Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the seat of government of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in Florida. After Miami and Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale is the third-most populous city in the Miami metro area, which had a population of 6,166,488 in 2019.
Built in 1838 and first incorporated in 1911, Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. Development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict. Three forts named "Fort Lauderdale" were constructed, including the first at the fork of the New River, the second at Tarpon Bend on the New River between the present-day Colee Hammock and Rio Vista neighborhoods, and the third near the site of the Bahia Mar Marina.
Known as the "Venice of America", Fort Lauderdale has 165 miles of inland waterways across the city. In addition to tourism, Fort Lauderdale has a diversified economy including marine, manufacturing, finance, insurance, real estate, high technology, avionics/aerospace, film, and television production. The city is a popular tourist destination with an average year-round temperature of and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale, encompassing all of Broward County, hosted more than 13 million overnight visitors in 2018. Nearly four million cruise passengers annually pass through its Port Everglades, making it the world's third-busiest cruise port. With over 50,000 registered yachts and 100 marinas, Fort Lauderdale is also known as the "yachting capital of the world."
History
The area of present-day Fort Lauderdale was inhabited for at least 2,000 years by Indigenous peoples associated with the Tequesta culture. Contact with Spanish explorers in the 16th century contributed to the decline of Native populations in South Florida through the introduction of Eurasian diseases, including smallpox, to which Indigenous communities had little immunity. Disease, warfare, and regional displacement contributed to the decline of the Tequesta and neighboring peoples over the following two centuries. The area was then incorporated within the Spanish Empire during the 16th century.
18th century By 1763, Native populations in South Florida had been greatly reduced, and surviving groups were reported to have migrated to Cuba when Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain under the Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the Seven Years' War. Florida remained under British control until 1783, when Spain regained Florida with the Treaty of Paris (1783) that followed the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War.
19th century The area remained sparsely settled until the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Before the city developed, the area was commonly known as the "New River Settlement". In the 1830s, approximately 70 settlers were living along the New River. William Cooley, the local Justice of the Peace, was a farmer and wrecker, who traded with the Seminole Indians. On January 6, 1836, while Cooley was leading an attempt to salvage a wrecked ship, a band of Seminoles attacked his farm, killing his wife, children, and the children's tutor. The other farms in the settlement were not attacked, but all the white residents in the area abandoned the settlement, fleeing first to the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne, and then to Key West.
The first United States stockade, named Fort Lauderdale, was built in 1838. It was subsequently a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. The fort was abandoned in 1842 after the war, and the area remained unsettled by colonists until the 1890s. In 1893, a ferry operated by Frank Stranahan provided transit across the New River. The Florida East Coast Railroad was also completed, providing a route through the area and sparking the city's development.
20th century In 1911, the city was incorporated. In 1915, it was designated the county seat of the newly formed Broward County.
Fort Lauderdale's first major development began in the 1920s, during the Florida land boom. The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 and the Great Depression of the 1930s caused a great deal of economic dislocation. In July 1935, an African-American man named Rubin Stacy was accused of robbing a white woman at knifepoint. He was arrested and being transported to a Miami jail when police were run off the road by a mob. A group of 100 white men proceeded to hang Stacy from a tree near the scene of his alleged robbery. His body was riddled with some 20 bullets. The murder was subsequently used by the press in Nazi Germany to discredit U.S. critiques of its own persecution of Jews, Communists, and Catholics.
When World War II began, Fort Lauderdale became a major U.S. base, with a Naval Air Station to train pilots, radar operators, and fire control operators. A Coast Guard base at Port Everglades was also established.
Until July 1961, only whites were allowed on Fort Lauderdale beaches. There were no beaches for African-Americans in Broward County until 1954, when "the Colored Beach," today Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park, was opened in Dania Beach; however, no road was built to it until 1965. On July 4, 1961, African Americans started a series of wade-ins as protests at beaches that were off-limits to them, to protest "the failure of the county to build a road to the Negro beach."Deborah Work, My Soul Is a Witness: A History of Black Fort Lauderdale, pp. 138-48 On July 11, 1962, a verdict by Ted Cabot went against the city's policy of racial segregation of public beaches, and Broward County beaches were desegregated in 1962.
