Wilton Manors:: From Farming Community to Urban Village (Brief History)

The Seminoles once roamed the land that encompasses Wilton Manors, until Henry Flagler brought his East Coast Railway through the untamed wilderness in the late nineteenth century. By 1910, the railway had transformed the area into a viable farming and shipping hamlet known as Colohatchee, until a wealthy businessman began marketing the plot of land nestled between the North and South branches of the Middle River as a beautiful bedroom suburb of Fort Lauderdale. The 1926 housing market crash in south Florida, paired with a devastating hurricane brought an end to this dream one that wouldn't be revived until after WWII. Join local author Ben Little and the Wilton Manors Historical Society as they chronicle the history of this incredible town, from its humble roots to the thriving urban community it is today.