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 | It has been suggested that Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since March 2024. |
Fort Lauderdale | |
|---|---|
 Flag  Seal | |
| Nickname: Venice of America | |
 Interactive map of Fort Lauderdale | |
  Fort Lauderdale  Fort Lauderdale | |
| Coordinates: 26°8′N 80°9′W / 26.133°N 80.150°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Florida |
| County | Broward |
| Established | March 27, 1911 |
| Named for | William Lauderdale |
| Government | |
| • Type | Commission-Manager |
| • Mayor | Dean Trantalis (D) |
| • Vice Mayor | Pamela Beasley-Pittman |
| • Commissioners | Warren Sturman, Steven Glassman, John Herbst[1][2] |
| • City Manager | Greg Chavarria[1][3] |
| • City Clerk | David Soloman[1][4] |
| Area | |
| • Total | 36.30 sq mi (94.01 km2) |
| • Land | 34.59 sq mi (89.58 km2) |
| • Water | 1.71 sq mi (4.44 km2) 4.71% |
| Elevation | 9 ft (2.75 m) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 182,760 |
| • Estimate (2022)[8] | 183,146 |
| • Rank | 142nd in the United States 10th in Florida |
| • Density | 5,284.07/sq mi (2,040.21/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Codes | 33301–33332, 33334-33340, 33345–33346, 33348–33349, 33351, 33355, 33359, 33388, 33394[9] |
| Area codes | 754, 954 |
| FIPS code | 12-24000 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0282693[10] |
| Primary Airport | Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport |
| Website | www |
Fort Lauderdale (/ˈlɔːdərdeɪl/ LAW-dər-dayl) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, 30 miles (48 km) north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census,[7] making it the tenth-most populous city in Florida. After Miami and Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale is the third-most populous city in the Miami metropolitan area, which had a population of 6,166,488 in 2019.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13]
Known as the "Venice of America", Fort Lauderdale has 165 miles of inland waterways across the city.[14] 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 75.5 °F (24.2 °C) 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.[15] Each year nearly four million cruise passengers pass through its Port Everglades, making it the third largest cruise port in the world.[16] With over 50,000 registered yachts and 100 marinas, Fort Lauderdale is also known as the yachting capital of the world."[17]
History
The area in which the city of Fort Lauderdale would later be founded was inhabited for more than two thousand years by the Tequesta Indians.[18] Contact with Spanish explorers in the 16th century proved disastrous for the Tequesta, as the Europeans brought with them diseases, such as smallpox, to which the native populations possessed no resistance. For the Tequesta, disease, coupled with continuing conflict with their Calusa neighbors, contributed greatly to their decline over the next two centuries.[19] By 1763, there were only a few Tequesta left in Florida, and most of them were evacuated to Cuba when the Spanish ceded Florida to the British in 1763, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Seven Years' War.[18] Although control of the area changed between Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Confederate States of America, it remained largely undeveloped until the 20th century.[citation needed]
The Fort Lauderdale area was known as the "New River Settlement" before the 20th century. In the 1830s, there were approximately 70 settlers 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 and 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.[20]
The first United States stockade named Fort Lauderdale was built in 1838,[21] and subsequently was a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. The fort was abandoned in 1842, after the end of the war, and the area remained virtually unpopulated until the 1890s. It was not until Frank Stranahan arrived in the area in 1893 to operate a ferry across the New River, and the Florida East Coast Railroad's completion of a route through the area in 1896, that any organized development began. The city was incorporated in 1911, and in 1915, was designated the county seat of newly formed Broward County.[22]
Fort Lauderdale's first major development began in the 1920s, during the Florida land boom.[23] The 1926 Miami Hurricane[24] 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.[25] 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.[26]
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.[27]
Until July 1961, only whites were allowed on Ft. 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."[28]: 30 [29] 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.
Today, Fort Lauderdale is a major yachting center,[30] one of the nation's largest tourist destinations,[30] and the center of a metropolitan division with 1.8 million people.[31]
Population size
After the war ended, service members returned to the area, spurring an enormous population explosion that dwarfed the 1920s boom.[19] The 1960 census counted 83,648 people in the city, about 230% of the 1950 figure.[32] A 1967 report estimated that the city was approximately 85% developed,[33] and the 1970 population figure was 139,590.[34]
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,[35] 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.[36]
Geography
Location
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 38.6 square miles (99.9 km2), 34.7 square miles (90.0 km2) of which is land and 3.8 square miles (9.9 km2) of which is water (9.87%).[37] Fort Lauderdale is known for its extensive network of canals; there are 165 miles (266 km) of waterways within the city limits.[38]
The city of Fort Lauderdale is adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, includes 7 miles (11 km) of beaches,[39] and borders the following municipalities:[citation needed]
On its east:
On its south:
On its southwest:
On its west:
On its northwest:
On its north:
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.[40][41]
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.[42] 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.[43]
Neighborhoods
Fort Lauderdale has a program for designating and recognizing neighborhoods. Under the Neighborhood Organization Recognition Program,[44] 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.[45]
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 86–90 °F (30–32 °C) and lows of 73–78 °F (23–26 °C). 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 100 °F (38 °C) 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 75–83 °F (24–28 °C) and lows of 60–70 °F (16–21 °C) 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.[46][47] During the dry season (winter), brush fires can be a concern in many years.
