Hallandale Beach, Florida

History

Hallandale Beach, like most of Broward County, had no permanent European-descended population until the end of the 19th century. Seminole Indians, in settlements that lay inland of the Atlantic shore, hunted in the area and gathered coontie roots to produce arrowroot starch.

Railroad magnate Henry Flagler, owner of the Florida East Coast Railway, recruited Luther Halland, a brother-in-law of Flagler's agents, to found a settlement south of the community of Dania. Halland and Swedish immigrant Olaf Zetterlund touted the frost-free climate and cheap land of the settlement (then named Halland, later changed to Hallandale). Halland constructed a small trading post and became the first postmaster of the small community.

By 1900, the community had slowly grown to a dozen families—seven of Swedish, three of English, and two of African descent. In 1904 the first school was built, and the first church followed two years later. Hallandale was primarily a farming community; the beach was undeveloped and used by the residents only for recreational purposes.

Hallandale was incorporated on 14 May 1927. By that time, a thriving community of 1,500 residents, with electricity and street lights, was in place. In 1947, Hallandale was reincorporated as a city, allowing it to expand its borders through annexation of nearby unincorporated land lying adjacent to the Atlantic shore. In August 1999, the city officially changed its name to Hallandale Beach.

Hurricane Katrina first made landfall between Hallandale and Aventura, Florida.

Geography

Hallandale Beach is located at 25°59′12″N 80°08′46″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area 4.55 square miles (12 km²). 4.21 square miles (11 km²) of it is land and .34 square miles (1 km²) of it (7.47%) is water.

Hollywood is located north of Hallandale Beach, Aventura in Miami-Dade County is south of the city, the Atlantic Ocean is to the east, and Pembroke Park is located west.

Although it appears from a map that a small portion of the Golden Isles neighborhood extends into Miami-Dade County, this land was actually transferred to Broward County, and annexed to Hallandale Beach in 1978.

Demographics

As of 2012, excluding the Canadian and Hispanic and Latino population, 8.2% of the residents were of West Indian or Caribbean ancestry, 5.3% were American, 5.2% were Russian, 3.4% German, 2.8% Irish, and 2.7% of the populace shared Polish ancestry.

There were 18,051 households out of which 12.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.8% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.8% were non-families. 45.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 25.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.88 and the average family size was 2.60.

In the city, the population was spread out with 13.2% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 22.9% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 35.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 53 years. For every 100 females there were 85.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $28,266, and the median income for a family was $37,171. Males had a median income of $31,287 versus $24,882 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,464. About 13.1% of families and 16.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.4% of those under age 18 and 13.0% of those age 65 or over.

As of the year 2000, English was spoken as a first language by 59.66% of the population, while Spanish was spoken by 19.50% of the populace. The "southernmost Canadian city" also had French spoken by 5.23% of the population, with the majority being Canadian French/Quebec French from French Canadians. Other languages included were Romanian at 2.71%, Italian at 1.96%, French Creole at 1.80%, Yiddish 1.70%, Russian 1.32%, German 1.27%, Hungarian at 1.17%, Polish at 0.85%, Hebrew at 0.77%, and Portuguese, spoken by 0.72% of all residents.

Public schools

Hallandale Beach's public schools are part of Broward County Public Schools. Grades K-5 students are zoned for Hallandale Elementary School. Grades 6-8 students are zoned for Gulfstream Middle School. Grades 9-12 students are zoned for Hallandale High School. However many Hallandale Beach residents send their children to other schools across the county.

Media

Hallandale 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. The Broward-Palm Beach New Times , an alternative weekly, is widely available around the city. Hallandale Beach has its own newspaper, The South Florida Sun-Times which is published weekly.

Hallandale Beach Aerial video

Public transportation

Hallandale Beach is served by several bus routes operated by Broward County Transit.

A free community minibus service, operated by the city of Hallandale Beach, also operates on four routes within the city limits and neighboring areas of Hollywood and Aventura.

Notable people