Saturday, March 23, 2024

Davie, Florida, Cowboy Town and the Panama Canal Zone

 

Rodeo in Davie 1991
State of Florida Archives


By Jane Feehan

Many associate the Broward County town of Davie with its Western vibe of cowboys, horses and rodeos. But, as with several early South Florida settlements, farming was its foundation.

Developers and politicians of the first few years of the 20th century touted the possibilities of draining the Everglades for settlement and farming. Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward (served 1905-1909) ran on a platform that included draining the Everglades. *  In 1909, he called for the sale of 100,000 acres to finance such a project.  

Land sale prospects attracted real estate enthusiasts. Some say salespeople enticed American workers in the Panama Canal Zone to buy Everglades property. Panama and South Florida, after all, were similar in climate and topography. The Canal was not completed until 1914, but some workers bought land unseen and made the move to Florida in 1909-10.

One of the companies to facilitate sales was the Everglades Land Sale Company, established by Robert Parsell Davie in 1909 who purchased about 28,000 acres. Davie, a native of Flushing, Michigan, was a successful entrepreneur. He had opened a drug store in Colorado Springs, financed and was a stockholder in beet sugar factories and irrigation projects in Colorado, Kansas, and Arizona and was involved in California real estate.

Davie was impressed by the tall sugar cane he saw growing along a canal to Lake Okeechobee on an early visit. His experience in sugar production and particularly irrigation—"a hobby of mine for several years”—would be applied to Florida efforts.

Farmers in the new settlement they called Zona (a reference to Panama) were also impressed. They grew strawberries, tomatoes and peppers in the rich dark and mucky soil of the Everglades. Davie had created the Davie Farm by 1912 and constructed a $1,700 packing house for fruit and vegetable shipping December 1913 or early 1914. At that time, the town was accessible only by boat. In 1914 an announcement for creation of the Davie Farm Drainage District was published.

It was also the year Davie donated land for a school for the growing community of a few hundred. The Davie School was designed by August Geiger who also designed Fort Lauderdale High School. It still stands as part of the town’s historic district.

The name of the new settlement had to go, however, on “account of mail trouble arising from the similarity of the names Zona and Ozona” in Pinellas County. The U.S Assistant Postmaster granted their request to change the name to Davie Nov. 1, 1913. The name was changed in early 1914 to Davie in honor of the man who invested much to reclaim the Everglades, donated land for the school, and established Davie Farm and its drainage district. (Dreams of draining the Everglades faded with the 1926 and 1928 hurricanes.)

The Town of Davie was incorporated in 1925 when there were 440 residents. Frank Stirling was tapped as first mayor. A horticulturalist at the University of Florida for more than a decade and leader in the fight against citrus canker, Stirling moved to Davie because “it was far enough south for a tropical and subtropical climate and the soil was some of the best in the world.” He owned Stirling and Sons Nursery and helped establish Flamingo Growers and Gardens, now Flamingo Gardens.

In 2021, the Town of Davie was home to about 104,882 residents. The U.S. Census counted 110,000 residents in 2020.

An obituary for Robert P. Davie, born in 1867 is not available. Published accounts say he died around 1930. His wife, Martha Hays Davie died in Los Angeles County in 1949 and was then referred to as the widow of Robert Parsell Davie. With so many interests around the country he probably didn’t reside for long in the Florida town named for him, especially when draining proved to be unfeasible.

About those cowboys and rodeos

The first rodeo in Davie (Cowboy Town) was held in 1940 by Claude Tindall, a cattle rancher referred to as the “father of Florida rodeo.” A Davie resident, Tindall used his own livestock and gathered a “collection of local cowhands” for the inaugural event. Spectators sat in cars around a fenced area. Afterward, Tindall passed a hat for the production; he collected $140 that day. Tindall went on to hold two rodeos a year in Davie at the Bergeron Rodeo Arena as well as events in West Palm Beach and at Miami’s Orange Bowl. Today, rodeos are produced by the Weekley Bros. Davie Pro Rodeo at 4271 Davie Road (954-680-8005). A Western parade is held as part of the Orange Blossom Festival. Bergeron Arena at 4201 Rodeo Way holds a number of events other than rodeos for the Town of Davie.

