All Broward County residents and visitors are encouraged to experience the County’s rich history by visiting its historical sites. These sites are located in a variety of Broward County municipalities and offer an intriguing look into early pioneer life, agriculture, marine archaeology, tourism, and culture. You can choose to begin your historical experience at Broward’s oldest house located on the banks of the New River, the
Stranahan House.
11th Avenue Snow-Reed Swing Bridge
300-500 SW 11th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale
Simply known as the old Southwest 11th Avenue bridge, this unique mechanically-operated bridge swings open instead of rising. It was built between 1924-1925, with recent renovation in 2010.
Anglin's Fishing Pier
228 Commercial Boulevard, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea
First opened in 1963, it has been rebuilt following hurricane damage. Today, it extends 800 feet into the Atlantic Ocean and is near a coral reef approximately halfway out acknowledged as the closest reef to the shoreline in the continental United States. Though the historic pier remains closed to the public after sustaining damage from Hurricane Nicole in 2022, plans to rebuild and restore it to its former glory are currently underway.
Barefoot Mailman Statue
1210 Hillsboro Mile, Hillsboro Beach
This statue, located in front of City Hall, memorializes the men who for seven years carrying the mail between Lake Worth and Biscayne Bay in the late 19th Century, walking barefoot on the beaches and using small boats to cross the inlets.
Bonnet House
900 N Birch Road, Fort Lauderdale
35-acre beach estate built by Chicago painter and art collector Frederic Clay Bartlett and his wife Helen Louise, daughter of Hugh Taylor Birch. This historically significant residence and museum contains an extensive furniture and art collection and is surrounded by exotic tropical foliage and flowers. Next door is the 180-acre Hugh Taylor Birch State Park.
Bowles-Strachan House
4651 SW 19th Street, West Park
The last of four model structures built in the neighborhood of Carver Ranches, a historical subdivision platted in 1940 which was marketed exclusively to African Americans. The house serves as a living house museum with a rich number of objects, materials, furnishings, memorabilia and photographs.
Tours by appointment only, 305-343-9403
Butler House
380 E Hillsboro
Boulevard, Deerfield Beach
The Butler House is constructed of hollow tile, with plaster on lath interior walls, and Spanish tile roof. All of the furnishings are original except for the dining room table, which was used to board up a window during the 1928 hurricane.
Deerfield Beach Memorial Cemetery
380 NE 6th Avenue, Deerfield Beach
Many early pioneers of Deerfield Beach are buried here.
Ely Educational Museum at the Blanche & Joseph Ely House
1500 NW 6th Avenue, Pompano Beach
The Ely Educational Museum was the three-bedroom home of Blanche Ely, a local educator and civic pioneer in Pompano Beach’s black community. It now displays historical artifacts and documents of interest. The museum is the city’s first African-American historical museum.
Hallandale Beach City Hall Cannons
400 S Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach
The six cannons are relics of a Spanish-British dispute known as the Battle of Jenkins Ear. They were retrieved from a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea.
Hammerstein Historical House
1520 Polk Street, Hollywood
Clarence and Vera Hammerstein promoted tourism. Clarence was a pioneer in the interaction of the citrus industry between Florida and California. As a result, agricultural experts developed the Citrus Manual that is the standard reference guide for horticultural and citrus students. The house is open to the public from 1 to 4pm on the first Sunday of every month. Docents will lead visitors through the 1935 house, designed by noted Hollywood architect, Bayard Lukens. The Hammerstein house is the headquarters of the Hollywood Historical Society.
Historic Davie
6650 Griffin Road, Davie
Consists of the Old Davie School (1918), Viele House (1912), the Walsh/Osterhoudt House (1914) and the reconstructed replica of Pioneer Home (1909). The Old Davie School, of Spanish and Moorish design, was the first permanent school in the Everglades. Viele House is considered Davie's oldest structure.
Museum of Coral Springs History
10000 NW 29th Street, Coral Springs
Museum presents master plans, subdivision plats, and maps showing the City's growth from original population of 5 to now over 129,000 since its incorporation in 1963.
Old Dillard School and Museum
1009 NW 4th Street, Fort Lauderdale
This fine example of Mission-style architecture was the first high school for African-American children in Broward County. Today it is home to exhibitions, art displays and historical and cultural artifacts celebrating Broward County’s African-American heritage.
Old Fort Lauderdale Village and Museum
219 SW 2nd Avenue, Fort Lauderdale
The offices of the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society are located in the Philemon Bryan House (1904). The charming collection of historic buildings includes the King-Cromartie House (circa 1907), New River Inn (circa 1905) and Schoolhouse Replica. The New River Inn was one of the first structures to be built in South Florida using hollow concrete block. Today, it is home to the Old Fort Lauderdale Museum of History and a chronological exhibit depicting the history of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County. The County’s first schoolhouses were built in 1899 in Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale. The Fort Lauderdale school opened with nine pupils’ grades one through six. The first teacher was Ivy Julia Cromartie. The original schoolhouse was destroyed in the 1926 hurricane. The replica was dedicated in 1977.
Peace Mound Park
1300 Three Village Road, Weston
This tranquil park is built around an ancient Indian burial mound, where archaeologists have found the remains of Tequesta Indians.
Plantation Historical Museum
511 N Fig Tree Lane, Plantation
View exhibits, historical photos and artifacts, including a Tequesta and Seminole Native American display and Firehouse Memorabilia Museum.
Stranahan House
335 SE 6th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale
The Stranahan House, the oldest structure in Broward County, has been a trading post, post office, bank, private home and restaurant. It is now a museum furnished with antiques typical of an early 1900s home. It was around this tropical structure with wrap around verandahs, the home of Frank and Ivy Stranahan, that Fort Lauderdale began to grow.
Tradewinds McLean Farmhouse
3600 W Sample Road, Coconut Creek
The site was originally a 600-acre horse farm. Tour the old farmhouse featuring pecky-cypress beams and paneled walls.
Tree Tops Park
3900 SW 100th Avenue, Davie
A key attraction at the park is Pine Island Ridge, at 29 feet above sea level the highest natural elevation in Broward County. Located here is a sculpture and exhibit dedicated to the Seminole leader Sam Jones “Abiaka,” a warrior/healer who led his tribe to refuge on Pine Island Ridge during the Second and Third Seminole Wars.
Walter E. Peele Dixie Water Plant
1500 S State Road 7, Fort Lauderdale
This structure’s Mediterranean Revival features make it one of the most architecturally significant utility buildings in Florida.
Wray Family Estate
3750-3950 Flamingo Road, Davie
In addition to a tour of this authentic South Florida estate home, you can also take a tram tour of adjacent Flamingo Gardens, with its aviary, arboretum and exotic gardens, birds and animals.
