One of six historic buildings in the village, this 1905 hotel was the first property in Broward County to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

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Home to the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society, this museum and living village of early 20th century buildings offers displays for children and adults. Kids can learn about the lives of settlers through the village's re-enactments, pioneer museum and replica 1899 schoolhouse. Hour-long historical walking tours run Saturdays at noon and start at the New River Inn, which houses the history museum just steps away from the Riverwalk. Go back in time with the Society's collection of pioneer artifacts, furniture, clothing and farming tools, including World War II uniforms and Seminole artifacts. View manuscripts of Fort Lauderdale's first settlers, local historians and writings from Dr. James Glenn's days as a Seminole Indian Agent. The Society also owns a collection of oral history tapes, 250,000 historical photographs of Broward County and hard copies of old newspapers, including a 19th century series on the Seminole Wars.

History Fort Lauderdale

This driving tour includes stops at eight museums that share the history, art, and culture of Fort Lauderdale. The tour begins west of downtown with the African American Research Library and Cultural Center and continues on to the Old Dillard Museum and History Fort Lauderdale. After a visit to the Stranahan House Museum, the tour continues east to the coast and the Fort Lauderdale Antique Car Museum, the International Swimming Hall of Fame, the Museum of Art, and the Bonnet House Museum and Gardens. Enjoy the museums of Fort Lauderdale and be sure to also explore some of the monuments and historic homes that are near many of these museums. 

Museums of Fort Lauderdale

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The city of Lauderhill was established in 1959 in Broward County, Florida. Lauderhill was created for families and by 1966, hundreds of homes had been built. In the 1970's, Lauderhill had become a popular destination for retired people, as well as people from the north. By the 1980's, the city had grown tremendously and elected the first African-American commissioner. Since then, the city has attracted people of different cultures from the Caribbean. Lauderhill is located in South Florida, which is why there is such a large variety of people from different backgrounds. Because of Lauderhill's diversity, the population continued to grow and by the 1990's, the city's residents were more than 50% of African American or West Indian descent. The Lauderhill Historical Museum, opened in 2012, showcases the city's history and growth. It is built over the city's first city hall. The museum also has a multipurpose room which can also be divided into three smaller rooms to be utilized for different purposes. Much of the museum displays artifacts such as pictures of the city's development, old newspapers, trophies from the city's sports teams, old water bills, T-shirts from different events, and campaign paraphernalia. The museum has different themes to show the cultural impact of Lauderhill. The themes include Native Americans, the history of the city, important people of the city's history, history of the police/fire departments, the neighborhood Inverrary, and the famous actor Jackie Gleason.

The Lauderhill Historical Museum is a cultural museum that consists of historic items such as photographs, artifacts, etc. that show significance of Lauderhill's history. Lauderhill is a diverse city located in South Florida. With its diverse community, a museum was needed to show the history of how the city developed. The museum opened in 2012 and is located at Wally Elfers Park. Today, the museum possesses a huge impact for the city's residents because it provides a sense of belonging and togetherness as a community.

Lauderhill Historical Museum

The African-American Research Library and Cultural Center is more than just another branch of Broward County libraries in southern Florida. The center offers traditional library services as well as&nbsp;exhibits of historical artifacts and works of art. The center is unique in its mission to not only serve the local community but also preserve and share the&nbsp;African American history of southern Florida and the Caribbean. The center also serves as an&nbsp;event center and small business incubator.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Samuel Morrison had the vision of creating the center after visiting a&nbsp;similar center in Atlanta. Morrison worked to promote his vision of a center dedicated to African American heritage in South Florida that would also offer assistance with life skills.&nbsp;Funds were appropriated for the center through donations and through&nbsp;funding from Broward County.&nbsp;The Center is home to multiple art exhibits and special collections related to&nbsp;African American history, art, and literature dating from the early slave trade to the modern civil rights movement. The library includes a variety of collections related to Black businesses, religious and civil organizations, artists, athletes, and musicians. For example, the "Eric Rawlins Record Albums" features over 6,000 albums ranging from Gospel, R&amp;B, to Jazz.&nbsp; The Artwork and Artifact gallery of the Center features paintings, artifacts and sculptures by African American artists with an emphasis on Haitan, Caribbean, and Floridian history.&nbsp;

Fort Lauderdale's African-American Research Library and Cultural Center (AARLCC) opened in 2002 and is a branch of the Broward County library system in south Florida. Part library, part archive, part history museum, part art museum, and part community center, the institution offers exhibits drawn from its collection of local history artifacts and items associated with Caribbean and African history. The center provides many normal library services to the local community, including a small business resource center. The institution also offers a research library and exhibits and programs that interpret and share Florida's rich African-American history and culture. 