Cowboys remain along with horses but there are far fewer farms. Developers now go where angels fear to tread.  

*Note: Hamilton Disston sponsored the first Everglades drainage project in 1881. For more, see: 

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2020/09/hamilton-disston-and-early-attempt-to.html

 For more on Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, see: https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2021/01/napoleon-bonaparte-broward-and.html

Sources:

The Miami News, Feb. 7, 1912

The Miami News, Feb. 11, 1913

The Miami News, Feb. 14, 1913

The Miami News, Oct. 14, 1913

The Miami News, Dec. 19, 1913

The Miami News, Jan. 16, 1914

The Miami News, Jan. 19, 1914

The Miami News, May 23, 1914

The Miami News, Nov. 29, 1915

The Miami News, July 18, 1916

The Miami Herald, April 10, 1926

The Miami Herald, Feb. 21, 1954

The Miami Herald, July 8, 1979

Fort Lauderdale Magazine, March 1, 2017

Daily Independent, Dec. 23, 2022

Ancestry.com

Town of Davie

https://davieprorodeo.com/dpr/page/2/

Wikipedia


Tags: Broward County history, Davie, Robert Parsell Davie, Cowboy Town, Davie History, Frank Stirling, Davie, Florida, Flamingo Gardens

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Hollywood Beach Hotel and its descent from splendor

 

Hollywood Beach Resort 2024








By Jane Feehan

Joseph W. Young planned a whole community for land he purchased north of Miami in 1920. Hollywood-by-the-Sea would include a broad boulevard to the ocean from a 10-acre landscaped circle, a train depot, schools for year-round residents and several hotels for visitors.

Ground was broken in 1920-21 for his town. The boulevard he promised was reportedly the widest in the state at 120 feet. He built 25 bungalows for “regular” residents and later a tent camp near Dixie Highway for winter visitors.

Perhaps the building with the widest impact on publicity for the town was the Hollywood Beach Hotel. Construction began at Young’s request in early 1925 for the impressive 500-room beachside structure. Its architects Rubush and Hunter had also designed Carl Fisher's Flamingo Hotel on Miami Beach.

The $3 million plus, seven-story hotel, featuring fireproof, “Spanish-type” architecture would also hold a shopping arcade of 28 stores to draw both guests and customers from the street. A large, $30,000 pipe organ from Chicago’s W. W. Kimbell Company was installed, thousands of pieces of Bavarian dinnerware were purchased, and a driveway for “motor cars” (an unusual hotel amenity at the time) was built. The structure spanned 525 feet along the ocean front.

According to news accounts at the time, 100 trucks were spotted on the project one day and workers “labored day and night” on the project in December 1925 to complete it for the opening event in January 1926. Not to be hindered by building supply shortages due to inadequate rail capacity throughout South Florida, Young set up a “private fleet of boats” to do the job, which included delivering boatloads of cement made in Norway.

Lower rates than those at other hotels were promised. “This is the rather humanitarian idea of Mr. Young, believing in its business-building effect,” reported The Miami Herald.

Opening night – a date later than originally planned—was an informal affair in early February attended by a few hundred guests. Reservations for the entire winter season were already booked by residents from “up North.” It promised to be a busy first tourist season. It was the Roaring 20s after all. The roar, however, turned into a whimper months later with the Great Hurricane of September 1926.

Many structures fell with that storm, but the Hollywood Hotel remained standing. Damage to the hotel was estimated to be about $400,000. They were insured for $1.2 million. But, within a few months, pages of local newspapers were again filled with reports on hotel visitors and social events.

