Plantation is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a part of the Miami metropolitan area. The city's name comes from the previous part-owner of the land, the Everglades Plantation Company, and their unsuccessful attempts to establish a rice plantation in the area. As of the 2020 US census, the population was 91,750.
History Land acquisition and drainage (1855–1930) Before the start of the 20th century, the area that became Plantation was part of the Everglades wetlands, regularly covered by 2–3 feet of water. In 1855, Florida state passed the Internal Improvement Act and established the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, the trustees of which act as a government agency to oversee the management, sale, and development of state land. In 1897, the Interior Department submitted 2.9 million acres to the Florida Land Office; however, the submission was revoked the following year, due to fears it would "impinge upon the rights and interests of the Seminole Tribes." The Seminole people regularly used the area for hunting, fishing, and camping, and also used the nearby Pine Island Ridge as a headquarters during the second and third Seminole Wars.
In 1899, Florida Governor William Sherman Jennings began an initiative to drain the Everglades. To establish Florida's entitlement to the land, Jennings obtained a new patent (known as the 'Everglades Patent') for land "aggregating 2,862,280 acres." Following his election in 1905, Jennings' successor, Napoleon Bonaparte Broward appointed Jennings as general counsel of the Internal Improvement Fund and continued the initiative for complete drainage of the Everglades (which was a core theme of his election campaign). Broward described the drainage as a duty of the trustees, and promised to create an "Empire of the Everglades".
The first attempts to drain the Everglades began in 1906, with the building and launching of two dredges into the New River: The Okeechobee (commanded by Captain Walter S. Holloway of the US Army Corps of Engineers) began cutting from the river's south fork (establishing the South New River Canal), and The Everglades began cutting from the north fork up to Lake Okeechobee (establishing the North New River Canal). The first waterway opened after the drainage attempts were named The Holloway Canal, after Captain Holloway.
Following a meeting at the 1908 Democratic National Convention, Broward and Jennings established a deal with Richard 'Dicky' J. Bolles: The fund trustees granted Bolles of overflowed state lands at $2 per acre, with an agreement for the State to use 50% of the $1 million proceeds purely for drainage and reclamation, and another agreement to establish 5 main canals. Following this, Bolles founded the Florida Fruit Lands Company, becoming the Everglades' first private developer.
The Everglades Plantation Company was established in January 1909, following entry into a 2-year contract with the Internal Improvement Fund trustees by Adam A. Boggs (attorney and vice president of the Miami Bank and Trust Company) and A.B. Sanders (engineer and later president of the Miami Engineering and Construction Company) to create a rice plantation in the Everglades. The agreement enabled Boggs & Sanders to rent a significant amount of land around the (then work-in-progress) North New River Canal, and also subsequently purchase the land for between $3 and $15 per acre.
It was later discovered that the area leased to Boggs & Sanders already belonged to Dicky Bolles, as part of the 500,000 acres he had purchased; however, the Everglades Plantation Company was able to retain the land, despite Bolles' claims. Sanders led further reclamation efforts for the area, including the digging of 60 miles of ditches. Boggs & Sanders were also granted extensions to their 2-year contract, on the grounds that the land remained underwater.
In 1911, Bolles held a land lottery (known as the Progresso Land Auction) at $20–24 per acre, granting residential lots in the Town of Progresso (now the area known as Wilton Manors) to anyone purchasing farmland of five acres or more in the drainage land; however, no auction actually took place and the purchased land remained under water. As a result, a lawsuit was brought against Bolles.
In 1912, the North New River Canal opened, and the Sewell Lock (also known as Lock No.1), the first lock in Florida, and one of the older remaining structures in Broward County, was built on it, just outside of what is now Plantation. The lock enabled access between the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee by water.
The lawsuit against Bolles was settled in November 1913, with Bolles retaining the $1.4 million already received, but prohibiting any further collection until the land was drained and surveyed. Bolles was also arrested in December of that year but was subsequently found innocent.
Drainage of the land largely failed, with most of it reverting to the state for taxes; however, two local farmers, O. L Daniel and Dewey Hawkins began buying it, acquiring approximately 6,000 acres and 4,000 acres respectively.
In the years following their original agreement, contract negotiation escalated into legal battles between the Everglades Plantation Company and the Internal Improvement Trustees. These disputes ended in 1914, in the company's favor. The Trustees no longer insisted on the continuation of the rice plantation attempts and, from this point, the company focused primarily on land sales.
Broward County (originally planned under the name Everglades County but ultimately named after former governor Broward) was created by the Florida legislature in 1915 by combining portions of Dade County and Palm Beach County.
