"The church social given by the ladies on Thursday night proved a success in every respect. The sale amounted to over $40. The voting contest conducted by Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Chapman was very interesting and amusing, especially when the votes were counted. The reward was a fine cake for the handsomest girl in the house at the time; Miss Durham received the greatest number of votes and was awarded that prize. Mr. Harry McNab won a cake for being the homliest man present."

The Miami Metropolis, December 27, 1907

"Died on Sunday, November 9th, John R. Mizelle, at the home of his daughter, Mr. W. C. King in Miami, aged 76 after an illness lasting eighteen months. Mr. Mizelle at one time lived in this city [West Palm Beach], although Pompano has been his home for many years. He was the first mayor of that city where he also served previously as justice of the peace. At one time a noted Republican politician, Mr. Mizelle occupied the position of U. S. Marshall in this state. He is survived by three daughters: Mrs. W. C. King of Miami and Mrs. C. D. Hinson and Mrs. S. M. Hamilton of Pompano. The remains were brought here on Monday morning for interment."

The Tropical Sun (West Palm Beach), November 13, 1913

Ten years after the railway arrived, Pompano had less than 250 residents, and based on newspaper articles, not all occupations were represented. In those days, the prospects for financial success were different than what we expect today.

"Pompano needs a butcher, and one will find an excellent opening for a good lucrative business."

On the other hand:

"A doctor willing to locate and grow up in the country will find Pompano a place of fair inducements. He would have to depend on pineapples and farming however for his main supper. But between Colohatchee [Wilton Manors area] and Deerfield and this place, he could catch many an odd dollar."

The economic reality seems to have been that most people ate meat more often than they fell ill.

Quotes from The Miami Metropolis, December 21, 1906.

When Pompano was incorporated in 1908, the town's first law enforcement officer was Benjamin F. Phillips. He was elected to serve as Marshall.

Phillips presided over no police force - he was it. An early photo shows him wearing a suit and derby, and sporting a mustache. He could easily be mistaken for an actor in the movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

According to a newspaper article, Phillips was born in "Madison City" (no doubt today's Madison, Florida, a little over 50 miles east of Tallahassee), and arrived in Pompano in 1900.

Although his exact date of death is not available, the 1918 City Directory lists him as living in Pompano, engaged in farming.

On August 14, 1935, the Social Security Act was passed, creating a program to provide elderly Americans with a reliable source of income for their retirement.

In addition to reducing poverty among the elderly, the Social Security Act allowed senior citizens greater freedom of movement -- they no longer had to depend on their family for financial assistance.

It's probably no coincidence that Florida's population of retirees boomed in the years following the beginning of Social Security payments.

In 1911, a publication called the Florida Review offered the state's agriculturalists information on the techniques for dealing with the prospect of frost:

Knowledge is a most excellent thing under all circumstances, but certainly there is no place in the world where scientific agriculture is more important than right here in Florida. As illustrating how the gardener and orchadist may make use of scientific apparatus, there is now on the market a self registering thermometer with electrical attachment, by means of which a bell can be rung by his bedside so as to awaken him when the temperature in the free air sinks below say 40 degrees. Of course, you understand that when the temperature of the free air is 40 to 42, there may be a light frost on your plants, which indicates that the leaves of the plants are such good radiators of heat that their temperature has fallen to 32. In Southern Florida, where nothing more severe than a light frost is experienced; when the bell rings all that is necessary is to arise and light your smudge boxes or small smudge fires which you have in readiness, or start your pump and set sprayers going, and your crop is saved. In the northern part of the state, where greater cold is sometimes experienced, it is advisable to be prepared with oil-pots, coal baskets or wood fires, which not only make a smudge but also furnish heat.

Quotation found in Floripedia: Agricultural Notes

On February 12, 1953, the Pompano Beach branch of First Federal Savings and Loan of Fort Lauderdale opened at 2335 East Atlantic Boulevard.

First Federal had been established in 1933 in Fort Lauderdale. Following its expansion, its name was changed to First Federal of Broward.

One of the financial institution's founders, and president when the Pompano Beach branch was opened, was E. Thomas Wilburn who operated at 300 acre farm north of Hammonville for several decades.

Today, Bank of America operates out of the First Federal location.