Hollywood Beach Hotel
1930 State Archives of Florida
The Hollywood Hotel, “Grand Lady,” became a fixture of South Florida tourism for decades. Unfortunately, its tale is one of a slow descent from splendor. According to accounts, tourists, including notorious mobsters, stayed there until at least the early 1940s, when it became a naval training school during World War II. It transitioned back to a hotel and tourists rediscovered it during the 1950s and 60s. During the 1970s it was home to Hollywood Bible College.

From the 1980s to today, the hotel (renamed Hollywood Beach Resort) has come under an assortment of owners – some at the same time—who converted hotel rooms into timeshare units and condos on some floors while re-making the street level floor into a shopping center and food court. Ramada Inn reportedly operated parts of the Grand Lady at one time. 

Because of concurrent multiple owners, efforts to place the property on the National Register of Historic Places failed. News accounts indicate residents considered the hotel an eyesore by 2002. Electricity was turned off in parts of the building in 2003.

Today, the 368-room property, with parts demolished, seems to be in legal limbo. A law firm is listed in property records as owner of most of the Grand Lady. Construction fencing circles the hotel and parts of its lot serve as fee-based public parking. With old beachfront properties falling to developers, this sliver of South Florida hotel history may be nothing more than a memory or a page in history books. A condo, no doubt, will eventually sit on this prime property.

Stay tuned for updates …


Entrance from Hollywood Blvd., circa 1926
Florida State Archives




Sources:

The Miami Herald, Jan. 28, 1923

Fort Lauderdale News, April 8, 1925

The Miami Herald, July 26, 1925

Miami Tribune, Sept. 25, 1925

The Miami Herald, Nov. 8, 1925

Miami Tribune, Nov. 17, 1925

The Indianapolis Star, Dec. 16, 1925

The Miami Herald, Dec. 27, 1926

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 4, 1926

The Miami Herald, Dec. 31, 1926

Miami News, Sept. 30, 1926

The Miami Herald, Jan. 9, 2000

The Miami Herald, Jan. 9, 2000

The Miami Herald, May 24, 2002

The Miami Herald, Dec. 18, 2004

The Miami Herald, June 5, 2005

The Real Deal, May 22, 2022

Commercial Observer, May 13, 2022

The Miami Herald, Nov. 26, 2023

Tags: Hollywood Beach Hotel, Hollywood Beach Resort, Hollywood history, Joseph W. Young,   

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Fort Lauderdale’s Yellowstone Park

 

Fort Lauderdale 1917 - New River & Intracoastal
State Archives of Florida

 By Jane Feehan

Yes, Fort Lauderdale has a Yellowstone Park. Unless one lives there or has house hunted in the area, few are aware of this community first developed in the 1920s. The early subdivision sat off West Avenue and was bordered on the east by the New River off SW 17 Street. Parts of the community sit close to Croissant Park.

M.A. “Al” Hortt, a former streetcar conductor and gold prospector from Utah developed Fort Lauderdale’s Yellowstone Park around 1925, aiming to build “the most complete subdivision of Broward County.” It sat three miles from the city hall at that time. Hortt installed sidewalks, curbs, gutters, paved streets, lighting, water lines and shrubbery. 

A successful developer and real estate entrepreneur who arrived in Fort Lauderdale in 1910, Hortt advertised lots in the 1925 community for $5,000 for a corner location, $4,000 for lots next to the corner and $3,500 for inside lots. He offered an interest rate of “8 percent on deferred payments.” Hortt touted “profits on resales.”

Hortt had already developed the Colee Hammock, Beverly Heights, Idlewyld, Riviera and Lauderdale Shores neighborhoods. The 1920s were roaring for South Florida then and Hortt was particularly successful.

In December1925 he announced 50 houses would be built at Yellowstone, averaging $10,000 each with prices ranging from $7,000-$12,000. Fort Lauderdale businessman Fred Maxwell was financing construction. Maxwell moved machinery into the tract to make cement for the new houses. The project was expected to “relieve the housing shortage in Lauderdale.”

