Deerfield Beach, Florida

History

Deerfield Beach's history dates back to 1890 when a small settlement named Hillsborough was developed along the Hillsboro River. As the population grew to 20 by 1898, the settlement was now served by its own post office and the town was named Deerfield for the deer that grazed along the Hillsboro River.

By the early twentieth century, as the town's population continued to grow, the Florida East Coast Railroad constructed tracks en route to Miami bisecting Deerfield. Deerfield's early settlers were mostly farmers who grew pineapples, tomatoes, green beans, squash and fished along the Intracoastal Waterway. Through the 1940s, Deerfield remained a largely agricultural based community, but in 1939 the town's name was changed to Deerfield Beach to let tourists know it has a beach.

Demographics

As of 2010, there were 42,671 households, of which 21.8% were vacant. As of 2000, 16.3% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.2% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.9% were non-families. 40.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 22.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.02 and the average family size was 2.72.

In 2000, the city the population was spread out with 15.6% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 29.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 87.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.3 males.

In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $34,041, and the median income for a family was $44,853. Males had a median income of $35,154 versus $27,451 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,296. About 9.2% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.3% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 75.36%, while speakers of Spanish made up 8.70%. Portuguese was spoken by 4.89%, French Creole 3.42%, French 2.16%, Italian 1.51%, and Yiddish comprised 1.17% of the population.

As of 2013, Deerfield Beach also had the highest percentage of Brazilian and Brazilian American population (as a percentage of total population) in the United States at 11.06%. It also has the percentage of Haitian and Haitian American residents in the United States, at 12.1%.

Geography

Deerfield Beach is located at 26°18′19″N 80°07′11″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.3 square miles (42.1 km²), of which 15.1 square miles (39.1 km²) is land and 1.2 square miles (3.0 km²) is water (7.12%). Of Deerfield Beach's land mass .3 square miles is located on Deerfield Beach Island (DBI).

Climate

Deerfield Beach has a Tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am), with hot summer days, frequent thunderstorms in the summer, with rain less frequent in the fall, and a threat of a light winter freeze from late November through early March caused by occasional cold fronts from the north, and even then not every year.

During the summer months average temperatures tend to be in the 80s, while during the winter temperatures tend to be in the 60s. July is generally the warmest month of the year with an average maximum temperature of 92 °F (33.3 °C), while the coldest month of the year is February with an average minimum temperature of 58 °F (14.4 °C). The all-time record high is 101 °F (38.3 °C) recorded in 1981, while the all-time record low is 21 °F (−6.1 °C) which was recorded in 1995. The year-round average temperature is 77 °F (25.0 °C).

The annual average precipitation at Deerfield Beach is 57.27 inches (1,455 mm). Summer months tend to be wetter than winter months. The wettest month of the year is June with an average rainfall of 7.3 inches (190 mm).

Deerfield Beach falls under the USDA 10b Plant Hardiness zone.

Points of interest

Education

There are five public schools located in Deerfield Beach, as well as numerous private institutions. Public schools are administered by the Broward County Public Schools district.

Public schools

Private schools

Libraries

There are two locations of the Broward County Library system in Deerfield Beach.

Transportation

Companies based in Deerfield Beach

Notable people

Media

Deerfield Beach is a part of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood media market, which is the twelfth largest radio market and the seventeenth largest television market in the United States. Its primary daily newspapers are the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and The Miami Herald, and their Spanish-language counterparts El Sentinel and El Nuevo Herald. Local Deerfield based media includes The Observer, a local weekly newspaper, and the Deerfield Times published by Sun-Sentinel.

Sister city

Deerfield Beach has one sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International: