Why Plantation
Plantation is a city located in Broward County, Florida, within the broader Miami metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the municipality had a population of 91,750. Its name originates from the Everglades Plantation Company, an organization that unsuccessfully attempted to establish a rice plantation in the area during the early twentieth century.
Before modern development, the land comprising Plantation was part of the Everglades wetlands and was regularly covered by water. The indigenous Seminole people historically utilized the region for hunting, fishing, and camping, using the nearby Pine Island Ridge as a headquarters during the second and third Seminole Wars. Major drainage initiatives led by the state of Florida in the early 1900s altered the landscape, resulting in the creation of the North New River Canal and the South New River Canal.
A notable historic site located just outside present-day Plantation along the North New River Canal is Sewell Lock. Built in 1912 and also known as Lock No. 1, it was the first lock constructed in Florida and remains one of the older surviving structures in Broward County, originally providing water passage between the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee. Following land speculation cycles and severe hurricanes in the 1920s, local development resumed in 1939 when Frederick C. Peters purchased 10,000 acres to construct a rural residential community.
Subdivision planning and home construction expanded throughout the late 1940s alongside the installation of dikes and pumping stations to manage water levels. The Plantation Golf Course and Country Club was completed in 1950 to help encourage the westward extension of Broward Boulevard. Plantation was officially incorporated as a city in April 1953. The municipality's initial administrative meetings and emergency service operations took place inside the Hoffman Building, a structure that was later incorporated into the kitchen area of Deicke Auditorium.
Infrastructure and civic amenities expanded further in the late 1950s. The opening of the Sunshine State Parkway, now known as Florida's Turnpike, connected the area to regional transportation networks, and industrial spaces such as the Plantation Technology Park were established along Sunrise Boulevard. Today, the community preserves long-standing local events, including an annual barbecue fundraiser hosted by the Plantation Volunteer Fire Department, a tradition originally started in 1956.
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