South Florida is a scrapbook with zoning laws. Explore stories by place, from riverfront properties with suspiciously frequent ownership changes to bars where “history” still orders a drink.
- The 4th of July That Florida Straight Up Refused to Celebrate
Back in 1776, the land that would become South Florida wasn’t fighting for independence. In fact, our state capital was literally setting the Founding Fathers on fire. Continue Reading - The Drive: A Block-by-Block History of Wilton Drive
Walk Wilton Drive with me. Here you’ll find every bar, landmark, and turning point on the street that became the beating heart of South Florida’s LGBTQ+ community, told in order, block by block.Continue Reading - The Gay Mecca That Wasn’t Always: How Wilton Manors Became WilMa
Two decades ago, if you were trying to sell a house in Wilton Manors, you didn’t say Wilton Manors. You said northeast Fort Lauderdale. That is not a marketing flourish. That is what former mayor John Fiore remembered doing, because outside the city limits almost nobody knew the place existed,Continue Reading - BLK Magazine and the Archive on Sistrunk Boulevard
BLK magazine was the first Black gay magazine in America. All 41 issues are archived at the African-American Research Library on Sistrunk Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Most people in South Florida have no idea.Continue Reading - Fort Lauderdale’s Open Secret: The Beach That Built the Scene
Before any official designation, Sebastian Street Beach was already claimed; the community didn’t wait for the city’s permission. There is a little bit of pride in most every part of Fort Lauderdale you can wander into. One of those significant places is where the sand meets the pavement down onContinue Reading