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But the story of South Florida has always been one of arrivals, from the early Tequesta Indians to the homesteaders of the 1800s, to the modern influx of Cuban and Haitian refugees, South Americans, Europeans, Canadians, and Americans from other states. Whatever South Florida’s future may hold, it is certain the “arrival” will remain a basic theme of our history. By 1925 the new city was ready for incorporation. That same year, charters were granted to Deerfield, Davie, and Floranada, north of Fort Lauderdale.

Early in 1926 Hollywood absorbed both Dania and the unincorporated Hallandale community. World War II brought the Depression Era to an end. Within months of the attack on Pearl harbor, German submarines were sinking tankers off Florida’s coasts. In order to combat these attacks, the Gulf Sea Frontier and Seventh Naval District headquarters were set up in Miami, the Submarine Chaser Training Center was established, and a U.S. Naval Air Station to house and service blimps was constructed.

At the same time, the hotels and beaches of Miami Beach were converted to barracks and training grounds by the Army Air Force. During the War, over 500,000 enlised men and 50,000 officers were trained on Miami Beach. Miami enjoyed another boom following World War II with construction, tourism, and aviation among the major industries. Beautiful new parks were established including Crandon Park, Cape Florida State Recreation Area, Biscayne National Park, and Everglades National Park.

Tourism gave birth to the cruise ship industry and today Miami is the “Cruise Ship Capital of the World” with 3.5 million passengers departing annually from The Port of Miami. Greater Miami’s soaring population received a significant boost in the 1960s when thousands of Cuban refugees arrived in Miami. They have made a major impact on Dade County, now a bilingual metropolis, owning more than one third of the local businesses including restaurants, furniture stores, garment plants, cigar factories, and banks.

The Boat Lift 1980The Boatlift of 1980 brought over 100,000 more Cubans to the United States; their impact on South Florida remains to be seen. The years since the war have been one continuous boom, filled with promise and prosperity. As some of the old industries continue to thrive, new ones, from international banking to electronics and plastics, move in with a steady flow. Most spectacular of these is space exploration, headquartered at Cape Canaveral. By the 1970s the state was agog with yet another kind of speculation: where would Walt Disney build the second of its famous theme parks?

Orlando was the final answer, an answer that was to change the face of South Florida forever. With the construction of Walt Disney World on thousands of acres of cow pasture on the outskirts of Orlando, the region boomed and is booming still, as that park and others like it expand and multiply. Now a sprawling city that covers the entire center of the state, Orlando is the nation’s number one tourist destination and, indeed, the most popular resort area in the world. When peace came, thousands of service men recalled how nice it had been in South Florida. With their families, they returned. Thousands of others joined them.

The greatest boom was on. Even in these days of trillion dollar gross national products, the figures are sobering. In the 30 years from 1940 to 1970, Fort Lauderdale’s’s population shot from 17,996 to 139,590. Hollywood went from 6,239 to 106,873; Pompano Beach from 4,427 to 38,587; and Hallandale from 1,827 to 23,849. Plantation, which was just getting started in 1950, had grown to 23,523 by 1970. New cities came into being everywhere and old ones grew. In 1945 the county still had only the seven active municipalities of 1929. Hillsboro Beach had been charter din 1939 but was not active until 1947. Hacienda Village was added in 1946 and Wilton Manors in 1947.