December 2009
22 posts
1 tag
Another Double Incorporation
Another of Pompano Beach’s neighboring municipalities has been incorporated twice (see Tuesday’s post on Hillsboro Beach). Lauderdale-By-The-Sea was incorporated for the first time in 1927, but a few years later, during the Great Depression, the town went broke. In 1933 LBTS’s charter was revoked by the State Legislature. Following World War II, local residents formed a Charter...
1 tag
Lighthouse Tour
The first tour of the Hillsboro Lighthouse in 2010 will take place on Saturday, January 16th, beginning at 8:45 AM with the final tour leaving for the lighthouse at 3:00 PM. Presented by the Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society, the tours begin from the dock at the Sands Harbor hotel on North Riverside Drive, where visitors board a tour boat for a ride to the lighthouse. For fees and other...
1 tag
Incorporation Redux
The town of Hillsboro Beach was incorporated twice. The first time was in 1939, but it appears the municipality was not active in any meaningful way. In 1947, residents petitioned the Florida Legislature to incorporate Hillsboro Beach again. At the time of its second incorporation, the town had just 17 resident voters.
1 tag
Cap's House
The oldest standing structure in Pompano Beach is probably the Cap Campbell house, which dates from 1910. Originally it was located on the southwest corner of NE 1st Avenue and 1st Street, but was moved to its current location, NE 4th Avenue and 3rd Street, in the 1920s. The house is still a private residence.
1 tag
Merry Christmas
1 tag
Florida Christmas Cheer
Christmas in St. Augustine, Florida, in the 1830s:Christmas! Yet no snow or ice! The gardens are as fresh in green and blossom as in the month of August… . The early “egg-nog” before breakfast is a feature that commemorates the Christmas morning; an immense bowl full is manufactured of this ambrosial food, or drink, for it partakes of both and this, every member of the family,...
1 tag
Green Market open this Saturday
The Pompano Beach Green Market will be open this Saturday, December 26th. The Green Market is located on Flagler Avenue in Pompano Beach’s historic downtown, and is open from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. For more information, click the Green Market link to the left.
1 tag
The Large Tin Building
According to local historian Mercerlene Rutledge, the first movie theater in Pompano’s black community was located in the 400 block of NW 4th Street. It was housed in what she described as a “large tin building,” and showed movies only on Saturday and Sunday. It is not clear when this theater operated, but most likely sometime in the 1920s.
1 tag
Where are the Girls?
The 1910 census found that about 20 percent of Pompano’s residents were adult bachelors or widowers.
1 tag
The Blimp
Pompano Beach is the home base for the Goodyear blimp Spirit of Innovation. It replaced the Goodyear Airship Enterprise, which was christened by Pompano Beach Mayor Emma Lou Olson in November 1979. Goodyear’s first blimp was lauched in 1925, and began wintering in Florida in 1929.
1 tag
The 1910 Count
The 1910 census counted 350 people living in Pompano, including 51 farmers “on their own” and 90 farm laborers. The census also found 40 people of Bahamian birth residing in Pompano.
1 tag
C. William Hargett, Jr.
Former Pompano Beach city manager C. William Hargett, Jr. passed away this past Monday, December 14th, at his home. Mr. Hargett served as city manager from 1995 through 2007.
1 tag
Land for Labor
Some of those who arrived in Pompano in the first decades of the 20th century were able to acquire property by bartering their labor for land. One such person was Tom Baker, who came to Pompano in 1908, and eventually secured title to land west of town (approximately in the 800 block of today’s Martin Luther King Boulevard).
1 tag
Generating Power
Pompano’s first electric power plant was built in the early 1920s (probably 1924) and was located on the southeast corner of what is today NE 4th Street and Flagler Avenue. It was powered by a 50 horsepower Fairbanks-Morse generator. Originally, the city’s electric company was an independent company, but was later purchased by Florida Power and Light.
1 tag
Keep it in the Family
Pompano pioneer farmer George L. Blount served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1929 to 1931. When he went to Tallahassee he took his teenage son, George Landrum Blount, Jr., with him to serve as his page.
1 tag
Pompano Beach Organizations on Facebook
If you are a Facebook member (and if you’re not, it’s easy to join), here are a few Pompano Beach organizations’ Facebook pages:Pompano Beach Historical Society City of Pompano Beach Tiger Trail Festival Old Pompano Civic Association East Pompano Civic Association Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce
1 tag
Money for Parks
The beginning of what are today the Pompano Beach Golf Course and Community Park is the result of a 1953 recreational bond issue. The $400,000 bond was approved by 60 percent of the electorate. On a per capita basis and adjusting for inflation, this would be the equivalent of $56,000,000 today.
1 tag
Historical Leaders
During its first decade, the Pompano Beach Historical Society’s presidents were:Ennis W. Ballou (1974-75) Henrietta McClellan (1975-76) Thomas W. Johnston (1976-78) Stuart R. Kester (1978-80) Dick M. Hood (1980-81) Wilton P. Banks (1981-1983) Albert T. Senft (1983 - 84)
1 tag
Holiday Reception
The Pompano Beach Historical Society’s annual Holiday Reception will be held on Wednesday, December 16th, at the Dick and Miriam Hood Center (217 NE 4th Avenue, Pompano Beach). The casual event will begin at 5:30 PM and continue through 8:00 PM. Holiday refreshments will be served and the Kester Cottage historical museums will be open for tours. There is no admission charge and the...
1 tag
The Last Battle?
On March 19,1783, one of the last “battles” of the American Revolution took place off the shore of what is today Broward County when the United States frigate Alliance engaged the British frigate Sybille in a 40-minute exchange of broadsides. Neither vessel was mortally damaged, and the fight was ended when the Sybille broke off the engagement upon discovering a French ship-of-the-line...
1 tag
Four in a Year
When Broward County was created in 1915, it had three incorporated municipalities within its borders: Dania, Pompano and Fort Lauderdale. For almost ten years no new cities were added. Then, in 1925, within little more than five months, four more municipalities were incorporated: Deerfield Beach, Davie, Hollywood and Oakland Park. Twice more four new cities would be incorporated within Broward...
1 tag
The Bicentennial in Pompano Beach
Pompano Beach participated in the national bicentennial celebration in 1976 through the Pompano Beach Bicentennial Committee. The committee was chaired by William G. Glenn. Among goals of the Bicentennial Committee was raising funds for a museum of local history (which resulted in the Historical Society’s Kester Cottages museum), a time capsule (located in front of City Hall) and an...