Fun Facts about Broward County Cities Illuminates South Florida Real Estate

By Mary Damiano

Which Broward County city was named after a car wash? Which city was named in honor of its residents? Which was named for a recently consumed dinner? Many cities in Broward County have fascinating origins and got their names in interesting ways, shedding light on the evolution of South Florida real estate.

Take Tamarac for instance. It was founded back in the early 1960s by Ken Behring, a millionaire who made his money by founding a chain of car washes called Car-a-Mat. Maybe Behring believed in lightning striking twice, and that if he named his new city after his business he’d have another success on his hands. He christened the western Broward city Tamarac, which is Car-a-Mat, the name of the car wash chain, spelled backwards. Originally imagined as an affordable retirement community, real estate in Tamarac has grown to accommodate families and retirees, who live side by side in the many quiet neighborhoods and gated communities of this modern city.

Dania Beach is the oldest city in Broward County. Dania was originally known as the “Tomato Capital of the World”, and shipped trainloads of the crop north. Originally called Modello, the city was incorporated in 1904 as Dania, in honor of its predominantly Danish population. Decades later in the 1990s, the city’s name was officially changed to Dania Beach, in order to capitalize on its seaside location. Today, real estate in Dania Beach is made up of homes and condos, most of which are just minutes from the ocean or downtown, which is filled with antique shops.

While Dania Beach was named for its residents, and Tamarac was named for a business, Pompano Beach was named the dinner that had been served to the man who surveyed the area. In the 1880s, the first documented permanent residents in the area were George Butler, Frank Sheene, and their families. Sheene and Butler were railway employees. Sheene named the community when he wrote down the kind of fish he’d had for dinner—pompano—on his survey of the area. Decades later, the city was renamed Pompano Beach when it annexed another municipality along the coast. Real estate in Pompano Beach today is a mix of older homes that reflect the history of the city, as well as waterfront homes and condos that offer breathtaking ocean views and a classic South Florida lifestyle.