Leonard Farber, developer of the Pompano Fashion Square, died yesterday at the age of 89.

Now undergoing extensive redevelopment and renaming to Pompano Citi Centre, the Fashion Square was the area's first enclosed shopping mall.

Farber's obituary in the Sun-Sentinel notes that although he developed 45 malls and shopping centers, his first and last major projects were in Broward County -- Pompano's in 1970, and Fort Lauderdale's The Galleria in the 1980s.

In reference to yesterday's post on local roads that took their names from pioneer farmers, Pompano Beach's city historian, Bud Garner, notes that at least two more could be added: Banks Road and Green Road.

Although farming in north Broward is today confined to a few small locations, here and there, the area's agricultural legacy lives on in the names of some of its major roads, including Lyons, Blount, Sample, McNab, Wiles, and Hammon[dville], all taking their name from local farmers.

In 1974, Lorena H. Robson wrote an account of Pompano's history. A member of a pioneer family, she not only chronicled the important people and events, but also a way of life that has long since disappeared:

When there was a funeral, all businesses were closed during the services. On Thursday afternoons, businesses closed their doors and families gathered on the beach for a town picnic, or joined in a community fish fry on the "Point", directly opposite the Hillsboro lighthouse. Instead of the beautiful homes which stand there today, a fish camp operated. There was swimming in the inlet, wading and digging clams and climbing the many stairs of the lighthouse to entertain the young and old alike.

One of the most frequent questions we get is, "When are tours of the Hillsboro Lighthouse being offered?"

The tours are organized by the Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society, which just announced that the next two tours will be held on August 13th and November 5th (both Saturdays). On its website, the HLPS explains:

The Hillsboro Lighthouse Station is open a maximum of four times a year and through joint effort of the U.S. Coast Guard and Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society. Because the Station is on an isolated small peninsula, there is very limited parking there. Therefore, we must be shuttled to the site by either chartered boat or chartered bus. The August 13th tour (and November 5th tour) will begin and end in the Pompano City parking lot at the 100 block of North Riverside Drive, just north of Atlantic Blvd. and just east of the Intracoastal Waterway in Pompano Beach FL.

For more information visit the HLPS's website.

It was great while it lasted, but unpredictable weather and conflicting vacation schedules were making it difficult to maintain consistency at the Historical Society's Summer Green Market. We were also hampered in that there were very few local fruit and vegetable crops available

And so, with some mixed emotions, we decided that last Saturday would be the final Saturday for our Summer experiment. We'd like to thank all the customers, vendors and volunteers who made the weekly event at Founders Park so much fun.

Not to worry, though, the Pompano Beach Saturday Green Market will return in October (exact date to be announced) for our third regular season. We'll be back in Pompano Beach's historic downtown with even more vendors and activities.

See you then.

The Tropical Postcard Club will host a postcard show on August 13th at the Emma Lou Olson Civic Center (1801 NE 6 Street, Pompano Beach). Admission is $2.00 per person. For more information please call 954 786-4111.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Julie Graves, a state health nurse, documented many of the early treatments and remedies used by midwives during pregnancy and childbirth. A document available online at the Florida State Archives' Florida Memory Project provides descriptions of many folk treatments, including this for ear problems:

For ear-ache fry a slightly bruised roach and put a drop or two of the resulting warm fluid or grease into the ear. Insert a small cloth or cotton to keep fluid in.

Unfortunately, the document doesn't explain the best method to "slightly bruise" a roach.

Now considered an invasive species that threatens Florida's natural ecosystem, particularly in southern Florida's wetlands, the melaleuca tree was introduced to the area in 1906 by John Gifford. His initial plantings were at his home on Biscayne Bay and at a nursery in the town of Davie.

Dr. Gifford was the first American to hold a doctorate in forestry. He moved to Coconut Grove in 1902 and became an advocate for Everglades drainage. He was especially interested in introducing exotic trees that would absorb water and dry up the local wetlands.

Ironically, "[i]n the hundred or so years since its introduction to South Florida, this hearty tree has literally taken over many natural communities , crowding out the area's valued native species. In fact, the eradication of melaleuca and other exotic pest plants has become a primary goal in Everglades restoration."

The historic Miami News/Freedom Tower is threatened by incompatible development that will "erase from the skyline Miami's most recognized and revered icon."


The Dade Heritage Trust is seeking support to save one of South Florida's most important landmarks.

The Miami Herald recently published a special feature on Pompano Beach. Included in the feature was an article on the Historical Society's Summer Green Market, and another on the old Bank of Pompano building (with quotes from Historical Society trustee and City Historian, Bud Garner). An article titled "Profiles in Citizenship" hightlights various individuals who are helpoing to make Pompano Beach a better place, inlcuding Historical Society trustee Chris Mullon.