According to his autobiography, Gold Coast Pioneer, Hortt also accepted $25,000 for a group of 10 lots purchased by “building contractor Mr. Roach.” (I believe this was C.A Roach, a known contractor at the time.) Seven one-family and two duplexes were completed before the boom collapsed.

The bust was delivered by the 1926 hurricane, which upended plans for continued building and damaged many houses; a few were repaired with insurance money. Most houses, however, were vacated after the storm and rented for as little as $10. I assume that was a monthly rate. By 1927, five-room houses were rented for $25-$35. Hortt bought back several lots from buyers who could not afford property taxes on the lots in the ensuing years.

Hortt, who later served as a Fort Lauderdale city commissioner and mayor, shared a somewhat humorous, if not aggravating, ending to the 1925 version of Yellowstone Park. In 1928, after another hurricane, he sent an employee to see if houses were damaged. The employee was greeted by fresh tire tracks and missing plumbing fixtures in several houses. Hortt called the sheriff’s office and they tracked down and recovered the fixtures along with those from houses in Pompano being built by William L. Kester. Kester didn’t know the fixtures were missing.

M.A. Hortt shifted focus to other land purchases, including some in Pompano Beach, where he died in 1958 at 77.

Today’s Yellowstone Park houses, many of which were built in the 1950s and 60s, sell for $500,000 and up, often topping a million dollars. Boat access to the ocean via canals and the New River ranks as a strong selling point for the community.


Sources:

Hortt, M.A., Gold Coast Pioneer. New York: Exposition Press, 1955

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 12, 1925

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 17, 1925

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 16, 1925

Fort Lauderdale News, June 20, 1927

Tags: M.A. Hortt, Fort Lauderdale history, history of Fort Lauderdale, Yellowstone Park. Fort Lauderdale in the 1920s

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Interesting facts about Fort Lauderdale during the 1980s

Fort Lauderdale 1983 Florida State Archives



Below is a small collection of Fort Lauderdale-specific news items of the 1980s. Some may jog a memory or two or evoke surprise about that decade—one of change for this beachside city.

Merchants along Fort Lauderdale’s “strip” off A1A near Las Olas Boulevard consider the “troubled area” 80 percent better than during the last few years of high crime. Two additional police officers were recently assigned to this popular spot across from the beach. 1980

Mayor E. Clay Shaw sponsors an ordinance to permit high-density hotels for two blocks at A1A near Las Olas to “prevent further deterioration of the beach area.” Merchants express new fear of being pushed out. 1980

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers draw 18,223 for a soccer game aired on ABC-TV June 8, 1980. They played the Tampa Rowdies.

Controversial ophthalmologist Dr. Frederick Blanton loses appeal and is sentenced to five years in federal prison for dispensing Quaaludes to patients. He first gained attention during the 1970s for prescribing marijuana for patients with glaucoma. He was also accused of assault of a police officer after allegedly pointing a gun at a cop. Before sentencing he says he prefers a one-way ticket to Russia rather than go to jail. 1983

Fire destroys one of Fort Lauderdale’s oldest buildings, the Ship Apartments at 303 N. New River Drive West. Built in 1905 by Fort Lauderdale pioneer Philemon Bryan for his son, Reed Bryan in 1905, the 75-year-old building, next to the New River Inn, is vacant when the fire occurs. 1980

A six-month federal investigation reveals mob ties to Heaven nightclub at 3937 North Federal Highway. Activities involving New Jersey mobster Anthony Acceturro of the Lucchese crime family are cited in a report submitted in 1983

Beach residents rally to complain about Spring Break patrons of Penrod's relieving themselves behind the popular nightspot. 1983

Sunday Brunch at the Galt Ocean Mile Hotel advertised for $6.95. 1983

The first person is arrested under a controversial anti-vagrancy law making it illegal to rummage through other people’s garbage. The violator was arrested for allegedly rummaging at an apartment building at SE 4th Avenue and 23rd Street. 1984

The inaugural Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival is approved by the city and held in late 1986. Realtor Patty Lombard serves as first president of the festival.