Fort Lauderdale is a major center for yachting, one of the nation's largest tourist destinations, and the center of a metropolitan division with 1.8 million people.
Population After end of World War II, service members returned to the area, spurring an enormous population explosion that dwarfed the 1920s boom. The 1960 census counted 83,648 people in the city, about 230% of the 1950 figure. A 1967 report estimated that the city was approximately 85% developed, and the 1970 population figure was 139,590.
After 1970, growth in the area shifted to suburbs to the west. As cities such as Coral Springs, Miramar, and Pembroke Pines experienced explosive growth, Fort Lauderdale's population stagnated, and the city actually shrank by almost 4,000 people between 1980, when the city had 153,279 people, and 1990, when the population was 149,377. A slight rebound brought the population back up to 152,397 at the 2000 census. Since 2000, Fort Lauderdale has gained slightly over 18,000 residents through annexation of seven neighborhoods in unincorporated Broward County.
Geography
Location According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and of which is water (9.87%). Fort Lauderdale is known for its extensive network of canals; there are of waterways within the city limits.
The city of Fort Lauderdale is adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, includes of beaches, and borders the following municipalities:
On its east: Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Sea Ranch Lakes On its south: Hollywood Dania Beach On its southwest: Davie On its west: Plantation Lauderhill Lauderdale Lakes On its northwest: North Lauderdale Oakland Park Tamarac On its north: Wilton Manors Pompano Beach
The northwestern section of Fort Lauderdale is separate from the remainder of the city, connected only by the Cypress Creek Canal as it flows under I-95. This section of Fort Lauderdale borders the cities of Tamarac and Oakland Park on its south side. Oakland Park also borders Fort Lauderdale on the west side of its northeastern portion. The greater portion of Fort Lauderdale in the south is bordered, along its north side by Wilton Manors.
Off the coast of Fort Lauderdale is the Osborne Reef, an artificial reef made of discarded tires that has proven to be an ecological disaster. The dumping began in the 1960s, with the intent of providing habitat for fish, while disposing of trash from the land. However, in the rugged and corrosive environment of the ocean, nylon straps used to secure the tires wore out, cables rusted, and tires broke free. The tires posed a particular threat after breaking free from their restraints. The tires then migrated shoreward, and ran into a living reef tract, washed up on its slope, and killed many things in their path. In recent years, thousands of tires have also washed up on nearby beaches, especially during hurricanes. Local authorities are now working to remove the 700,000 tires, in cooperation with the U.S. Army, Navy, and Coast Guard.
Neighborhoods
Fort Lauderdale has a program for designating and recognizing neighborhoods. Under the Neighborhood Organization Recognition Program, more than 60 distinct neighborhoods have received official recognition from the city. An additional 25–30 neighborhoods exist without official recognition, although the city's neighborhood map displays them as well.
Climate According to the Köppen climate classification, Fort Lauderdale has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af). While the city does not have a fully dry season, much of the seasonal rainfall comes between May and October. Winters are frequently dry and sunny, and drought can be a concern in some years.
Fort Lauderdale is situated in USDA hardiness zones 10b to 11a near the coast.
The wet season runs from May through October, and weather is typically hot, humid, and wet with average high temperatures of and lows of . During this period, more than half of summer days may bring brief afternoon or evening thunderstorms with lightning and bursts of intense rainfall. The record high temperature of was recorded on June 22, 2009, and August 4, 1944.
The dry season often arrives some time in November, and lasts through early to mid April. Seasonable weather is often warm, dry, and sunny. Average high temperatures of and lows of are typical in the dry season. On rare occasions, cool fronts may make it all the way south to Fort Lauderdale, and the city will see a day or two of highs in the 60s °F (16–21 °C) and lows in the 40s °F (4–10 °C). Rare frosts occur every few decades, and only once in recorded history have snow flurries been reported in the air, which occurred on January 19, 1977.Lardner Jr., George; Meyers, Robert. "Miami Is Hit by First Recorded Snow: State of Emergency Is Eyed for Virginia Thousands Idled as Cold Closes Factories, Businesses". The Washington Post. January 20, 1977. p. A1. "It also snowed in Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Fort Myers, and yes, even in the Bahamas."South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) January 19, 2007. During the dry season (winter), brush fires can be a concern in many years.