In 1915, the South Florida communities of Fort Lauderdale, Dania, Pompano, Hallandale, Deerfield, and Davie joined together to form a county. They named it Broward, in honor of the governor whose Everglades drainage program had brought them such prosperity. Today, Broward is Floridas second largest county, with 1.6 million people. Photographer Aaron Eugene Hyde came to Fort Lauderdale in 1933, at the age of 16, to begin a 40-year career, serving as one of the countys few professional photographers and the photographer for the Broward edition of the Miami Herald. Gene recorded fascinating people, places, and times pivotal in the countys development. His photos evoke nostalgia for the not-that-distant past, a way of life Broward County residents will never see again.

Winner -- 2011 Dr. Cooper Kirk Memorial Award (presented by the Broward County Historical Commission) The Broward Sheriff's Office is the country's largest fully-accredited sheriff's department, yet its long and colorful history has escaped the attention of scholars. This oversight has now been corrected by Dr. William P. Cahill and Professor Robert M. Jarvis, who have painstakingly scoured hundreds of sources to tell the agency's story. The result is a fascinating tale that unfolds against the backdrop of South Florida's evolution from rural frontier to international tourist destination. Accompanying the text are 200 pictures (many rarely seen), a biographical time line, year-by-year election results, and an extensive bibliography. "[A] first-rate work of local history.... The authors have a good story to tell and they tell it very well." -- Florida Bar Journal "[E]ngaging and highly readable ... this much-needed and well-written study traces the history of the organization from the creation of Broward County ... to the downfall of Sheriff Ken Jenne." -- Broward Legacy (journal of the Broward County Historical Commission) "[A]n excellent job recounting the history of South Florida, particularly the region's transformation from an undeveloped backwater at the start of the 20th century to a major cosmopolitan population center by the close of the century. . . . For those who are sticklers for details, 'Out of the Muck' will certainly satisfy. It includes a biographical timeline, extensive set of endnotes, an exhaustive bibliography and a full index." -- The Sheriff's Star (official magazine of the Florida Sheriffs Association) "Lay readers interested in local history, crime, or law enforcement will find that Out of the Muck makes for fascinating and informative reading. The serious researcher will value this volume as an important addition to their reference library." -- Florida Historical Quarterly "This book should be of interest to academicians as well as the general reader. The authors regale the reader with a fascinating cast of characters and historical incidents that should make Broward County an interesting visit for crime buffs." -- American Journal of Legal History

Offers a comprehensive look at the history of the state of Florida, from its discovery, exploration, and settlement through its becoming a state, to notable events in the early twenty-first century.

"This informative, fast-paced, interesting book on the Stranahans of Fort Lauderdale provides needed historical context to a dynamic, ever-growing population center. Harry Kersey, one of Florida's leading historians, interweaves the story of the town's founding and growth into the lives of two of its most significant pioneers and community builders."--J. Michael Denham, director, Center for Florida History, Florida Southern College, Lakeland When they married in 1900, Frank and Ivy Stranahan began a life together on the Florida frontier that would shape and define the development of one of the state's most sophisticated urban centers. Pioneering spirit and economic enterprise linked them to Seminole Indians, venture capitalists, and colorful entrepreneurs along the New River settlement; today they're recognized as a founding family of Fort Lauderdale and their riverfront home has been restored and designated a National Historic Landmark. Frank Stranahan came south from Ohio in 1893 to run an overnight camp on the stagecoach line carrying passengers from Lake Worth to the Miami area. He soon opened a trading post that thrived on commerce in pelts, plumes, and hides with Seminole Indians, who in turn purchased goods and groceries to take back to their camps in the Everglades. Stranahan's business interests expanded to include real estate and banking. An honest businessman, he became a respected political and civic leader, instrumental in the birth of Fort Lauderdale in 1911. When the Florida land boom collapsed and his bank closed, Stranahan's mental and physical health failed, and he committed suicide in 1929. Ivy Cromartie, a native Floridian, was 18 when she arrived at the settlement as its first schoolteacher and met her future husband. Energetic and articulate, she focused her activities outside the home. Besides teaching, she was active in a variety of reform movements ranging from Audubon Society efforts to save the plume birds to temperance and women's suffrage, working mainly through the Florida Federation of Women's Clubs. She is best remembered for her role as an advocate for Indian rights--especially education and child welfare--primarily with the Friends of the Seminoles, an organization she established in the 1930s. Before her death in 1971 she spoke frequently about her full life to reporters and historians and was interviewed extensively by Kersey. Harry A. Kersey, Jr., professor of history at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, is the author of several books, including The Florida Seminoles and the New Deal, 1933-1942 (UPF, 1989) and Pelts, Plumes, and Hides: White Traders among the Seminole Indians, 1870-1930 and the coauthor of Buffalo Tiger: A Life in the Everglades.

This book is the story of people of vision and courage, of a small group of prominent Saint Augustine investors who conceived of the Florida waterway and began the first dredging work; of an obscure group of New England capitalists who provided significant financing and obtained a million acres of undeveloped Florida public land in pursuing what was, at best, a speculative enterprise; of innumerable citizen groups like the Florida east coast chamber associations and the larger Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association that demanded at the turn of the last century what they believed was the peoples right-a public waterway, free of the burden of tolls; and finally, of the U>S> Army Corps of Engineers, who conducted all of the Florida waterway's early surveys and assumed the project's control in 1929 to convert what was once a private toll way into Florida's modern-day, toll-free Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.

Tales of Old Pompano includes a collection of twenty-seven short stories told by Edward L. (Bud) Garner, the first officially appointed Historian of the City of Pompano Beach, Florida. A near life-long resident of Pompano, Bud had an amazing recollection and through his vivid storytelling allows others to meet the characters and relive events that took place during Pompano's early years. Relive the day the Gator got Jimmy McNab, the week that the Carnival and Silas Green from New Orleans came to town, adventures fishing in the Keys with Cap Knight, and much more. A remarkable collection of stories from one of Pompano's most enthusiastic storytellers!

Beyond the streets and buildings that now bear the name Brickell is the rich history of William and Mary Brickell, who worked alongside Julia Tuttle and Henry Flagler to found Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Hollywood writer and director Beth Brickell has uncovered the history of this dynamic couple, from William's origins in Ohio to his adventures in the California and Australian gold rushes and marriage to Mary. This never-before-told story reveals both disappointment and triumph as these two pioneers clashed with Flagler and John D. Rockefeller during the robber baron days of the oil industry and finally tamed the wilderness of South Florida.