African-American Research Library and Cultural Center

The Old Dillard Museum is located in a structure built in 1907 originally as a school for people of color. The museum highlights the significant contributions of the Black community and is the longest-standing building in Broward County. In 1991 Old Dillard Museum was added to the National Register of Historic Places still exhibiting the same classroom with original sitting, a portrait of the first graduating class, and many cultural artifacts. It is known to be the first public school opened in Fort Lauderdale for colored children. The school was renamed after James H. Dillard a philanthropist and an educator who advocate for the young colored people to attend school. Dillard helped organize many funded organizations to ensure African American students were provided a good education. The Black Historical Society, the school board of Broward County, and the Broward County Commission worked hard to open a school for their children, which only went up to the 6th grade. The community was mostly a farming region, some of the locals felt it wasn’t needed to educate past the grade level assuming they’ll just venture into a career in farming or picking crops. However, nearly two decades after the opening Principle Dr. Joseph A. Ely added more classes and sought to educate his students past the 6th grade. ( “Broward History”) As the years grew the school began to develop. Inside the Old Dillard Museum, there’s a gallery dedicated to the history of jazz that shares the life and work of famous jazz player and band director Julian “Cannonball” Adderley. The room is set up just like a jazz club back in the early 1990s, includes a grand piano and restored jukebox. Adderley was an American saxophonist and band director at Dillard High School where he helped instill the importance of jazz to the students. After his 2 years of teaching jazz at Dillard High, he moved to New York where he joined a jazz band along his brother Nat Adderley side. After the parting of Julian Adderley, Dillard high became well known for their jazz program. Their efforts and hard work won two coveted national high school competitions, Essentially Ellington. The band also won the Swing Central competition in Savannah, Georgia. Despite all the accomplishments made to open and maintain a learning environment for the African American there was still trouble lingering outside their doors. Segregation was everywhere in Fort Lauderdale even at the beach. The beach was opened to everyone however if you were colored, you were only permitted to be on the sand and far away from the water. A historian from Old Dillard Museum named Tony Thompson did research on Eula Johnson an activist to desegregate Fort Lauderdale Beaches. In the summer of 1961 Johnson planned a wade-ins at Fort Lauderdale Beach, even though she received a message that the KKK was going to ambush the protest. Thompson says “They loaded some teenagers in their cars and they drove them to the beach. They parked their cars and walked onto the beach. White people started to crowd around them, and they just kept walking towards the water. And the crowd parted.” No one bothered the protester nor was there any arrest made. Pictures of the protest can be found displayed in the Old Dillard Museum. After the protest, Eula Johnson was asked to put a stop to her protest of desegregation at the beach, because it made the whites feel uncomfortable to swim with the colored people. But that did stop Johnson’s fight in standing up for her people’s rights. She planned many more wade-ins until the city council filed a law suit against her claiming she was causing chaos at the beaches. Her case was appointed to the federal court where the federal judge sided with her cause. The judge decided since the colored people pay their taxes just as everyone does they should be allowed to enjoy the public beaches like any other Fort Lauderdale residents. Johnson knew how risky fighting for her rights was, but she decided that she was not going to give up until someone seen her vision and made it possible. (“Black History Month Feature: Old Dillard Museum”) After the remodeling of the new improved Dillard High, the city wanted to tear down the old school. But the community organized in opposition and the result would later become the impetus for the creation of this museum which shares an important chapter of the history of Fort Lauderdale. The museum provides many documents that represent the rich African American heritage of Fort Lauderdale.

Located in a historic building that was constructed in 1907, this features exhibits and displays from local, national, and international artists that include everything from woven kente cloths and photos to live performances. Highlights include a permanent Jazz Gallery exhibition dedicated to the late jazz saxophonist Julian ``Cannonball'' Adderley and the museum's library, which houses more than 2,500 books and other reference materials on the African diaspora.