New York businessman Donald Trump’s $29 million, 282-foot yacht Trump Princess will berth at the Best Western Motel off the 17th Street Causeway until March that year (1988).

Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi begins service between Commercial Boulevard and Port Everglades October of 1988. Bekoff Yachting Service launches its Canal Cabs the same month. Rides on both are $2.50-$5.00

Population of Fort Lauderdale in 1989 - about 148,500

Fort Lauderdale restaurants open for late-night eats after night clubbing in 1989 (does not include chain restaurants):

Bahia Cabana

Bootleggers

Boat House Bar and Grill

North Ridge Raw Bar and Restaurant

At’s a Pizza

Peter Pan Diner and

Joseph’s Restaurant and Lounge

Bahia Cabana circa 1996 Florida State Archives
Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News:

Jan. 6, 1980

Oct 23, 1980

Jan. 9, 1980

March 30, 1983

April 3, 1983

April 17, 1983

June 4, 1983

Oct. 11, 1984

South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

May 29, 1986

Oct. 8, 1988

Dec. 30,1988

Dec. 30, 1989

https://www.biggestuscities.com/city/fort-lauderdale-florida

Tags: Fort Lauderdale during the 1980s, Fort Lauderdale History. history of Fort Lauderdale, Trump, Water Taxi, Penrod's, population of Fort Lauderdale

Sunday, February 4, 2024

Jolly Roger Hotel and a pirate flag debate

Jolly Roger Hotel 1953,
State Archives of Florida
Pirate flag, Ã…land Maritime Museum
* See below for more 


By Jane Feehan

A flag controversy at the opening of the Jolly Roger Hotel in 1953 sparked outrage—and a tradition.

The public was invited to opening night festivities at the 50-room, pirate-themed hotel, which included a display of treasure recovered from a Spanish galleon sunken off the Florida Keys. And what would a hotel named Jolly Roger be without a pirate flag, a jolly roger flag? Owner Bob Gill displayed the skull and crossbones pennant on a 75-foot mast along with the flag of the United States.

The July 29 festivities appeared on WFTL-TV. Soon after, calls, many from boaters, came into the station and to the Fort Lauderdale News about flag placement order. It appeared the pirate flag was placed in prominence over the U.S flag. Not only that, but some also said the flag should not be flown at night.

Gill was prepared, though the controversy didn’t end right away. The U.S flag can be flown at night if it was well illuminated, the hotelier said; lights were ablaze. Many said the two flags should not have been displayed together.

On the order of placement, hotel management cited the 1949 edition of Charles F. Chapman’s Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling. “Honor for national colors on land is as follows: on a straight mast, at the gaff.” The hotel mast had a gaff or yardarm. (At sea, a chaplain’s flag may be flown over the US flag only during services conducted by a Navy chaplain.)

Maybe it was the excitement of the festivities, the romance of piracy or the illumination of both flags, but overnight July 29-30, the skull and crossbones disappeared. Another pirate flag was on display a few days later; it was the first of many flag thefts and replacements. The pirate flag was grabbed again in 1955. Hotel management said the worst part of that incident was the car displaying it while cruising A-1-A in front of the Jolly Roger Hotel.

Fort Lauderdale News wrote that the pirate flag “seems to catch the eye of tourists who get the urge to bring it back home as a souvenir.”

It wasn’t just tourists who wanted that flag. Making off with it became a rite of passage for some kids. Many who grew up in 1950s and 60s Fort Lauderdale know of at least one jokester who stole the iconic flag. Known as the Sea Club Resort today, the hotel maintains a pirate theme, especially in the lobby. The hotel was given a historic designation by the city of Fort Lauderdale in 2009.

For some fun, let’s bring that flag back.

