Hollywood, a seaside community in Broward County with a population of over 140,000, is tucked between Miami and Fort Lauderdale. The city is bordered on the east by Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and on the west by Port Everglades, the second-busiest cruise port in the world. North-south routes that pass through the city include Interstate 95, the Florida Turnpike, Tri-County Commuter Rail, and two significant railroads. Less than 25 miles separate Hollywood residents and businesses from Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami, giving them even more access to the world market. A sizable post-secondary educational infrastructure, comprising the University of Miami, Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, several smaller private universities and colleges, and a community college system, serves the area.
The City of Hollywood has changed since it was formally incorporated on November 28, 1925, when a municipal charter was adopted. It was once an undeveloped area with low-lying wetlands, tomato farms, and pine trees, palmetto plants, and tangled undergrowth. Today, it is the ninth-largest city in Florida and the second-most populous city in Broward County. Originally one square mile of farmland, founded by the visionary planner Joseph Wesley Young, a native of Washington state and former resident of California and Indiana, the property has grown to about 28.87 square miles, with real and personal property valued at over $5,408,266,000 in gross taxable value in 1998.
In January 1920, Joseph Young made his first trip to South Florida, where he surveyed several lots of land that he intended to develop into his “Dream City in Florida.” In his first vision, he saw a broad boulevard with man-made lakes running parallel to it, stretching westward from the beach to the edge of the Everglades. Each lake would have two ends: one for private yacht turning basins and the other for the Intracoastal Waterway.Young’s plan also called for the division of Hollywood into districts, which served as a model for modern zoning laws and included a central business district, sizable green areas, a golf course, schools, and churches. According to Joseph Young’s vision, Hollywood “will be a city for everyone – from the most humble of working people to the opulent at the top of the industrial and social ladder.” Three sizable land circles that would have been situated along Young’s intended primary boulevard were incorporated into his city concept, making it unique. These circles were eventually the locations of a military academy (Academy Circle), a ten-acre park (initially named Harding Circle and subsequently renamed Young Circle), and the City Hall complex (originally named City Hall Circle and later renamed Watson Circle). A prominent commercial building currently stands at Academy Circle, which is now known as Presidential Circle. Having lived in California in the past, Young decided to call his “Dream City” the name of the town in Southern California that had initially captured his heart.
With the formation of the Hollywood Land and Water Company, composed of twenty-six departments covering every aspect of city-building, Joseph Young began earnestly bringing to reality his vision of Hollywood. In February 1921 Young purchased at approximately $175 per acre the first parcel of land that would evolve into present-day Hollywood. Young was successful in attracting numerous potential Hollywood residents to visit and eventually purchase property in Hollywood. By 1925, the Florida real estate market had reached all-time highs with speculators constantly bidding up Hollywood real estate in a frenzy of buying. With the $110,000 Hollywood Boulevard Bridge being built over the Intracoastal Waterway, construction was moving quickly forward. In January 1926, Hollywood had about 2,420 houses, housing about 18,000 people, 36 apartment buildings, 252 commercial buildings, and nine hotels that were either finished or under construction. The city had expanded to encompass 18,000 acres, 6.5 miles of coastline, and a $20,000,000 assessed value. Residents of the nearby towns of Hallandale to the south and Dania to the north petitioned the legislature and the Hollywood City Commission to allow their incorporation into Hollywood as a result of this extraordinary expansion.
At this time, Hollywood Beach construction was quickly changing the shoreline. The Hollywood Broadwalk, a thirty-foot-wide cement promenade that stretches 1.5 miles down the shoreline and is modeled after Atlantic City’s renowned boardwalk, was under construction. The Hollywood Beach Casino, situated on the Broadwalk, was constructed at a cost of $250,000 and featured 824 dressing rooms, 80 shower tubs, a retail arcade, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. It was also home to Florida’s largest and most luxurious bathing pavilion.
When the Hollywood Beach Hotel opened in February 1926 on an 800-foot stretch of coastal land at the eastern end of Hollywood Boulevard, the “Atlantic City of the South” gained even more appeal. The Hollywood Beach Hotel would have a seven-story tower, 500 rooms with private bathrooms, the largest solarium in the world, and a direct private wire link to the New York Stock Exchange for hotel guests to use. The construction of it came at a cost of almost $3,000,000. The hotel soon became the winter retreat for many northern businessmen, a popular destination for visiting celebrities, and the location of some of Hollywood’s most elegant social events.