Old Dillard Museum

In January 1893, Frank Stranahan moved to the area now known as Fort Lauderdale. He oversaw his cousin's camp and ferry business which soon turned into a thriving trading business with the Seminole Indians. He became known to them as a "fair businessman" and from there the Seminoles came over in the dozens, camping at the trading post for days at a time. In 1894 Frank acquired ten acres of his own land to move and expand the trading post down along the New River making it the focal point of the tiny New River Settlement. As this settlement grew so did the need for a teacher. Ivy Cromartie, who was 18 at the time, filled this role in the one-room schoolhouse built on the settlement for her and her nine students. On August 16, 1900, she and Frank got married and in 1901 Frank built the present day Stranahan House. Initially, they did not live there; the lower floor served as a trading post and the upper floor as a community hall. Over time the settlement grew. Soon enough the area was named Fort Lauderdale and Frank and Ivy took on leadership roles in the social and civic life of their developing city.In 1926 the Florida Land Boom came to end and during the next few years two hurricanes hit the state hard. As a result, Frank's financial situation declined significantly and he became very depressed. His health suffered as well. These years took its toll, leading him to commit suicide in 1929 as a consequence. For her part, Ivy carried on. She leased the first floor of the house to restaurants and rented some of the rooms in the house. She also remained active in the community for the rest of her life. Among her accomplishments, she became a member of the city's planning and zoning committee, founded the Friends of the Seminoles, and established the Broward County chapter of the Red Cross. She passed away in 1971.The Seventh Day Adventist Church acquired the house (Ivy was a lifelong member of the church) before selling it to the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society in 1975. The house opened as a museum in 1984 after several years of restoration.

Built in 1901, the Stranahan House is one of the most historic landmarks in Fort Lauderdale. It is significant for its association with the husband and wife who lived here, Frank and Ivy Stranahan, and its architecture. Frank and Ivy were influential figures in the the early 20th century. Frank was the first permanent non-native settler in what would become Fort Lauderdale. He became a successful businessman and landowner, and for ten years he served as a member of the city council and four years as its president. Ivy was a teacher and became known for teaching Seminole Indian children. In fact, she and Frank are perhaps best known for helping the Seminole Indians to assimilate into modern life during these years. In terms of design, the two-story house is a good example of design adapted for Florida climate. Notable features include wraparound porches on both floors and a steeply pitched roof. Visitors can take guided tours and attend special events at the house


Historic Stranahan House Museum

Arthur Stone made about a dollar a day, selling flowers on the
streets of New York during the Great Depression. He became taken with the fancy
cars that he would see role by. Stone moved to Miami in 1937 and then to Fort
Lauderdale five years later. 

Stone purchased Buning the Florist, a Fort Lauderdale
establishment since1925, in 1944. After asking John Buning how much he wanted
for the shop — $3,000 —Stone returned in a month to buy the business with a
borrowed $2,500 and $500 of his own money. When he sold the business in 1999,
it had grown to 11 stores with $6 million in annual revenue.

Arthur Stone bought his first Packard in 1948 for $700. His
Packard fleet became so large that&nbsp;Stone established the museum to house them. The&nbsp;30,000 square foot museum is available to rent out for special events.&nbsp;There is also a research library.&nbsp;

The Fort Lauderdale Antique Car Museum is the vision of retired floral company owner Arthur O. Stone. The museum features dozen Packards (all in running condition) from 1900 to the 1940s, along with a gallery saluting Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In addition to cars, the museum interprets the history of automobiles through everything from grease caps, spark plugs, and gearshift knobs to Texaco Oil signage. 

