December 2006
9 posts
1 tag
Let There be Light
Electricity came to Pompano on April 1, 1924. On that date the lights were turned on and the residents celebrated the event with a street dance.
1 tag
The Money Crops
In the first decade of the twentieth century, there was the expectation in Florida that production and sale of tropical fruits would be an important factor in the economic growth of the state’s agricultural sector. By the end of the century’s second decade, Florida’s farmers had, by and large, decided that winter vegetables was where the money could be made. The following...
1 tag
Fielding a Team
Pompano Beach historian Bud Garner remembers Pompano High School athletics of bygone days and the troubles that had to be overcome to field a team and develop a schedule:For the “Beanpickers” the schedules were hard to make because of the large number of boys that were playing and the lack of a means of transportation to games that out of necessity, had played during daylight hours and...
1 tag
Ahead of the Times
During the early years of the twentieth century, many counties in Florida prohibited the use of alcoholic beverages. In fact, Broward County was created as a “dry” county in 1915. Such was the movement against alcohol in Florida (championed by Governor Sidney J. Catts), that by 1917 the manufacturing, sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages was illegal throughout the state. The...
1 tag
Big Crowd
The grand opening ceremonies for the new Pompano State Farmers Market were held on November 16, 1939. It is said that virtually everyone in Pompano attended the opening, and with dignitaries and visitors, the audience could have been as large as 5,000 people. The significance of the attendance figure can be measured by the actual population of Pompano, which the 1940 census set at 4,427.
1 tag
Councilwoman Wyse
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1920, giving women the right to vote. That same year, Pompano sent its first woman to the City Council. Beulah Wyse was elected and served from 1920 to 1922. She was the wife of George Wyse, a farmer and raiser of livestock. According to one source, Mrs. Wyse was a former teacher.
1 tag
The Ulmsteads
Among Pompano’s early pioneers were John W. Umstead and his wife, Eva Lena Granthan Umstead. They left Suwannee County, Florida, about the turn of the century and came to South Florida in search of suitable land for farming. He would farm in the area around today’s Cypress Creek and Holy Cross Hospital. John had two sisters, Annie Umstead and Lillian Lloyd, and four brothers, George,...
1 tag
Celebrate the Holidays
Members and friends of the Pompano Beach Historical Society are invited to attend its annual Holiday Reception on Wednesday, December 20th. We’ll have refreshments, music and tours of the Society’s historic Kester Cottages. The reception will take place from 5:30 to 8:00 PM, so come by for a few minutes or a few hours. The reception will be held at 217 NE 4th Avenue, just two...
1 tag
Brotherly Love
In March, 1909, W. A. Lopez was hired to be an Assistant Keeper at the Hillsboro Lighthouse. Sources indicate that he resigned in August of that same year “after shooting his brother 3 times.”