Ocoee’s Survivor
For more than 80 years, Armstrong Hightower built a life in Fort Lauderdale. But it was one Central Florida town’s most terror-filled day that helped bring him here. When Armstrong…
Old Lauderdale
66 posts
Forged in Fire
Early Fort Lauderdale leaders didn’t bother with a fire department – until a devastating fire changed their thinking. When you are building a small city with businesses, banks, a hotel,…
Landmark Marlin
Today, Fort Lauderdale is known as a gay-friendly tourist destination. But when the Marlin Beach Hotel opened in 1972, it made powerful enemies. Whether in brochures, online searches or even…
All Donations Welcome
Before the Stranahans, the Cooleys or Maj. Lauderdale’s soldiers, Frankee Lewis made a life along the New River. Fort Lauderdale history is filled with remarkable women pioneers: women such as…
Porky’s Muse
One of cinema’s most legendarily raunchy teen comedies was inspired by a filmmaker’s formative years in 1950s Fort Lauderdale. It’s pretty remarkable that the director of A Christmas Story –…
Welcome to Andytown
Andytown was never a town and hasn’t been anything since the late ’70s. But try telling that to the internet. Search the internet for the city of Andytown and you…
In the Club
Robert Hayes Gore Sr.’s Governors Club played host to powerful people with interesting stories – including the man who owned the place. The Wilmar, Fort Lauderdale’s second grand hotel after…
A Leader and a Fighter
Often called the Mother of Fort Lauderdale, Ivy Stranahan used her position and clout to preserve natural Florida and help those who lacked power – in particular, the Seminoles. Think…
Patriarch to Excellence
From Isadore Mizell’s family tree spring some of Fort Lauderdale’s most important and accomplished people. When historians recount our early days, certain families are central to the story: the Stranahans…
Florida’s Jesse James
John Ashley was one of Florida’s most notorious criminals, but he couldn’t evade the law forever. To read the first part of this story, click here. Florida newspapers in the…