A catastrophe overtook Joseph Young’s “Dream City” on September 18, 1926. One of the targets of a severe hurricane that struck the Atlantic coast of South Florida was Hollywood. High winds and rushing floodwaters from the cyclone completely destroyed the city. Thirty-seven people lost their lives in it, and it also uprooted trees, severed electricity cables, destroyed building roofs, and crushed both homes and billboards. Property losses totaling millions of dollars were sustained, and Hollywood’s seemingly unstoppable boom abruptly came to an end. Once more rising to the occasion, Joseph Young headed the Hollywood Relief Committee and took the lead in reestablishing Hollywood. The Hollywood Municipal Band would gather on Hollywood Boulevard during this depressing period to provide upbeat marches and other motivational music while the reconstruction was being carried out.Thousands of Hollywood inhabitants were forced to leave their new homes and relocate to northern cities due to the massive reconstruction work and the significant financial losses incurred by the hurricane. Hollywood had a sharp fall in population, from 18,000 to about 2,500, and a collapse in property values as longtime inhabitants sold their homes for whatever the real estate market would bear. The citizens of Hallandale and Dania, which were essentially bankrupt municipalities as a result of the unrest, withdrew from Hollywood and refused to pay municipal taxes.
Hollywood had also been building new homes in what would later become the Hollywood Hills district of western Hollywood during this time, increasing the number of residential properties available to the city. To start development in this area, Young had a contract with Samuel Horvitz, the founder of the Highway development Company of Ohio. After the hurricane and the subsequent collapse of the real estate market in February 1927, Young was unable to fulfill his financial obligations to Horvitz and other lenders, which led to the suspension of construction.
Joseph Young was undeterred, and one last inspiration was included in his image of his “Dream City”. One afternoon, while waiting to be rescued from his plight on a mud flat in shallow Lake Mabel while stranded in a speedboat, Young had the epiphany. His plan was to create a deep-water seaport from the shallow lake north of Hollywood to the Atlantic Ocean, allowing ships to dock and unload enthusiastic tourists and visitors from all over the world. Young’s dream came true in February 1928. From that initial dilemma, Port Everglades has developed into one of Florida’s busiest seaports, rising from a shallow lake.
Hollywood’s population increased from 2,689 in 1930 to 4,500 in 1935 and 6,239 in 1940 at the end of the decade. Hollywood experienced World War II in the 1940s. The Hollywood Beach Hotel became the United States Naval Indoctrination and Training School, the Hollywood Golf and Country Club became a hub for entertainment and leisure for US servicemen, and the military academy site was commandeered and transformed into the United States Naval Air Gunners’ School.The Hollywood Beach Hotel saw new management following the end of the war in 1945. The hotel underwent renovations and painting, and building licenses were obtained to create the biggest swimming pool and cabana club in the country. The population of the city kept increasing, topping 7,500 in 1945 and nearly doubling to 14,351 by 1950. Not even two hurricanes in the fall of 1947 could stop the city’s revitalized expansion.
Young did everything in his power to support the City of Hollywood and the new seaport, but his unstable financial position ultimately led him to cede control of his enormous Hollywood assets to a sheriff’s auction held in 1930 on the steps of a Fort Lauderdale courthouse. Young stayed in his cherished city until April 1934, when, at the age of 51, he passed away from heart failure after collapsing at his Hollywood Boulevard residence.
In the wake of Young’s financial collapse and untimely death, two of his principal creditors formed new corporations in an attempt to renew the growth of Hollywood. Led by Hollywood, Inc., a slow but perceptible growth was re-ignited in Hollywood in the decade of the 1930s. Early in the 30s, construction began on Federal Highway (U.S. 1), the main north-south route to the industrial northeast, from Dania to Hollywood. Construction also began on the Hollywood Hills Inn on the site of the westernmost circle. The circle was renamed Academy Circle and the inn became the Riverside Military Academy in 1932. The Orangebrook Golf and Country Club and Dowdy Field, a nearby baseball stadium that briefly served as the Baltimore Orioles’ spring training home, were two of the city’s recreational amenities that were added by 1934. The city started the first Fiesta Tropicale festival and constructed a water softening system to its municipal water facility in 1935.
After initially being rejected by the city’s voters, a $1,000,000 bond referendum financing the building of Hollywood Memorial Hospital was approved in 1951, continuing the hospital’s expansion into the 1950s. With its 100 hospital beds and status as a major medical center serving southern Broward County, the hospital opened its doors in February 1953. After Hollywood was incorporated in 1925, Joseph Watson was appointed as the city manager for the twenty-second time in 1952. There would only be one city manager in Hollywood for the following eighteen years. Hollywood Boulevard was extended in 1954 along the eastern edge of the Everglades in Broward County, running west from State Road 7 to U.S. 27.This led to the city’s westward expansion. Throughout the rest of the decade, Hollywood kept expanding as Hollywood, Inc. proceeded with the development of the Hollywood Hills area and reserved a parcel of land for the Hollywood Mall. After the Diplomat Hotel on Hollywood Beach opened its doors in 1958, many of America’s top performers, celebrities, and dignitaries used the hotel as a temporary home while they traveled, gave performances, and enjoyed the warm Florida winter sun.
