The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation will hold its annual statewide conference in Coral Gables, May 19th - 21st. Plenty of interesting sessions, tours and receptions.

The conference program, with registration information, is available online.

The regular Green Market season ends this Saturday, April 30th, with Environment Day. Come out and learn about how various groups and individuals are working to make Pompano Beach a cleaner, healthier, shadier and better place to live. Learn how you can help.

On this date in 1909, the Florida Legislature voted to recognize the orange blossom as the official state flower.

The Florida State Archives has placed online the service record cards of Floridians who served in World War I. The following individuals are recorded as having declared their place of residence as Pompano:

Blaine, Henry
Blount, James D
Blount, William H
Britt, Jesse B
Britt, William H
Carter, Raymond S
Cooper, Reene
Fain, Junious M
Hardin, James G
Harry, Thomas
Hewell, Ralph Wendell
Hiers, Charlie
Hirres, Jack
Howell, Guy R
Lyons, Henry L
Miller, General Harrison
Miller, Willie Irvin
Myrick, Robert A
Reese, Cumming S
Sample, Lee M
Skates, Lonnie C
Slaughter, Liberty W
Smith, Daniel Jackson
Smith, William E
Smoak, Oliver B
Walton, Nimrod James
Walton, William A
Weaver, James Gordon
Williams, Robert

(Click on an individual's name to link to their service card image.)

None of the 29 individuals listed above were officers, and only two (Jesse and William Britt) rose as high as Sergeant. Five of the 29 served in the Navy (R. Hewell, G. Miller, W. Miller, N. Walton and J. Weaver); all the rest were in the Army. Four were African-Americans (H. Blaine, R. Cooper, T. Harry and R. Williams).

Broward County's first sheriff, Pompano resident Aden Waterman Turner.

Although the FEC Railway tracks and Dixie Highway were considered the dividing line between back and white residences in Pompano, historically there were a number of exceptions.

Other than scattered families who lived west of town, there were at least two white residential neighborhoods west of the tracks: the area just south of Hammondville Road and west of Dixie Highway, and the Monticello Park neighborhood west of Dixie around NW 10th Street.

Black families lived east of the tracks in a few locations. The "Blount Quarters" were located near the current intersection of NE 5th Avenue and 10th Street and housed agricultural workers. The "Cap Campbell Quarters" were located similarly located east of the tracts off North Dixie Highway. Other black residents lived in housing provided by the FEC Railway for its section workers who helped maintain the tracks.

The Pompano Beach Centennial Celebration Committee will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, April 27th, 6:30 PM, at the Dick & Miriam Hood Center (217 NE 4th Avenue, Pompano Beach).

If you are interested in participating in the planning for activities to commemorate Pompano Beach's 100th Anniversary in 2008, and in having a lot of fun doing it, then come to the meeting . . . we'd love to have you.

At its meeting on Tuesday, April 19th, the Pompano Beach CRA board voted unanimously to authorize staff to negotiate a contract with Scott Mire to purchase the Bank of Pompano and Bailey Hotel buildings.

Mr. Mire's proposal called for an exterior restoration of the buildings with the interiors refurbished for professional offices on the second floors and retail/restaurants on the ground floor. In addressing the CRA board, Mr. Mire stated that he looked forward to working with FAU architect Anthony Abbate, who will be developing urban design guidelines for the historic downtown area under the County's "Sense of Place" program.

Prior to the CRA meeting, Mr. Mire met with the Pompano Beach Historic Preservation Board to discuss his plans for the historic structures. He stressed his commitment to restore the buildings as closely as possible to their historic appearance.

