatisfaction brewing between the Goodyear Company and the City of Miami about the residence of the Goodyear Blimp there, he went at once to consult the officials concerning the possibility of moving the Blimp base here. He urged them to...
Name Change
Pompano Beach’s major boat-launching facility is located at William Alsdorf Park, adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway off the 14th Street Causeway. Originally, it was dedicated as Caliban Park, named after the adjacent Caliban Canal.
On the Wrong Side of the Line
Sylvester Corbett ” S.C.” Fox represented Pompano on the Broward County Commission from 1935 through 1957.
In 1943, the Sample house (now Sample-McDougald House) on Dixie Highway was up for sale and Mr. Fox and his wife were interested in purchasing it. However, it turned out that the house was situated outside his district, so he decided to build a new two-story house in the 500...
Wearing Many Hats
In 1928, 26-year old Pompano city commissioner Brumby Oneal “Bo” Giddens was appointed to be the city’s fire chief, water superintendent and building/electrical inspector.
Two Firsts
When Thomas H. Chapman opened the first produce packing house in Pompano in 1904, he already had another “first” on his resume — he had packed the first carload of grapes to be shipped out of the Imperial Valley in California.
Pompano's Post Offices
From 1933 through 1962, Pompano’s Post Office was located in leased space on the first floor of the Masonic Lodge building, 102 SW First Street (since demolished). After nearly 30 years in that location, the Post Office moved to its current location at 1950 NE 6th Street.
Fewer on the Field
The 1941 Pompano High School football team did not lose a game all season. Being a small school (the senior class of 1942 had about 40 graduates) there were not enough players to compete against the big schools, so Pompano was one of a number of high schools in southeastern Florida to play six-man football.
Six-man football was developed in Texas during the Great Depression and quickly spread to...
The Sun Moves North
Following the disastrous Labor Day hurricane of 1935 that hit the Florida Keys, the Florida Keys Sun newspaper moved its operations to Pompano and became the Pompano Sun.
March 2012
12 posts
Double Wedding?
From 1909 to 1915, Pompano was part of Palm Beach County and local residents had to go to West Palm Beach to deal with many legal and government issues, including marriage licenses.
The first Pompano marriage in Palm Beach County may have been a double ceremony. Palm Beach County marriage records indicate that on April 27, 1910, Louis Jones of Pompano married H. Vernon Price-Williams of Miami,...
Rep. Wilcox
From 1933 to 1939, Pompano was represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by J. Mark Wilcox. He was born in Willacoochee, Georgia in 1890 and graduated from Emory law school in 1910.
Wilcox moved to West Palm Beach in 1925, and in 1928 was appointed city attorney there. In 1932 he ran to represent Florida’s 4th congressional district, winning the seat in that and in the next two...
One Out of Six
Albert “Neal” Sample, a pioneer farmer of the area and who built the Sample-McDougald House in 1916, had six children with his wife, Margaret: Neal Jr., Hugh, Pauline, Jennie, Lois and Lee,
Of the six, the only one for which there are documents of marriage is Lois. Broward County records indicate that Lois Sample married James McCarley Barksdale in 1921.
Harry's Lake
McNab Elementary School, (1350 SE 9th Avenue in Pompano Beach), was named for pioneer Pompano farmers and businessmen William “Harry” and Robert McNab.
It is located right off McNab Road not far from Cypress Lake. This body of water was originally called Harry McNab Lake.It was a man-made lake, the U.S. government using sand from the site to construct Federal Highway. When the...
National Register Sites in North Broward
There are 31 sites in Broward County that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Of those eight are in northern Broward County:
Butler House(Deerfield Beach)
Seaboard Air Line Railway Station(Deerfield Beach)
Deerfield Beach Old School House(Deerfield Beach)
Deerfield Beach Elementary School(Deerfield Beach)
Cap’s Place Restaurant(Lighthouse Point)
Hillsboro Inlet...
Gone and Largely Forgotten
Broward County has 31 incorporated municipalities, but it would have even more if several towns had not gone out of existence in the past. Those cities were Hacienda Village (1949 - 1984), Hollywood Ridge Farms (1953 - 1964) and Ferncrest Village (1953 - 1970).
Out of the Woods
In the early years of the 20th century, a number of Pompano black residence came to this community from the north Florida pine forests, where they had been employed as lumberjacks. This was a hard and dangerous occupation, and the workers were constantly on the move. As one section of forest was felled, the whole lumbering operation would move to another forested area, often living in relatively...
City-Wide Mayor
In March, 2004, former State Representative John Rayon was became the first Pompano Beach mayor elected in a city-wide election. Prior to this time, Pompano Beach’s mayors were selected by the commissioners on an annual basis.
Rayson served through 2007, and during his tenure as mayor Pompano Beach annexed the Cresthaven and Pompano Highlands neighborhoods, bringing the city’s...
Tough Couple
“Many a night I would haul those sacks of liquor up the beach to the car and take them into town to Cap’s customers… Scared? We were never scared. I’m not afraid of the devil himself, and neither was Cap.”
Lola Knight, wife of Theodore “Cap” Knight, the area’s most famous and popular rumrunner and the owner of Club Unique (now Cap’s Place...
Rumrunners
During the Prohibition years, the southeastern coast of Florida was a major entry point for bootleggers bringing in illegal booze from the Bahamas:
With its coastline possessing a profusion of inlets, as well as an abundance of rivers, coves and mangrove swamps, coupled with the availability of good roads providing easy pickup points and quick escapes, southern Florida became the perfect setting...
The Five O'Clock Club
Angelo Thenos came to Pompano in the 1930s and opened a restaurant on the west side of NE First Avenue, between Atlantic Boulevard and NE First Street. He was the cook, his wife was the cashier. Angelo later moved his restaurant to the northeast corner of Flagler Avenue and NE Second Street.
Both his restaurants opened at 5:00 AM and were popular breakfast spots with local farmers. Angelo and...