"In 1860, enslaved African Americans numbered nearly 62,000, or forty-four percent of the 140,424 residents of the State of Florida. During the Civil War thousands of enslaved Floridians escaped from their owners and found refuge in the Union-occupied towns of Fernandina, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Key West, where they were considered 'contraband of war' and were not returned to their former owners. They found work on the abandoned plantations in the area controlled by Union forces, built fortifications, worked as teamsters for the Federal troops. As soon as Union policy permitted, more than 1000 self-liberated men from northeast Florida farms and plantations who settled into the swelling refugee camps outside the coastal towns, began joining three Union regiments . . . the 33rd, 34th, and 21st regiments of United States Colored Infantry."

Quote from Introduction to Black Floridians and the Civil War in Florida History Online.

An interesting website for those interested in historical or genealogical research on black Floridians is Florida African American Roots.

There's not a tremendous amount of information on Pompano Beach, although several local residents are found on the site.

The site has links to a variety of census records from the 19th century including slaves held in Florida in 1850, by counties.

The original section of Florida's Turnpike was opened to traffic on January 26, 1957.

Originally known as the Sunshine State Parkway, the limited-access highway ran 110 miles, from Miami to Ft. Pierce, and cost an estimated $64,000,000.

First year traffic totalled 3,650,000 vehicles and generated $4,450,000 in toll revenue.

Long-time Pompano resident Mercerlene Alexander Rutledge (now living in Keystone Heights, Florida) remembers street musicians on Hammondville Road.

There were a number of blind guitar players who would sit in a chair by the roadside and play. Most often a tin cup was attached to his guitar, and those listening would drop a coin into the cup. Ms. Rutledge remembers being sad at the sight of so many people in such condition with no other means of support.

Particularly on Saturday evenings small groups of musicians from Pompano and other South Florida locations would gather on streetcorners and perform. Instead of a tin cup, these groups passed a hat throughout the audience, seeking donations. Ms. Rutledge remembers these groups as playing one of two types of music: the "blues" or religious songs.

During these pre-World War II years, one of Pompano's better known street musicians was Bill Blue, who favored religious songs.

After over two centuries of Spanish rule, Florida was transferred to the British on August 3, 1763. In return, Spain regained Havana, Cuba, which had been captured by the British during the Seven Years War (known as the French and Indian War in America).

Florida again would become a Spanish colony just two decades later, following the Paris Peace Treaty officially ending the American Revolution.

During the Great Depression the Works Progress Administration (WPA)ran the Federal Writers Project from 1936 to 1940. As part of this program over 300 writers compiled almost 3,000 documents on the life and history of Americans in 24 states.

The results of the Federal Writers Project are held by the Library of Congress, and many of them are available on the internet site, American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers Project.

Florida is well represented in this collection, with 128 documents. Most f the interviews and descriptions seem to have been located in the Jacksonville, Tampa/Lakeland and Miami areas, although some are well outside these urban areas. Nothing from Pompano, as far as I can tell.

Still, these documents provide a fascinating account of life in Florida during the Great Depression.

British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill's second visit to Florida occurred in January, 1942, soon after the United States entered the Second World War. Locally, there have been various accounts of Churchill's stay -- some claim that it was part of a secret meeting with President Franklin Roosevelt and that the two leaders dined at Cap's Place Restaurant.

The Churchill Centre has a website that provides an almost daily account of Churchill's activities, including his trip to the Pompano area:

January 5 - Washington and Pompano Beach, FL
WSC flew to Florida in an airplane provided by General Marshall, accompanied by Sir Charles Wilson, John Martin and Tommy Thompson. They stayed in a bungalow provided by US Secretary of State Stettinius. They landed at West Palm Beach airport and drove to Pompano.
Word was put out that a Mr. Lobb, an invalid requesting quiet, was staying at the house. They were closely guarded by the Secret Service. The press guessed they were there but left them alone.

January 6 - Pompano, FL
WSC relaxed by bathing in the ocean. Two couriers a day flew down to Pompano from Washington.

January 9 - Pompano, FL
WSC worked on rewriting his four mid-Atlantic surveys of the future of the world. Sir Charles Wilson recorded that WSC was in "a belligerent mood." WSC lunched with Consuelo Balsan (Vanderbilt).

January 10 - Pompano and Fort Lauderdale, FL
WSC lunched with Consuelo Balsan in Fort Lauderdale before leaving by train for Washington.

Since Churchill met with President Roosevelt both before and after his trip to Pompano, there appears to be no reason Churchill would have had to meet with his American counterpart in Florida.

The Cap's Place story is, it seems, partially true, but instead of Churchill dining at the restaurant, Cap sent food to Churchill's borrowed bungalow.