Hi, I’m John, the human behind Properly South Florida.
I’m a lifelong history nerd thanks to my Granny, who taught me early that the best stories rarely show up in textbooks. They live in footnotes, rumors, old maps, newspaper clippings, and the uncomfortable spaces between “official” versions of the past.
I love Fort Lauderdale. Not just the polished postcard version, but the layered, complicated, occasionally questionable place that existed long before bottle service and waterfront condos. I’m endlessly fascinated by the unspoken history lessons, the overlooked characters, and the cultural threads that quietly shaped what South Florida became.
Properly South Florida started as a way to document those stories. The myths. The legends. The strange origins. The cultural habits that somehow survived every reinvention of paradise.
Every article, deep dive, and tangent you read here is researched, written, and curated by me. No content farms. No ghostwriters. Just curiosity, archives, and a healthy respect for how weird and wonderful this place really is.
If South Florida has a backstory, I probably want to read it.