Hollywood boasted thousands of different housing buildings, 2,422 hotel units, and over 12,171 single-family residences at the start of the 1960s. In 1964, the eighteen-story Home Federal Tower cooperative office-apartment complex in downtown Hollywood became the tallest in the county. This decade saw a surge in growth that increased the stock of housing to 35,045 single-family homes and increased the supply of other types of housing by a comparable amount. Hollywood’s municipal boundaries continued to grow from its eastern border on the Atlantic in the middle of this decade.
Ocean to new Broward County unincorporated territories to the north, west, and south. Hollywood’s population increased from 22,978 in 1955 to 35,237 in 1960, nearly doubled to 67,500 in 1965, 106,873 by 1970, and over 121,400 by 1975. Hollywood implemented a growth management program during this period of rapid expansion, which updated land use regulations in an attempt to control and enhance the quantity and quality of development so that necessary public works projects and services could be coordinated with the population growth that was becoming increasingly uncontrollable.
One feature exclusive to Hollywood is the Seminole Indian Reservation, which is located inside the corporate boundaries of the city but is politically independent. The “Pageant of the Unconquered Seminoles” took place in Hollywood in 1971, drawing attendance from Native Americans all throughout the country. In 1975, as the city celebrated its Fiftieth Anniversary, Hollywood took on the moniker “Diamond of the Gold Coast.” Joseph Young’s “Dream City” had more than 27,500 single-family homes, 34,581 apartments, and other residential buildings in its anniversary year, with a population of more than 125,400.
With the development of the Anne Kolb Nature Center in Hollywood’s West Lake Tract, the city has further enhanced its standing as the Diamond of the Gold Coast in recent years. The institution is home to more than 1,500 acres of mangrove preserves, a fish nursery ground, and a protected bird rookery and sanctuary. A sea turtle nursery and preserve has been established on Hollywood’s North Beach. In South Florida’s cultural arts and entertainment sectors, the Hollywood Art & Culture Center and the historic downtown arts district along Harrison Street have emerged as hubs of activity.
Before 2000, the Mayor and the four members of the City Commission were chosen in citywide elections. The Mayor’s term was two years, while the Commissioners’ was four years. Residents expressed a readiness to explore increasing the number of Commissioners to six in November 1998, with each Commissioner being chosen by a different district as opposed to the entire city. Voters narrowly adopted a constitutional amendment in March 1999 that increased the mayor’s term from two to four years and divided the city into six districts, each with a commissioner. The first elections conducted under the new system were the primary and general elections in February and March 2000. 2010 saw the electorate adopt more changes to the Hollywood Charter, including term limits and staggered terms for elected officials. The Mayor and Commissioners chosen in even-numbered Districts in 2012 will serve four-year terms in order to smooth the move. They can run for office again in November of 2016. Elected in 2012, commissioners in odd-numbered districts will hold office for a period of six years. November 2018 will mark their reelection eligibility. A person from a specific district may serve as a Commissioner and as Mayor for a period of twelve years in a row.
Over the course of the previous ten years, around 20,000 new citizens choose to call the City of Hollywood home, ushering in the new millennium.
Hollywood voters approve general obligation bonds to pay for upgrades throughout the city.
An increase in population was accompanied by a requirement for significant modifications to City facilities and infrastructural upgrades. A $54 million General Obligation Bond (GOB) for park and public safety upgrades was authorized by voters in 2004. A larger, modernized Fire Station #31 on Hollywood Boulevard and 34th Avenue, a new Public Safety Training and Maintenance Facility at the 3400 block of North 56th Avenue between Sheridan Street and Stirling Road, and a new public safety complex on Federal Highway were among the projects.
New computers were installed in almost 300 patrol cars as part of the Police Department’s technological improvements, which allowed officers to spend more time on neighborhood patrol around the City.
The GOB provided funding for over 20 significant park projects, in addition to countless neighborhood park enhancements. Additionally built were the Boulevard Heights Community Center, the Fred Lippman Multi-Purpose Center, an outdoor amphitheater, and a brand-new, contemporary sports facility.