In 1912 the Pompano town council enacted a so-called "Blue Law" that stated:

. . . whosoever follows any pursuit, business or trade on Sunday, either by manual labor or with animal or mechanical power, except the same be of necessity, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

It is not clear when, if ever, this ordinance was formally repealed (or, for that matter, what was the definition of "necessity").

During the Great Depression, Cap Knight, founder of what is now Cap's Place Island Restaurant in Lighthouse Point, donated hundreds of pounds of fish (often mullet) to anyone who needed food.

Cap frequently came into Pompano to distribute the fish along the Pompano Canal, in front of the old Post Office. Today this would be on the south side of Atlantic Boulevard and east of SW First Street.

The Pompano Race Track's adminstration building is surrounded by automobiles in this 1926 photograph. (courtesy Florida Photographic Collection)

On July 12, 1862, "President Abraham Lincoln signs into law a measure calling for the awarding of a U.S. Army Medal of Honor, in the name of Congress, 'to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection.' The previous December, Lincoln had approved a provision creating a U.S. Navy Medal of Valor, which was the basis of the Army Medal of Honor created by Congress in July 1862. The first U.S. Army soldiers to receive what would become the nation's highest military honor were six members of a Union raiding party who in 1862 penetrated deep into Confederate territory to destroy bridges and railroad tracks between Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia."

(from The History Channel, This Day in History)

Hurricane Dennis had come and (as a hurricane) gone. Although there were some fatalities related to the storm, it could have been much worse.

How much worse? Consider the hurricane season of 1780:

Eight different storms battered the West Indies and American coasts, including four killer storms in October. During that month, hurricanes killed more people, an estimated 27,000, than died in battle during the entire six-year war [the American Revolution, which was going on at that time].

The first hurricane struck western Jamaica on October 3rd and completely destroyed the settlement of Savanna-La-Mer. It raced across Cuba and the Bahamas before entering the shipping lanes between Cape Hatteras and Bermuda. In addition to an estimated eleven hundred deaths, two British fleets were hit. Later that week, a second storm raked Cuba, killing 2000.

Next was the greatest killer hurricane of all time: the Great Hurricane of 1780. 22,000 may have died between October 10th and 16th on the seas, and across the West Indies islands of Barbados, Martinique and St. Eustatius. Both British and French naval fleets, on maneuvers in the Antilles, sustained heavy casualties, including the 74-gun HMS Cornwall and over 100 British merchant ships.

The final hurricane of the quartet, hit the 64-ship Spanish fleet of under Admiral Solano off the western tip of Cuba as he was preparing to attack Pensacola. It's estimated that 2000 died in this storm.

Modern communications, advances in scientific forecasting and better building methods have reduced the damage and deaths from modern hurricanes, but one must not be complacent -- Hurricane Mitch, in 1998, caused over 9,000 deaths in Central America.

"The first Negro school in Pompano was a two room, wooden building located in the N.W. 400 block of Hammondville Road. One of its first teachers was Mrs. Annie Glass Johnson. This school was demolished by the storm of 1926, so classes were held in Psalters Temple A.M.E. Church which was located less than a block away. In 1928 Psalters Temple A.M.E. Church was destroyed by a tropical storm. It was rebuilt on a different site and is presently known as Bethel A.M.E. Church. Later on, a new two-story school was built on N.W. 6th Avenue for Negro students with Mrs. Blanche Boyd Ely serving as principal."

(excerpted from Mercerlene Alexander Rutledge, Historical Vignettes)

Pompano's first post office was established in 1899 in the home of George Butler, who served as postmaster.

On June 16, 1947, the towns of Pompano and Pompano Beach merged, along with the "no man's land" in between, to form the City of Pompano Beach.

Under the terms of the merger, the existing officers of the two municipalities were to remain in office, or draw their salary, until the expiration of their terms of office.

A commission-city manager form of government was established at that time, and the first commissioners were Clyde Bland (mayor), Ted Hull, Joseph Allison, Albert Smoak and W. P. Fulbright.

The first city manager was S. T. Sawyer, who served only a short while and was replaced by H. T. Edmond.

It didn't happen in Pompano Beach, but the effects have been apparent on our beaches ever since:

On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Reard dubbed "bikini," inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week.

Actually, the bikini swimming suit didn't become a common sight in America until the late 1950s. In 1960, Brian Hyland sang "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" -- proof that the diminutive beach apparel was here to stay.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

During World War II much of South Florida (and Florida in general) resembled an armed camp, as training bases were set up throughout the state to ready soldiers, sailors and pilots for combat overseas.

The Pompano Air Park was originally established as a satellite filed for the Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station, where torpedo bomber pilots were trained.

Just over the county line, the Boca Raton Army Air Field trained B-17 pilots and crews.

Websites have been created (click on links above) for both of these local wartime facilities that describe their origins, training functions and current efforts to preserve their history.