City of Pompano Beach history

By 1892 he had reached Palm Beach where he built his exclusive resort.

When reporting on the 1890 population count, the Census Bureau stated that for the first time in American history there existed no frontier. It is said he intended to stop there, but that a disastrous freeze that hit Florida in the winter of 1894-95, ruining most of the citrus crops, convinced him to take his Florida East Coast Railway farther south, beyond the freeze line.

In 1896 Henry Flagler decided to extend his Florida East Coast Railway south from West Palm Beach to Miami, opening up land that heretofore had been a virtual wilderness.

As other people settled in the area, George Butler was appointed the community’s first postmaster, and his wife, Mary the first teacher when a one-room schoolhouse opened in 1899.

North, along the shore, the 1900’s Hillsboro Lighthouse guards the Hillsboro Inlet, an entrance to the Intracoastal Waterway.

In 1906 Pompano became the southernmost settlement in newly-created Palm Beach County.

At first the school was located near the Butler’s homestead near Lettuce Lake (now Lake Santa Barbara), but by 1907 the school was relocated to a new building closer to the expanding community near the railroad tracks.

At its founding on July 3, 1908, Pompano Beach was a sleepy stop along the Florida East Coast Railway and, later, United States 1.

In 1909, Palm Beach County was created with its border hitting the Cypress Creek Canal.

450 NE 10th Street Pompano Beach, FL 33060 954.946.9700 This historic home was moved to this location from its original site on North Dixie Highway in 2001. It was built in 1916 by local pioneer Neal Sample.

219 NE 4th Avenue Pompano Beach, FL 33060 954.782.3015 Built in 1925 as the City’s first fire station, this building has been restored and houses two antique fire engines, as well as photographs and artifacts relating to the history of fire fighting in Pompano Beach.

In 1928 the town’s site was moved farther inland after hurricane damage occurred, and it subsequently became a winter market for vegetables and fruit.

Such was the level of activities, that in 1939 a new farmers market was opened just west of town along the Seaboard Airline Railroad tracks.

Kilwins is an ice cream parlor and dessert franchise known since 1947 for its high-quality products and friendly customer service.

In post-war economic growth led to the organization of the Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce in 1948.

At first the Chamber was located in a borrowed wood-frame building located at Atlantic Boulevard and NE 20th Avenue, but by mid-1949 the organization had dedicated its current headquarters at 2200 East Atlantic Boulevard.

In 1971, the Pompano Fashion Square opened as a state-of-the-art retail indoor shopping mall.

Other locals’ favorites include Chez Porky’s BBQ; Jack’s Old Fashion Hamburger House (freshly ground hamburgers served up in a restaurant that started life in 1973) and Galuppi’s.

Such was the local affection for the house, its owners and its virgin cypress construction that in 2001, a newly organized Sample-McDougald Preservation Society paraded it down Dixie Highway to its new location at 450 N.E. 10th St

Pompano Beach celebrated its 100-year incorporation in 2008.