Driven by the success of the drainage projects, the Florida Land Boom took place between 1920 and 1925, seeing rapid growth in population and land sales. The boom reached its peak in the fall of 1925 and subsequently collapsed in 1926.
The land boom was closely followed by two severe hurricanes striking the area, significantly impacting the established communities and killing thousands. The first, in September 1926 (known as the 1926 Miami hurricane), reached wind speeds of 140 miles per hour, and the second, in September 1928 (known as the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane), reached wind speeds of 135 miles per hour. In response, additional flood control laws were established, and millions of additional dollars were spent on drainage efforts across the Everglades in the subsequent decades.
Initial development (1931–1952) Future Plantation founder, Frederick C. Peters, the millionaire heir to a shoe business, moved to Goulds, Florida in 1931 (following doctor's advice to seek a warmer climate for his son), beginning both potato and cattle businesses; however, in 1939, Peters received advice from Stephan Zacher (a ranch-owner) to find better land for his cattle in Davie, Florida. With most large tracts of land in Davie already established as groves, Peters (following extensive testing by the United States Soil Conservation Service) purchased further north for approximately $10–25 per acre, financed with a $350,000 mortgage. The land was previously owned by Dewey Hawkins (who held the majority) and by Boggs' and Sanders' Everglades Plantation Company.
With the aim to create a farming-cooperative-based, rural alternative to suburban Dade Country, Peters built the city's first ranch buildings, which were designed by Stephan Zacher. In 1942, he had Leslie E. Bitting (son of Ben Bitting, who worked at Peters' previous Dade County farm) begin moving Peters' cattle to the area, and look after the building.
Between 1944 and 1945, Peters shifted from the idea of building a farming cooperative, hiring architect Russell Pancoast to assist with the creation of the city master plan, and C. Kay Davis to establish a water control system. In 1946, a special-purpose local government, named the Old Plantation Water Control District, was also chartered by the state (led by civil engineer John Brendla) to commence drainage of the area previously intended for plantation development, and oversee its secondary canals.
Chauncey Clark Jr. (originally from Michigan, but living in Miami Beach) was told by Peters that, in exchange for an effective development plan, Peters would provide land options and complete drainage & access as needed. Clark Jr.'s plan for 40 acre ranches, clubs, golf courses and an airfield failed to attract investment, but his father, Chauncey Clark Sr., established an alternative plan for single-acre lots with 2-bedroom houses and a 20-tree orchard in each. Miami's Robert Law Weed designed the first homes, which were then built in 1947, on East Acre Drive under the name Plantation Homes Inc. The development's name (which went on to become the name of the entire city) came from that by which the area had become known, including its Water Control District subdivision, 'Plantation'.
Clark's advertising referred to Plantation as "the Dream City" with "Rich Living at Small Cost" and Peters' advertising described "A Full Acre with Every Home." A two-bedroom home with an acre of land and 20 fruit trees was sold for $10,241, and the property was valued at $200 per acre; however, early into construction, many of the homes were destroyed by flooding, caused by 93 consecutive days of rain and two hurricanes. Despite the setbacks, 15 houses were under construction at the time the hurricanes passed. Clark repaired and restored all of the homes damaged at his own personal expense. During this same year, road-builder Finley Smith began plans to expand Broward Boulevard from State Road 7 to the Holloway Canal.
In 1948, Chauncey Clark Jr.'s home was the first completed, and Clark moved into the house with his family. Construction operations expanded, alongside a dedicated sales group, with approximately three houses being completed and sold per week. A total of approximately 120 homes were built that year, and the city's population grew to 30 families in size. That year, Ann Carter (wife of Claude E, Carter) also gave birth to Eugene Carter, the first child born in the city. 1948 also saw the completion of new dikes and a pumping station on the East Holloway Canal, and formation of The Plantation Community Church (which held its first services in the construction trailer office of Frederick Peters).
In September and October 1948, two hurricanes impacted the area, causing flooding and the breakage of a work-in-progress dike during the second hurricane. Rapid repairs and extensions to the dikes, new cofferdams, and pumping were used to end the flooding; however, house sales halted in 1949 due to the repeated flooding. Although work continued on new roads, dikes, and houses, Clark's Plantation Homes Inc. was dissolved, and the assets went to Frederick C. Peters.
1949 also saw the opening of Plantation Pumping Station No. 2 (allowing the pumping of 126 million gallons per day into the North New River Canal), the founding of the Plantation Women's Club (by Mrs. Helen Hoffman), and the founding of the Plantation Homeowners' organization (by Dr. Abram Hoffman). At this time, there were 40 occupied homes in the area.
1950 then saw the completion of the Plantation Golf Course and Country Club, built with the intent to encourage the westward extension of Broward Boulevard.
City incorporation (1953–1963)