The City of Fort Lauderdale has a hidden history beneath its sandy beaches. Now — there’s a new push to get a special designation for one area. Heather Walker has this 7Spotlight.
Bob Carr: “This beach park has a special story.”
It can be easy to overlook the small plaque on a monument near the pedestrian bridge on Fort Lauderdale Beach.
Tucker Howell: “I’ve walked by it probably 50 times this year, I’ve never read it once.”
The tablet marks the site of a fort built in 1839 during the Seminole Wars that the US waged against Native Americans.
Bob Carr: “This was the American government’s attempt to move all of the indigenous Seminoles and Miccosukees out of Florida. And this fort was constructed with the idea of facilitating that. One of the sad chapters in American history.”
Longtime archaeologist Bob Carr led a team that uncovered incredible historical finds back in 2011.
They found military buttons, musket balls and even a pine post believed to be part of the fort.
The artifacts are now on display at the History Fort Lauderdale Museum.
Some of the findings went even further back in time.
Bob Carr: “This has been a place where people have been probably coming and going for thousands of years.”
Now, this year, for the first time, there’s an effort underway to formally designate a portion of Fort Lauderdale Beach as a historically significant archaeological site.
Michaela Conca: “This is an important heritage site, archeological site to the history of Fort Lauderdale and should be preserved for future generations.”
Michaela Conca is the president of the Broward Trust for Historic Preservation.
The nonprofit has applied for the special designation with the city.
Michaela Conca: “It’s a way of helping people understand that the world in which they live in is more than what they just see in the moment. That it runs deeper.”
Somewhere below the beach, beneath the picnic tables and palm trees, Michaela and Bob believe there are more hidden relics of the past yet to be discovered.
Michaela Conca: “There is going to be more material that comes up, I have no doubt.”
More archaeological testing at the site is set to happen in the next month.
That’s because the city’s Historic Preservation Board has asked Michaela’s group to narrow the boundaries of where they believe the fort once stood nearly 200 years ago.
Commissioner Steve Glassman: “I think the exact location is not known. So I’m very curious to see what they come up with in terms of the actual location that they want to narrow that focus down for the archeological significant site.”
Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Steve Glassman’s district includes this part of the beach.
Commissioner Steve Glassman: “Historic preservation is of paramount importance to me.”
Still, he believes the area’s archaeological significance is already recognized under current code.
The difference is — with an official historic designation, any new development would have to go before the Historic Preservation Board.
Bob Carr: “What’s important to say is, this doesn’t exclude the use of the park. This doesn’t exclude all the amenities and improvements. It’s the hidden history of Fort Lauderdale, it’s invisible and now it’s time to make that change.”
And by revealing the past, they hope to educate well into the future.
The organization’s proposal is set to go back before the city board on Dec. 1. Ultimately — the city commission has the final say on the matter.
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