Pirate flag background

The jolly roger flag, so named by the British, is a skull and crossbones pennant first used in the early 1700s. Hoisted by pirates as an identifier in skirmishes or display of bravery or swagger, the traditional pirate flag was also raised by the British Royal Navy during World War II to indicate successful completion of a mission.


Sea Club today

* Picture of flag above:

Pirate flag at the Ã…land Maritime Museum, one of two pirate flags that are considered authentic. The flag is about 200 years old and came to Ã…land from the North African Mediterranean coast, where piracy occurred right into the 19th century. It is made of cotton and was once dark brown. Now it is faded by the ravages of time, weather and wind. This photo has been color corrected by user Blockhaj to try to show the flag as it originally appeared.

For more on the Jolly Roger Hotel, see: 


Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, July 29, 1953

Fort Lauderdale News, July 30, 1953

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 1, 1953

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 4, 1953

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 22, 1955

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 17, 1955

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 22, 1958

Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 29, 2009

Wikipedia

Tags: Jolly Roger Hotel, Fort Lauderdale History, History of Fort Lauderdale, Jolly Roger flag, Bob Gill, Gill hotels, Fort Lauderdale during the 1950s


Monday, January 22, 2024

Where have Florida's oranges gone?

Florida postcard 1907,
State Archives of Florida

 



By Jane Feehan


Florida oranges have seen better days. Today, they are hard to find at local grocery stores. Closely affiliated with Florida’s brand since the mid-20th century, the state’s citrus crop has been hit with disease and development the past few decades.

Citrus is not indigenous to the Sunshine State.

According to the state of Florida, oranges were brought and planted here during the mid-1500s, when Spanish explorers settled in what became St. Augustine. The orange, however, originally came from China. The first commercial citrus grove in Florida was established by Jesse Fish of St. Augustine in 1763. Though farmers in the Carolinas and Georgia started to grow oranges in the 1830s, their hopes for the new crop were dashed by a severe freeze in 1835.


Citrus fared far better in Florida in 1835, especially at Merritt Island (Brevard County) where grower Douglas Dummett planted oranges and developed a grafting process adopted by farmers around the state. Interest in Florida as a viable place to live and do business grew with rail service in the 1890s. Rail brought visitors and expanded commercial opportunities such as packing houses for fruit and vegetable transport.

Recurring freezing weather in 1894 and in 1895 shifted the citrus growing business southward for a time. Growers gradually adapted techniques to keep ice off citrus trees throughout the state during a freeze. Business boomed; postcards with images of oranges and orange groves were available by the early 1900s. Potential growers from other states were encouraged to move to Florida to enter the citrus business. Orange groves eventually dominated landscapes in Lake Wales, Winter Haven, Clewiston, Frostproof, Vero Beach and locations across Florida.

Orange growing reached new heights with World War II and the production of frozen juice concentrate for soldiers to improve their nutrition while they were deployed to battle fronts. Florida orange juice advertisements in popular magazines such as Life Magazine and on television were ubiquitous by 1960. In 1967, orange juice was declared the state beverage by the Florida legislature (Fla.Stat.15.0.32). Florida and orange juice were entwined in the state’s branding efforts into the 1970s. (Side note: Brazil has ranked as world leader in production of orange juice concentrate for decades.)

At the height of the fruit’s popularity, orange grove acreage began its decline. As the state’s population grew so did pressure for housing and other development. A ride on Florida’s turnpike past Clermont, for example, reveals subdivisions where fragrant groves once sat.