In 1957, where could you go to have a beer or cocktail in Pompano Beach? Listed below are bars and lounges located in the city that year:

Adkins Inn (Hammondville Rd).
The Atlantic Lounge (2207 Atlantic Blvd)
East Coast Bar (515 NW 3rd St)
Flat Top Beer & Wine (508 NW 3rd St)
Jack's Bar (361 NE 3rd St)
Jewel Place (So. Dixie Hwy)
Larry's Tavern (No. Dixie Hwy)
Lee's Tavern (Hunter Manor)
Marble Bar (1386 So. Federal Hwy)
Maude's No 1 (Hammondville Rd)
Melody Bar (913 NW 3rd St)
Playtime Bar (2112 Atlantic Blvd)
Plaza Cocktail Lounge (2715 Atlantic Blvd)
The Red Cherry (Hammondville Rd)
Sawdust Trail Bar (18 So. Federal Hwy)
Sit-N-Sip Lounge (143 SE 1st Ave)
Tropical Inn (Powerline Rd)
Louise Turner's Handy Shop (335 NW 4th St)
Wagner's Bar (503 NW 3rd St)
Yard Arm Bar (2700 No. Ocean Blvd)

Information from Polk's Pompano Beach City Directory, 1957 edition.

Coral Ridge Properties, the company that planned and built Coral Springs, initially intended to call its development Pompano Springs.

Recent initiatives to plan for a revitalization of Pompano Beach's historic downtown are not the first efforts to "save" the area:

In an effort to combat steady disintergration and make Old Pompano a vital organism, the Pompano Beach Planning Department under the leadership of [Planning Director Fred] Kleingartner drew up plans in 1979 encouraging both preservation and renovation. To preserve landmarks, create more open space, and maintain the city's infrastructure with its architectural and cultural heritage intact, planners proposed a facelift which called for a pedestrian mall, open air market, paved alleys, and hedges and trees to buffer the railroad tracks from the commercial district and give grace and beauty to the urban center.

Excerpted from Pompano Beach - The Tale of a City.

In 1974 Lorena H. Robson wrote a history of Pompano Beach in which she discussed the town's early medical care.

Dr. William Kennedy of Fort Lauderdale was the only doctor widely known by residents. Because of the mosquitoes, malaria fever was rampant. During these early days, he drove a horse and buggy to make his calls. Dr. Henry Leavitt was the first resident doctor in Pompano. Dr. George S. McClellan, "Dr. George," moved to Pompano following Dr. Leavitt's departure for Miami. He remained a practicing physician until his death in 1958. Mrs. J. L. Warren (nee Cassie Weaver) was the town's first registered nurse.

Dr. McClellan's office is still standing at the corner of NE First Avenue and Second Street.

In 1821, James Grant Forbes published one of the earliest descriptions of the newly acquired American territory of Florida. Titled Sketches, Historical and Topographical, of the Floridas; more particularly of East Florida, the book was, most likely, a marketing tool for land Forbes owned in Florida.

Still, Forbes presents some interesting views of the region in the early 19th century, including some of Florida's more exotic critters:

Alligators and rattlesnakes are numerous; but through they are held in great dred by the timid, they are inoffensive, unless roused to protect themselves. The Alligator, in particular, must often be awakened from its profound sleep on the banks of the rivers, before it will attack the traveller. Its shell is so impenetrable, that a bullet will not injure it, unless it strikes the head between the eyes. The Rattlesnake, and the tail part of the Alligator, are sometimes eaten by the hungry traveller.

Forbes book is one of a number of publications that have been scanned and placed online at Florida State University's Florida History and Heritage Collection.

The Sample-McDougald House Preservation Society will hold its annual spring reception on Friday, May 6th, at the new Pompano Citi Centre.

The event will include drinks and hors d'oeuvres, music, silent auctions and raffles and a video presentation on the historic house. Tickets at $35.00 per person. Invitations will be mailed in the next few days.

Guests at the Sample-McDougald House event will be among the first to experience the new additions to the completely reconfigured shopping area (formerly known as the Pompano Fashion Square).

For information or reservations, call the Sample-McDougald House Preservation Society at (954) 786-4047.

The Pompano Beach Historical Society is sponsoring a photography contest this month at the Pompano Beach Green Market. The contest is open to shutterbugs of all ages and skill levels, and will culminate on April 30th with judging and the awarding of prizes.

There are three categories for entries: photographs taken at the Green Market, photographs of historic sites in the Pompano Beach area and general photographs of the Pompano Beach area. Photographers may shoot in color or black and white, but all submissions must be in a minimum 8 x 10” format, ready for display. All submissions must be made to the Historical Society at the weekly Green Market. Deadline for entries is 10:00 AM on April 30th.