Fort Lauderdale Antique Car Museum

Michael started swimming at the age of seven. He and his family were all into swimming. They all swam at the North Baltimore Aquatic Center. He began to love the sport and excel at it at a very young age.  Michael Phelps started his Olympic career at the age of 15 at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. At 15 he began setting world records and he continued to do that throughout his entire swimming career. Michael Phelps became the most decorated athlete to perform in the Olympics. He is very dedicated to his job and loves what he does. There are no days off for Michael Phelps. He gets into the pool on holidays and even his own birthday. His hard work and dedication are what sets him apart from the other athletes and it payed off. In 2001 at the age of 15 Michael Phelps was swimming in the U.S. Spring Olympic games and set the world record for the 200m Butterfly posting a score of 1 minute 54.92 seconds. This was just the beginning of Michael Phelps breaking records in the sport of swimming. A year later he ended up winning his first ever international title at the world championship in Fukuoka Japan. In 2002 Michael Phelps claimed five medals, including three gold at the Pan Pacific Championship at the U.S. Spring Nationals in 2003 he became the first ever male swimmer to claim three titles in three different swimming strokes at a single national championship. Michael Phelps went on to break five individual world records at the championship in Barcelona Spain. To finish off his astonishing young career he went on to win five more titles at the U.S. summer nationals. This was the most wins by a single swimmer in a championship. In the 2004 Olympic games in Athens Greece he started to dominate on the Olympic stage. He captured six gold medals, two bronze medals while setting five Olympic world records. While Phelps was dominating the sport, he ended up tying Mark Spitz Olympics records. The 2008 Olympics in Beijing is where the whole world got to witness history from the greatest swimmer ever. Going into these Olympics Michael Phelps had a mission and that was to beat Spitz’s record which had lasted 36 years. The record was suddenly going to change because Michael Phelps started off strong taking gold in the first three events. To finish his trip at the 2008 Olympics he went on to break Spitz’s record and won eight gold medals. This was by far one of the most entertaining Olympics in recent history.  Four years later at the 2012 Olympics in London, once again Michael Phelps put on a show that didn’t disappoint. Believe it or not he didn’t start the way he had hoped to. He didn’t medal in the first event. In his next event he ended up winning silver in two events. He finally won a gold medal in the 4x 200-meter freestyle. That win that was his 19th career Olympic medal passing soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina. Michael Phelps ended the London Olympics games with a gold medal then announced he was planning to retire after those games. He ended up missing the sport and competition and decide to give it one more run at 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil. He was the flag bearer representing the U.S. at the opening ceremonies. His final event which was the 200-meter butterfly. By no surprise it was going to be emotional for Michael Phelps and deep down he wanted to win that gold for his country and go out like a champion. That is indeed what Phelps ended up doing beating Chad Le Cos by four-hundredths of a second. Michael Phelps got to end an amazing swimming career on a high note. Michael Phelps finished with a total of 28 Olympic medals. Some might say Michael Phelps is the Michael Jordan of basketball. He had historic swimming career and I am glad I got to witness greatness throughout the different Olympics. In 2014 a statue of Michael Phelps was erected at the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale Florida. He would not be eligible to be elected to the Hall of Fame until at least 2016. However, many officials and fans alike believed he deserved the statue because of his great, unheard of accomplishments in the sport.

Michael Phelps was born June 30th, 1985 in Baltimore Maryland. Michael Phelps was raised with a family of swimmers and started swimming at the age of seven. He is the most decorated Olympic athlete with a total of 28 medals including  23  gold medals. Michael turned his love for the sport into a remarkable career. The International Swimming Hall of fame is the mecca for swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. The museum, library, and archive contain the worlds largest collection of aquatic memorabilia and the largest source of books, manuscripts and literature. The sport of swimming doesn't really have many statues or artwork that pay tribute to and recognize the talent of swimmers. The International Swimming Hall of Fame wants to change that.  Michael Phelps raised the interest and awareness of the sport.  They wanted to recognize him and his intense efforts.  