There’s more to the decline of Florida’s citrus business: the greening disease, also known as Huanglongbing or HLB to growers. China has dealt with the disease nearly 100 years. According to the Christian Science Monitor, HLB, a bacterial disease, was once deemed a bioweapon by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA claims the greening disease as the “most serious citrus disease in the world.” The University of Florida reports HLB was first discovered to be in Florida as early as 1998. Other sources report the disease took off in 2004-2005 when it was spotted in Miami.
Orange groves in Clermont,
off US 27 circa 1960
State Archives of Florida

Because of the disease, many growers are considering other crops such as cotton, blueberries, alfalfa and sugar beets. Some, according to the Christian Science Monitor, are looking at the pongamia tree (pea family) as a possible protein alternative to soybeans and also to market as a biofuel. Some growers have abandoned their groves. There were 7,000 growers in 2004; in 2023 there were only 2,000. 

Who is the state’s largest citrus grower? The answer may surprise Texans familiar with the name King Ranch and their cattle in south Texas. Florida’s largest orange grower is the King Ranch. According to the ranch, they are the top grower “with more than a dozen separate grove locations throughout the southern half of Florida and totals 40,000 tree-planted acres.” They are the largest producer of juice oranges in the U.S.

Many abandoned groves have become part of the Florida Power and Light Solar Energy Centers. Sixty three locations throughout Florida power 945,000 homes with thousands of acres of solar panels. Let’s hope they figure out a way to dispose of panels when they need to be replaced every four to five years. Some panels are composed of toxic (EPA can’t decide if all are toxic) materials, burying them in Florida soil would be another hit to the state’s agricultural industry—solar farms already mar the state’s natural beauty.

The good news is citrus still brings $6.5 billion to the state’s economy and Florida produces (as of 2023) 73 percent of the Valencia oranges in the U.S.

 Sources:

Christian Science Monitor, March 2, 2023

Treasure Coast News, Nov. 9, 2023

Florida Department of Agriculture

University of Florida Research and Education Center

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  

https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2022/12/09/Densification-How-Brazil-s-orange-juice-sector-produces-more-with-less#

https://king-ranch.com/operations/citrus

https://www.visitflorida.com/


Tags: Citrus, Florida oranges, King Ranch,  Florida agriculture

Monday, January 15, 2024

The Biltmore Hotel in early Coral Gables: Florida's perfect kingdom of beauty and pleasure

 

Biltmore Hotel rendering 1924, State of Florida Archives








By Jane Feehan

Much has been written about the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables since it was proposed in 1924. Its story reflects an uneven timeline of openings and closings, owners and renovations, to its current state of world class elegance and hospitality.

This post focuses on its provenance and concludes with a brief synopsis of its history to current status.

George E. Merrick, developer and real estate promoter, established Coral Gables as a planned community—one of the first in the United States. His vision included a hotel at the town’s center.

That vision transformed to reality through the efforts of world-renowned hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman. Bowman headed the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels Corp. A booming Florida, and especially the Miami suburb of Coral Gables, held high promise for an elegant hotel. On Nov. 25, 1924, Bowman and Merrick announced plans for developing the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.

The following month, land was platted for the hotel at the south end of Esplanade Columbus. A golf course and its country club sat adjacent to the project. The dominant architectural feature of the hotel was a tower, the Giralda Tower or campanile, inspired by the Giralda bell tower at the Seville Cathedral in Seville. Some suggested the hotel be named The Giralda.

The hotel was expected to hold about 400 rooms and would cost $10 million. To ensure a ready date of January 1926, a $40,000 surety bond, the largest of its time in Florida, was purchased through Aetna Casualty and Surety Company to guarantee several million dollars for the project. Thompson-Starret Company of New York was tapped as builder and Schultze and Weaver, also of New York, chosen as the new hotel’s designer. The structure 
was completed in only 14 months.

Biltmore dining room,
State Archives of Florida
This Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, a massive, but elegant structure, was lauded as the finest, perhaps largest Biltmore. On January 15, 1926, it opened its doors to an eager crowd of 1,500 elegantly attired party goers. They hoped to see if the hotel lived up to its maxim, “nothing is too good for a Biltmore.”

