More Than History

History is not a dull subject, contrary to what you or some of your friends may have believed during high school. Nonetheless, if you live in South Florida, particularly in Broward County, the history of your hometown might seem uninteresting, repeatative and even arbitrary. Instead of being founded by bold pilgrims willing to starve to death for the freedom to celebrate Thanksgiving in November, or by bold attractive generals with compelling quotes, many of the cities in Florida were founded since a rich person, often a land developer or hotel entrepreneur, thought "Hmmm.... this wouldn't be a bad place to start building things."
The above is a dramatic simplification, of course, but it conveys how difficult it can be to celebrate your hometown's history when it only exists since businessmen of the near past imagined it as a profitable business venture. Although such decisions and beliefs may discourage emotional investment from others, they become much more interesting when considered in the context of the events from their time.
Many developers and investors moved to Florida after all the territory in the American West had been claimed and settled on. After this occurred, the only place left to settle was Florida, which was primarily swampland and marshes and mosquito territory. Despite these environmental challenges, people decided to settle in Florida, continuing the American tradition of exploring new frontiers and transforming strange, often intimidating landscapes into home. After some difficulty, land developers learned how to drain the swamp land and the territory of mosquitoes and marshes became sights of hotels, theme parks and lucrative real estate ventures.
Although these cities seem to exist as the result of the whims of a small number of businessmen, their decisions had a tremendous impact upon the area we in South Florida see as home. These decisions have contributed to South Florida's lucrative tourism and real estate industries, which provide many with their livlihoods, and its ability to attract people not only from around the United States, yet also from around the world. These decisions have also contributes to the utter devastation of the Everglades and much of South Florida's ecosystems, as many species lost their homes and their ways of life when the new settlers arrived.
The story of South Florida is ultimately not one of rich people seeking to make a profit, but of all the people whose lives have been impacted by those decisions. It is the story of all those who claim South Florida to be there home, those who decided to and ultimately did, settle there and establish families. South Florida's history can be found in its shopping malls, its courthouses, its beaches, its schools and even in its country clubs and charitable organizations. The true history of South Florida is a story of people's decisions about where to settle, what they value and how to attain it, essentially a narrative of creating home from the wilderness. This story is not unique to South Florida and pertains to our entire species, the choices we made about our lives, and how we confront the consequences of these choices, positive and negative, as we live our lives and continue to make choices.