Apart from the GOB initiatives, there were other noteworthy events taking place in parks throughout the city. The Driftwood Community Pool, Hollywood’s first public swimming pool, debuted with great fanfare in the early 2000s. Midway through the 2000s, one of the biggest projects to ever come out of Hollywood took place. The ArtsPark at Young Circle, named for the city’s founder and visionary, Joseph Wesley Young, completely redesigned the circle, transforming the center of historic downtown Hollywood. Upon its opening, the ArtsPark offered a diverse range of artistic, educational, recreational, and entertainment offerings that showcased the region’s vibrant culture, catering to the interests of both tourists and locals of all ages.
In order to finance further citywide enhancements in parks, open space, recreational and cultural facilities, neighborhood upgrades and resilience, and public safety, technology, and equipment, Hollywood voters once again authorized a $165 million general obligation bond in 2019. More than 30 projects, including a new police headquarters, are presently under construction. Additionally, the GOB made it possible for the City to buy more than 45 acres of open space that will be used and appreciated for many years to come.
Hollywood Beach Honored with Awards
When the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk was completely renovated in the early 2000s, Hollywood Beach would see a renaissance. Modern playground equipment, picnic pavilions, and an interactive splashpad/water fountain are just a few of the seaside recreational amenities that have been added to the previously underutilized Charnow Park, which is located on the seashore. The historic Paddleball Courts in Hollywood are next to the newly constructed core meeting and banquet space of the beachside Garfield Community Center. The new five-story Garfield Street Parking Garage was built between the park and A1A to provide plenty of public parking options for guests with convenient access to the beach and Broadwalk. To promote economic development and improve resilience, significant streetscape beautification and utility undergrounding would start in the early 2000s. Thanks to these initiatives, the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk and the barrier island have become well-known travel destinations worldwide.
Infrastructure Improvements Across the City
The development of a cutting-edge water treatment facility on Hollywood Boulevard marked the beginning of infrastructure improvements in the late 1990s. The extension and renovation of the Southern Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant took conducted in the early 2000s. The Plant was enlarged to provide wastewater treatment services to several nearby towns. Along with the start of the city-wide water main replacement project came the promise to convert home septic systems to municipal sewer. Hollywood is on schedule to meet with state rules for the elimination of ocean outfalls by 2025, thanks to the installation of two more deep injection wells by the City at the Treatment Plant in 2020. With millions of public dollars, Hollywood keeps reinventing its main thoroughfares, turning them into hospitable and lovely outdoor areas and opening up new possibilities for business and residential growth. Hollywood is building multi-purpose roads that may serve drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users by utilizing “Complete Streets” criteria that were created regionally to improve transportation infrastructure for all modes of mobility. By means of striking landscaping, distinct street lighting, well-marked bike lanes, bus bays, crosswalks, broader sidewalks, public art, and lounging places, Hollywood is crafting colorful and lively streetscapes that bolster each area’s distinct identity and bolster surrounding communities.
Getting Results
The All-America City award, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious civic recognition competition, was one of Hollywood’s many accomplishments in the 2000s. The Arbor Day Foundation has recognized Hollywood as a Tree City USA for over 40 years due to its dedication to community forestry.
The Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts as well as the Police Department are among the City departments that have achieved national accreditation. Less than 1% of agencies nationwide are classified as Class 1 Fire agencies, such as the Department of Fire Rescue and Beach Safety.
Numerous magazines, websites, and organizations—from USA Today and TripAdvisor to Travel + Leisure and Fodor’s Travel Guides—have listed Hollywood Beach and the Broadwalk as top destinations. The Clean Beach Council has also named Hollywood Beach a Blue Wave Beach.
Hollywood Is Made Famous by Reinvestment Activity
Since the early 2000s, Hollywood has seen a boom in private investment, which has helped to make the city well-known. Hollywood, Florida is well-known throughout the world for its hotels, which include the Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort, the Diplomat Beach Resort Hollywood, and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which recently expanded to include the Guitar Hotel, which is visible for miles.
For Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Port Everglades, Memorial Regional Hospital, and the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital have all experienced significant growth, making Hollywood a popular choice for people searching for an excellent place to work, live, or vacation.
Honoring Significant Occasions
The City of Hollywood commemorated its 90th birthday in 2015 with a month-long event that culminated with a concert by the Gin Blossoms at the 90th Birthday Bash and Concert in the ArtsPark at Young Circle. A massive centennial celebration in Hollywood in 2025 is already being planned. The city will celebrate its centennial with renovated and new facilities intended to improve the standard of living and guarantee the city’s sustainability going forward.