According to news accounts, those hopes were met. An elevated ramp off Anastasia Avenue brought visitors to a main entrance flanked on each side by six smaller entrances. All led to a lobby 400 feet long and wide. Flood lights from the hotel roof illuminated the entire building, including the Giralda Tower, featuring a sculpted figure of the Roman goddess, Faith, carrying “the triumphant banner of Constantine.”

An exceptionally tall three-sectioned ceiling twinkled with stars against a “liquid blue sky.” Upon entering, visitors experienced a Spanish motif, accented with “rare” Spanish and Italian furnishings and design elements from Persia, Egypt and the Mediterranean. The lobby opened to a large patio noted for tiles imported from Seville, Spain, an ornate Italian fireplace, two elegant chandeliers and heavy formal drapes that produced an “old world” ambiance. 

The dining room held a dance floor lined with small Spanish tables. Chef Durand, brought in from the Westchester Biltmore, reportedly once served as chef to President Woodrow Wilson.

A 250-foot pool sat between the golf course and hotel. Fifteen feet deep at one end, the pool held 1.25 million gallons of water. Colonnades graced the pool’s perimeter. Nearby, a playground and small pool welcomed future children guests.

About 600 employees were brought in from a few of the New York Biltmore hotels to ensure a smooth grand opening. Some sailed in on the Robert E. Lee, a Clyde Co. liner. Later news accounts indicate a permanent staff of about 300 worked at Biltmore Coral Gables. The hotel expected to be busy with a booked winter season.
Bowman (L) and Merrick
State Archives of Florida 1926
 

At the opening party, three orchestras played as patrons strolled through a staged fashion show in the dining room. Manikins donned with colorful evening wear, including jewels and furs, drew excited comments. Elevators were available to take guests to each floor on rugs and carpeting covering floors equal to a path 38 miles long.

The next day, newspapers were abuzz about the grand opening affair. The hotel “is a poem of architectural beauty.” It opened “amid a blaze of color” and the event was “formal to the extreme.” It would “usher Miami, its finest suburb, Coral Gables, and entire state of Florida, into a new era of magnificence” and be known as "Florida's perfect kingdom of beauty and pleasure." The Biltmore Hotel and Country Club in Coral Gables pointed to a stellar future.

It was not to be—at least not for decades.

The Great Hurricane of 1926 hit South Florida on September 18. Its 150 mph winds devastated much of Miami and surrounding areas. Stepping up to the emergency, the Biltmore housed and fed about 2,200 made homeless by the storm; it escaped major damage.

By early January 1927, the Biltmore in Coral Gables was back to reporting or advertising its activities. Though the hotel was ready for a busy tourist season, the Miami area was not. It was the beginning of the end of Miami’s first building boom. Biltmore Coral Gables never fully recovered. 
The Great Depression soon followed. 

In 1942, a year of war, the U.S. Armed Forces used the hotel as a military hospital; the Veterans Administration ran the place until 1968, when the General Services Administration assumed control.

Ownership reverted to the city of Coral Gables via a federal act and a National Parks Program. In 1972, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1992 Coral Gables leased the Biltmore Miami Coral Cables to the Seaways Group, headed by Gene Prescott, for 99 years. Under Prescott’s guidance, the hotel has been restored to its once former glamour.

An interesting (to me!) side note: George E. Merrick died when he was nearly 56 years old in 1942; John McEntee Bowman died in 1931 also at 56.

Biltmore after the 1926 hurricane,
State Archives of Florida





See index for William Jennings Bryan and his role in promoting Coral Gables.

For more on Gene Prescott, see: https://coralgablesmagazine.com/the-passion-of-prescott/

Miami News, July 27, 1924

Miami News, Dec. 11, 1924

Miami News, Aug. 9, 1925

Miami Daily News and Metropolis, Jan. 15, 1926

Miami News, Jan. 16, 1926

Miami Tribune, Jan. 16, 1926

Miami News, Jan. 11, 1927


Tags: Biltmore Hotel Miami Coral Gables, Coral Gables history. George E. Merrick, John McEntee Bowman