International Swimming Hall of Fame

The NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale had humble beginnings as the Fort Lauderdale Art Center. This organization opened in 1958 in a small space in an old hardware store. Despite the physical limitations, over 75,000 people visited the organization in its first five years of operation, which prompted a name change to the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale. During the museum’s early years, works of art by established artists Pablo Picasso, Mary Cassatt, and Childe Hassam were exhibited. In addition to these already famous artists, works by the not yet canonized Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein also passed through the museum. When a 1967 fire destroyed several works held by the museum, the institution established a temporary home while they searched for a permanent location. This process proved to be more fraught and arduous than initially anticipated. It was not until 1983 that a suitable site was located, voters approved a proposal, and the city of Fort Lauderdale agreed to sell the museum the land. In 1984, ground was finally broken on the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale’s new building. Architect Edward Larrabee Barnes was commissioned to design the structure. At the time, Barnes was already internationally recognized for his work on higher education and museum structures, such as Bowdoin College’s Visual Arts Center, the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, and the Walker Art Center. The original modernist structure featured over 65,000 square feet of space, with 21,000 of this devoted to the primary exhibition space. The museum opened to the public in 1986. The inaugural exhibition was “An American Renaissance: Painting and Sculpture Since 1940.” The museum enjoyed massive success in its new space. By 2001, even more space was needed and a 10,000 square foot addition was added. This addition was refurbished and modernized in 2007. In 2008, the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale began a partnership with Nova Southeastern University. Seven years later, the museum’s name was changed to NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale (AMFL) to reflect this cooperation.Over the past two decades, AMFL has solidified itself as a premier cultural destination in Southern Florida. The 2003 exhibition “St. Peter and the Vatican” drew over 150,000 visitors alone. “Diana, a Celebration,” opened the following year and drew similar crowds of people eager to learn about the life of Princess Diana. In 2005, AMFL experienced its most resounding exhibition success. “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” an exhibit centered around the gold treasures of an Ancient Egyptian king, was displayed at only four American institutions, AMFL being one. The exhibit attracted 750,000 visitors and generated $150 million for Broward County. Other blockbuster exhibitions include the 2011 “Vatican Splendors” and the 2017 “Frank Stella: Research and Development.”AMFL’s permanent collections include over 7,500 works. Works span from the nineteenth century through the modern age, with a particular focus on contemporary art. The museum includes the largest collection of European Cobra artists in America. The Cobra movement was composed of avant-garde artists from Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam who opposed many modern art movements, as well as the violence of World War II. William J. Glackens, one of the founders of the Ashcan art movement, has a dedicated wing in the museum. Over five hundred of the artist’s works are in the museum’s permanent collections. AMFL’s modern and contemporary holdings focus on Latin American, Black, Latinx, and African artists. This facet of the collections was significantly enhanced in 2016 by a donation of one hundred works from David Horvitz and Francie Bishop Good.In addition to exhibitions of visual works, AMFL also hosts a variety of initiatives and programs. The William J. Glackens Research Collection and Study Center holds all the museum’s materials relating to the artist. The Stanley and Pearl Goodman Collection of Latin American Art serves the broader purpose of providing a research space for Latin American Art scholars.  Beginning in 2003, the museum runs the Studio Arts Program, which offers courses in painting, drawing, and design taught by professional artists. Pedagogical workshops on art education are also offered for middle and high school teachers. Community programs help connect k-12 students to art, both virtually and on the museum site. A Sense of Pride is a program dedicated to fostering LGBTQIA+ pride in young adults. A resident theater company, Inside Out, frequently performs in the 256 seat Horvitz Auditorium. Finally, a variety of events ranging from lectures, to film screenings, to family days round out AMFL’s rich depth of programming.

The NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale is known as a premier destination in South Florida for modern and contemporary art. Initially founded in 1958, the museum has grown into a 75,000+ square foot space designed by acclaimed architect Edward Larrabee Barnes. Highlights of the collection include over five hundred works by William J. Glackens, the largest collection of Cobra art in the United States, and markedly multicultural contemporary holdings. In addition to displaying art, the museum also hosts a wide variety of programming. This ranges from study centers, to performance art events, to workshops and studios for students and teachers.

NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale

Chicago lawyer Hugh Taylor Birch purchased the house in 1895, but gave the property as a wedding gift in 1919 to his daughter and her husband. His daughter, Helen, was married to an artist named Fredric Clay Bartlett, who is most known for his paintings of French Post-Impressionist art. Fredric also brought a son into the family from another marriage named Fredric Jr. Fredric soon began to design the house into a dream winter retreat for Helen and his son, but tragedy struck in 1925 when Helen passed away. Fredric was grief stricken, but he decided to memorialize his late wife in an art collection that he gave to the Art Institute of Chicago.In 1931, Frederic married his new wife, Evelyn Fortune Lilly, who previously left a philanthropist named Eli Lilly. The couple continued to live on the property with the flattering elements that visitors get to experience today. However, Fredric would soon die in the year of 1953 living ownership of the property to Evelyn. Evelyn deeded the property over to the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and she later died in 1997. The house and gardens are now a historic museum to the general public today.Fredric’s vision of the house was based on inspiration from Caribbean plantation-style architecture and buildings. Today, visitors can embark on the beautiful grounds and feel the history left behind from previous owners. This includes Frederic's artwork and Evelyn's botanical gardens. Along with her love for orchids, Evelyn matched each ecosystem with her love for animals putting squirrel monkeys, Amazon parrots, and gopher tortoises on the premises. The gardens would be placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Purchased in 1895, this house was bought by a settler and lawyer named Hugh Taylor Birch. It was given as a wedding gift to his daughter, Helen, and her husband, an artist named Frederic Clay Bartlett. In 1983, the house and gardens would be given to the Flordia Trust for Historic Preservation to turn it into a museum. The location was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Museums of Fort Lauderdale

History Fort Lauderdale

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