Ft. Lauderdale's development history parallels our own in central, coastal Palm Beach County

The Florida East Coast Railway made it there two years after its arrival in West Palm Beach. The emphasis was on agricultural production and moving freight on the new rails. Ft. Lauderdale, and all of south Florida, experienced the boom of the 1920s and then the terrible hurricanes that hit at the end of the decade. Likewise, World War II established a military presence here at Morrison Field (now Palm Beach International Airport) and also in the Ft. Lauderdale area.

Many of those people who were stationed here during World War II decided to stay. Years of post-war prosperity led directly to the south Florida we see and experience today. Remember, Palm Beach County is now part of the Miami-Dade/Broward Metropolitan Statistical Area for Census purposes. Even though this County is the largest (or second largest, depending on which reference you use) it is still within a region, south Florida. It's important to remember that.