First prize in the Green Market category will be $100, with prizes of $75 for historical sites photos and $50 for general shots. A special children’s category will have its own $50 first-place prize (any category). All categories will have a $25 second-place prize. Winning photographs will be published in the Pompano Pelican and all submissions will receive a certificate of participation.

The Pompano Beach Green Market is open every Saturday, through April 30th, from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM in Pompano Beach’s historic downtown. The location is just north of the Atlantic Boulevard and Dixie Highway intersection.

On April 7, 1893, James E. Ingraham, the president of the South Florida Railroad, arrived in Miami at the head of the expedition he led through the Everglades. Ingraham was seeking to determine whether or not it was feasible to run a cross-Everglades railroad from Fort Myers to Miami.

The Historical Society public program this month will feature William P. Cahill speaking on the "Sheriffs of Broward County".

The program will be held on April 20th, 7:00 PM, at the Dick & Miriam Hood Center (217 NE 4th Avenue, Pompano Beach). There is no admission charge.

In South Florida we take the word for granted, but what is the meaning of Everglades?

The first known use of the term Everglades is on Turner's map of Florida (1823) and is cited in the Dictionary of American English currently being published by the University of Chicago Press. A map of Florida compiled by an English geographer for the British government and dated 1821 does not show the Everglades. The word seems to have come into use in Florida only after acquisition by the United States in 1819. The Spanish seem to have had no equivalent of 'Everglades'.

An early spelling was 'glad' and it meant bright, shining. 'Glade' in a sense now obsolete except in poetry meant 'a clear place in the sky, a bright streak or patch of light.' Derived from Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic languages, used by peoples in lands where bright waters were seen at some seasons of the year and snow and ice at another, glade was associated with water in any of its several forms... the Merriams' Webster's New International Dictionary defines Everglades (singular) as: 'A swamp or low tract of land inundated with water and interspersed with hummocks or small islands and patches of high grass; chiefly used as 'the Everglades', a great tract of this nature in Florida.

Excerpt from Marjory Stoneman Douglas' Everglades and First Reclamation Idea, an unpublished, undated manuscript at the University of Miami.

Pompano pioneer William H. Blount on the community when he first arrived:

When I arrived in 1907 at about ten o'clock, the conductor blocked my exit. He insisted that I go to Miami because there was nothing in Pompano and nowhere to stay. The conductor claimed that Pompano was a wild place, but the lure of a job that paid twenty dollars a month plus board was too strong. My brothers J. Devotie and George who had preceded me the month before met me at the depot with horse and wagon.

Pompano had no paved streets when I arrived. The highway which is now called Dixie Highway was a white rock thoroughfare not more than nine feet wide. There were no cars, therefore no wider streets were needed.

Although the lighthouse had just been built, there were no houses along the beach.

Our farm holdings were pretty much scattered as we had to take the best land where we could find it. Tomatoes were the big crop in those early days. At first the tomatoes had to be shipped green but within two years of my arrival, we were able to ship the tomatoes in refrigerated cars.

Excerpted from Pompano Beach Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Book (1983), pp. 29 - 30.

Yes, of course it was an April Fool's joke.

In a move that will assure the financial well-being of the Historical Society, it was announced that a three way agreement had been signed between the Historical Society the City and a well-known local developer that would demolish the buildings at Founders Park so that townhouses could be built.

A spokesman for the City said that although no public hearings were conducted, it was generally assumed that Founders Park was used infrequently, and that other tennis courts were available throughout the community. The sale will net the City in excess of $500,000.

While expressing regret over the impending demolition of Pompano Beach's first fire station, as well as the two 1930s Kester Cottages, Pompano's original waterworks building and the Hood Center, the Historical Society assured the public that it would use part of the $1,000,000 donation it received in the agreement to build "replica" historic buildings.

The local developer, whose name was not immediately revealed, said that the three story townhouses would add needed housing to the area, and would sell in the $500,000 range. He also added that negotiations were underway with the Sample-McDougald House Preservation Society to put together a similar deal for that site.