Skip to content

Follow on Social

You are viewing:Properly South Florida
Get your business online with Rainbow Flamingo Marketing!

Welcome to the unofficial field guide to South Florida’s past and present. We dig into river lore, bootleg whispers, beach-town weirdness, civic glow-ups, and the kind of characters who make “local color” feel like an understatement.

Aerial view overlooking a section of Ft. Lauderdale Beach near SE 5th Street 1983

The Cocaine Cowboys Who Built (and Bled) South Florida

By:
On:

Rumrunners & River Kings: How Prohibition Put Broward on the Map

By:
On:

The New River Knows Things: How Water Shaped Power in Fort Lauderdale

By:
On:
Early 1900s New River waterfront in Fort Lauderdale

Founding Rumors: Why Fort Lauderdale Was Built on Whispers

By:
On:

Smugglers Coast

View All
Rumrunners, river kings, and the infrastructure of “don’t ask.”
Aerial view overlooking a section of Ft. Lauderdale Beach near SE 5th Street 1983

The Cocaine Cowboys Who Built (and Bled) South Florida

By:
On:

Before the luxury towers. Before the rooftop bars. Before the influencers and the Art Basel crowds and the $22 cocktails on Las Olas,

Rumrunners & River Kings: How Prohibition Put Broward on the Map

By:
On:

Strange Secrets

View All

Rumrunners & River Kings: How Prohibition Put Broward on the Map

By:
On:

Prohibition didn’t make Americans stop drinking.It made them better planners. When the Volstead Act went into effect in 1920, Washington imagined a country

The New River Knows Things: How Water Shaped Power in Fort Lauderdale

By:
On:
Early 1900s New River waterfront in Fort Lauderdale

Founding Rumors: Why Fort Lauderdale Was Built on Whispers

By:
On:

Stay Connected!

The guy behind this site...

Hi! I am John Palmer Payne!

I am a local business owner in South Florida who has a nerdy interest in history.

Know More

Get the Good Stuff.

A monthly dispatch of new stories, fresh finds, and verified chaos.

Rumor vs Record

View All
Some stories are documented. Some are repeated like prayers at a dock bar. We label what’s verified, what’s rumored, and what’s still in the “somebody’s uncle swears” stage.
Aerial view overlooking a section of Ft. Lauderdale Beach near SE 5th Street 1983

The Cocaine Cowboys Who Built (and Bled) South Florida

By:
On:

Before the luxury towers. Before the rooftop bars. Before the influencers and the Art Basel crowds and the $22

Continue Reading

Rumrunners & River Kings: How Prohibition Put Broward on the Map

By:
On:

Prohibition didn’t make Americans stop drinking.It made them better planners. When the Volstead Act went into effect in 1920,

Continue Reading

Travel Diaries

Stay tuned for personal events, meetings, and tours. Coming Soon!

Properly South Florida © 2026