Annual average precipitation is 60.95 inches (1,550 mm), with most of it occurring during the wet season from May through October. However, rainfall occurs in all months, even during the drier months from November through April, such as during the April 2023 flash flood where about two feet of rain fell in half a day. Fort Lauderdale has an average of 131 precipitation days annually. The hurricane season is between June 1 and November 30, with major hurricanes most likely to affect the city or state in September and October.[48] The most recent storms to directly affect the city were Hurricane Irma in 2017,[49] in addition to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Wilma, both of which struck the city in 2005. Other direct hits were Hurricane Cleo in 1964, Hurricane King in 1950, and the 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane. On April 12, 2023, Fort Lauderdale received 25.91 inches (658 mm) of rainfall, causing historic flooding and the temporary closure of the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport.[50]
| Climate data for Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, Florida (1991–2020 normals,[a] extremes 1912–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 92 (33) |
94 (34) |
94 (34) |
96 (36) |
99 (37) |
100 (38) |
99 (37) |
100 (38) |
99 (37) |
95 (35) |
91 (33) |
90 (32) |
100 (38) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 83.8 (28.8) |
85.7 (29.8) |
88.4 (31.3) |
90.2 (32.3) |
91.7 (33.2) |
93.6 (34.2) |
94.0 (34.4) |
93.6 (34.2) |
92.6 (33.7) |
90.7 (32.6) |
86.4 (30.2) |
84.6 (29.2) |
95.0 (35.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 75.6 (24.2) |
77.4 (25.2) |
79.7 (26.5) |
82.9 (28.3) |
85.8 (29.9) |
88.4 (31.3) |
90.0 (32.2) |
90.0 (32.2) |
88.3 (31.3) |
85.4 (29.7) |
80.8 (27.1) |
77.7 (25.4) |
83.5 (28.6) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 68.3 (20.2) |
70.3 (21.3) |
72.6 (22.6) |
76.4 (24.7) |
79.7 (26.5) |
82.5 (28.1) |
83.8 (28.8) |
84.0 (28.9) |
82.7 (28.2) |
79.9 (26.6) |
74.6 (23.7) |
71.2 (21.8) |
77.2 (25.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 60.9 (16.1) |
63.3 (17.4) |
65.6 (18.7) |
69.9 (21.1) |
73.5 (23.1) |
76.6 (24.8) |
77.6 (25.3) |
77.9 (25.5) |
77.1 (25.1) |
74.4 (23.6) |
68.3 (20.2) |
64.7 (18.2) |
70.8 (21.6) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 43.1 (6.2) |
47.0 (8.3) |
50.8 (10.4) |
58.3 (14.6) |
65.8 (18.8) |
71.0 (21.7) |
72.3 (22.4) |
72.6 (22.6) |
72.3 (22.4) |
63.8 (17.7) |
54.3 (12.4) |
48.1 (8.9) |
40.7 (4.8) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 28 (−2) |
28 (−2) |
32 (0) |
40 (4) |
49 (9) |
57 (14) |
64 (18) |
66 (19) |
61 (16) |
46 (8) |
35 (2) |
29 (−2) |
28 (−2) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.90 (74) |
2.38 (60) |
2.38 (60) |
3.02 (77) |
5.56 (141) |
9.55 (243) |
5.41 (137) |
7.89 (200) |
8.02 (204) |
7.37 (187) |
3.69 (94) |
2.78 (71) |
60.95 (1,548) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 7.0 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 10.4 | 16.0 | 15.7 | 17.0 | 16.1 | 12.2 | 9.6 | 8.4 | 131.2 |
| Source: NOAA[51][52] | |||||||||||||
Demographics
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | 2,065 | — | |
| 1930 | 8,666 | 319.7% | |
| 1940 | 17,996 | 107.7% | |
| 1950 | 36,328 | 101.9% | |
| 1960 | 83,648 | 130.3% | |
| 1970 | 139,590 | 66.9% | |
| 1980 | 153,279 | 9.8% | |
| 1990 | 149,377 | −2.5% | |
| 2000 | 152,397 | 2.0% | |
| 2010 | 165,521 | 8.6% | |
| 2020 | 182,760 | 10.4% | |
| 2022 (est.) | 183,146 | 0.2% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[53] 1920–1970[54] 1980[55] 1990[56] 2000[57] 2010[58] 2020[7] 2022[8] | |||
Fort Lauderdale is the second-largest city in the Miami metropolitan area and the largest city in Broward County, holding nearly a tenth of the county's population. It grew at a fast pace throughout the first seventy years of the twentieth century, with its population expanding from 91 in 1900 to 139,590 in 1970. After this, it experienced a period of slow growth. During the 1970s, the city's population only grew by 10.2% to 153,279 in 1980.
This began a period of stagnation for the city of Fort Lauderdale, even as the metro area and the county continued their population boom. In the 1980s, the population of the city shrank for the first time, and by the 1990 census the number of residents of Fort Lauderdale fell just below 150,000. The next decade saw a slight rebound, but by the time of the 2000 census, the city's population was at 152,397, still below its first peak in 1980.
In the 21st century, the population grew significantly. By the 2010 census, the city's population had reached 165,521 as its population grew by 8.6% over the previous decade. By the 2020 census, the city's population had reached 182,760 as its population grew by 10.4% over the previous decade.
