Around South Florida at the Turn of the Unix Era
29 July 2009, me @ 0000

South Florida is a place of great natural beauty. The basic problem is that it is a victim of its own success; too many people agree with this, so they move there. The result has been development that has exceeded the ability of the region’s natural resources to support it properly. It has also destroyed some of that beauty–even that which is a product of the development!

Above: A “bird’s eye” view of Miami in 1962. The main inlet is Government Cut; the large sandy island on the south side is Dodge Island, being transformed from a natural island (such as Fisher Island, at the top right corner of the photo) to a man-made creation. Man-made islands fill the north end of Biscayne Bay, as you can see to the left of Dodge Island. In the back is Miami Beach, better known today for its “South Beach,”, the diet and the exposure that results therefrom. (Photo courtesy of Aerial Surveys Inc., Miami)

A nautical chart from 1966 showing the same area.

No high speed chases here: Old Port Cove, the large marina and condominium facility north of West Palm Beach, employs the use of a Ford Pinto to patrol the premises, as shown in this 1974 photo. With its 1.6 and 2.0 litre engines, the Pinto wasn’t very speedy to start with, but with its particularly explosive rear gas tank, it was a gamble to ride in. (For another Pinto photo, click here.)

Above and below: a view of South Florida’s vegetation from a golf course, in this case the Ocean Reef course on Key Largo, in 1970. Note how brown the fairways are. South Florida usually averages about 55″ of rain a year, but the late 1960′s and early 1970′s represented a time of drought. The Everglades burned, and people started thinking about what was really happening to the region.

Above: a “back forty” in Boca Raton, 1972. The slash pine scrub dominated much of Palm Beach County on both sides of Florida’s Turnpike until development swallowed it up. The irony is that much of the scrub was made possible by the drainage done by what was then called South Florida Flood Control, which converted it from the Everglades with canals like the ones you see in the photo. It is also interesting to contrast this with the Ocean Reef photos to show that a region that one would think is “homogeneous” in terrain is so varied in its flora.

One use of slash pines was their sap; it forms a very hard resin that is useful for caulking wooden ships. Unfortunately, if you park your car below one (as we see above,) you’ll end up with rock-hard drips of the sap on the car, which are next to impossible to remove.

Some issues just won’t go away: A St. Andrew’s School sophomore points out the obvious Confederate flag on the wall of a dorm room while his classmates (one American and one Bahamian) have a good laugh at his expense. People these days get very lathered up over offensive speech and symbols, but the truth is that liberals–no strangers to foul speech–make life impossible for the rest of us by continually moving the goalposts. This appeared in the 1971 Tartan (St. Andrews’ yearbook.) It is doubtful that this product of a very liberal (then and now) school would pass muster anywhere in the U.S. today.

More scrub, this time on Powerline Road, August 1973. Starting in Broward County, it extended into Palm Beach County, but only as far as Boca Raton Road. This was probably taken close to that ending. All of this, of course, is now developed.

The rapid change in the region was probably a spur to me as a Christian; faced with a landscape that developed so relentlessly make me think of something that was more permanent and eternal.

Some of the human landscape: Grace’s Food Store, on the corner of NW 20th St. and NW 2nd Ave., Boca Raton, 1973. Their specialty was great Cuban sandwiches, brought by the hard-working refugees from Fidel Castro’s Cuba. South Florida was and is ethnically diverse, but the lack of community generally resulted in a juxtaposition of groups that basically didn’t like each other rather than a region united in its variations.

Pompano Fashion Square, August 1973. Shopping malls were especially useful in South Florida due to the hot, rainy and humid climate. In the back is J.C. Penney’s, itself a survivor of the many uphevals that have taken place in American retail.

A spectacular South Florida sunset. Boynton Beach, 1974.

Our Palm Beach Experience category is full of photos, videos and reminiscences of South Florida and the Bahamas (and the occasional commentary about the current state of the place.) We also have more photos of South Florida “at work” on our companion site, both office and fabrication plant.



3 Comments a “Around South Florida at the Turn of the Unix Era”

1. Blanca — 29 July 2009 @ 0959
   

   I think the top right island is probably Fisher Island, because by 1962, Virginia key was connected to the mainland by the Rickenbacker Causeway. Today, Fisher Island is an upscale private development. And Virginia Key, though mostly natural and entirely government owned, faced development pressures from the City of Miami.

2. me — 29 July 2009 @ 1140
   

   You are correct, Blanca. Thanks for the catch. I have corrected the post and added a nautical chart to clarify the aerial view.

   The development pressures haven’t stopped, either.

3. porgie — 30 July 2009 @ 1811
   

   very shallow Norris cut used to separate Fisher Island
   [the former home of Gar Wood] from Virginia Key [the northernmost
   of the long string of keys reaching to Key West]

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