Davie is known today for horses, rodeos and its distinctive Western character, but the town’s history includes plenty of surprising details. Here are five things even longtime residents may not know.
1. Davie wasn’t always called Davie.
When some of the area’s first permanent settlers arrived in the early 1900s, the community was known as Zona. Many settlers came from places including Michigan, Kentucky, Canada and the Panama Canal Zone. The name Davie came later, honoring developer Robert Parsell Davie, who helped drain and develop the area.
2. The canal was once the only way in and out.
Before roads connected the young settlement to Fort Lauderdale, residents relied on the South New River Canal for transportation and supplies. Until 1917, boats traveling along the canal were essentially the community’s connection to the outside world. A single-lane rock road eventually changed that.
3. Horses once needed special “muck shoes.”
Davie’s equestrian identity goes back generations, but early horses and mules had trouble with the soft, wet Everglades soil. Settlers reportedly fitted them with special muck shoes to keep the animals from sinking knee-deep into the ground. By the 1930s, however, Davie had become well known for horse and cattle pastures.
4. The Old Davie School helped save lives during a hurricane.
Built in 1918 for just $12,000, the Old Davie School was the first permanent school in the Everglades and is now Broward County’s oldest existing school building. It was considered remarkably modern for its time, even featuring indoor plumbing. During the devastating 1926 hurricane, residents took shelter inside the sturdy building, which is credited with protecting many people from the storm
5. Davie’s Western look is actually written into its development rules.
The cowboy-inspired character of downtown Davie is not accidental. The Town first adopted Western-theme design requirements in 1980 to preserve and celebrate its agricultural, ranching and equestrian heritage. New development and redevelopment within the Western Theme Overlay District must follow architectural and signage standards intended to blend Old West influences with traditional South Florida pioneer architecture.
From a settlement accessible only by boat to a community where Western architecture is still protected by design standards, Davie has managed to grow while holding onto an unusually strong sense of its past. The next time you pass the Old Davie School, spot a horse trailer on the road or drive through the Western-themed downtown district, you’re seeing pieces of a story that began more than a century ago.