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    • History ErasedSome history doesn’t survive on purpose. This category documents the stories, places, and communities that have been removed from the official record, by policy, by politics, by neglect, or by design. Where original photographs, documents, and archives have been destroyed, suppressed, or made inaccessible, Properly South Florida uses AI-generated illustrations to reconstruct what was lost and make the record visible again. Every AI-generated image in this category is labeled as such. The absence of documentation is part of the story.
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Stories

These are South Florida stories told the Properly way: entertaining, researched, and allergic to boring. Filter by era, category, or whether the story lives in Record or Rumor territory.

Historical portrait of Bernard Romans, the 18th-century surveyor and cartographer known for mapping the Florida coast."

The 4th of July That Florida Straight Up Refused to Celebrate

2026-07-04
Foundations & FolkloreHistory Erased
By: John Payne
On: July 4, 2026

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

2026-06-26
Places With a Past
By: John Payne
On: June 26, 2026

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

2026-06-16
Culture Then & NowPlaces With a Past
By: John Payne
On: June 16, 2026

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

Enhance lighting, sharpness, and natural color balance

BLK Magazine and the Archive on Sistrunk Boulevard

2026-06-14
Culture Then & NowHistory Erased
By: John Payne
On: June 14, 2026

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

2026-06-10
Places With a Past
By: John Payne
On: June 10, 2026

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

AI-generated black and white illustration depicting protesters outside the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village, New York, during the 1969 Stonewall uprising. Crowd holds signs reading "No More Raids, Gay Power" and "Stonewall Is Fighting Back" while confronting police officers in riot gear. Note: This is an AI-generated illustration, not a historical photograph.

Stonewall Came to Wilton Drive: South Florida’s Pride Roots

2026-06-03
History Erased
By: John Payne
On: June 3, 2026

The Stonewall Riots in 1969 sparked a transformative ripple effect across the U.S., eventually reaching South Florida. Initially, Broward County ignored the LGBTQ+ community, but activism led to the establishment of Wilton Drive as a vibrant hub. Past struggles, including police raids, shaped today’s inclusive culture in Wilton Manors.Continue Reading

1732_Herman_Moll_Map_of_the_West_Indies_and_Caribbean_-_Geographicus_-_WestIndies-moll-1732

The Pirate Anchorage: Fort Lauderdale’s Most Repeated Lie (That Might Be True)

2026-05-29
Foundations & FolkloreMyths, Legends & RumorsPirates, Wreckers & River Men
By: John Payne
On: May 29, 2026

Local legend says pirates anchored off what is now Fort Lauderdale Beach. We investigated the folklore, and found coordinates, oral histories, and no definitive answer.Continue Reading

The Fort Lauderdale Land Boom That Ate Itself: 1920s Real Estate Fever on the New River

2026-05-16
Oddities, Curiosities & Florida Weird
By: John Payne
On: May 16, 2026

Fort Lauderdale’s median home price as of early 2026 sits around $658,000. Waterfront lots along the New River? Enter a different tax bracket entirely. South Florida real estate has always felt a little unhinged, but there was a moment in the mid-1920s when the whole thing didn’t just feel unhinged.Continue Reading

Wrecker Camps of the Broward Coast: How Shipwrecks Fed a County

2026-04-11
Pirates, Wreckers & River Men
By: John Payne
On: April 11, 2026

Before there were real estate developers, there were wreckers… and a good storm was more valuable than a good harvest. On the morning of October 4, 1873, a three-masted schooner called the Victor ran hard onto the outer reef roughly two miles off what would later become Fort Lauderdale Beach.Continue Reading

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

The Cocaine Cowboys Who Built (and Bled) South Florida

2026-03-27
Smugglers Coast
By: John Payne
On: March 27, 2026

Before the luxury towers. Before the rooftop bars. Before the influencers and the Art Basel crowds and the $22 cocktails on Las Olas, South Florida ran on cocaine. Not metaphorically. Literally. In the late 1970s and through most of the 1980s, South Florida became the primary port of entry forContinue Reading

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