Oakland Park: A Brief History

The first non-Indian settlers in what is today Oakland Park were Tom and Netta Whidby, who came from Georgia in 1901 to farm land north of what is now Northeast 38th Street adjacent the Florida East Coast Railway tracks. By the 1910s, this largely rural area north of Fort Lauderdale in what is now Wilton Manors and Oakland Park became known as “Colohatchee.”

In 1922, with the Florida land boom in full swing, the Barkdull Investment Company planned a housing development east of Dixie Highway and north of the North Fork of Middle River. It was named “Oakland Park” in honor of the beautiful oaks lining the riverfront. Local citizens from north of North Fork began to use the name “Oakland Park” to define their community. By December of 1925, the Oakland Parkers prepared to incorporate when they were informed a new city, “Floranada,” a combination of Florida and Canada, had been incorporated around them. Floranada, the project of group of wealthy Palm Beach investors, was meant to be an exclusive resort community extending from the ocean to U.S. 441 and from North Fork of Middle River to Cypress Creek. Unfortunately, the boom had already begun to go bust. Slowly the wealthy backers pulled out of the Floranada project and the local citizens were left with the care of a huge city with very few citizens and virtually no funds. On July 1, 1929, Floranada was dissolved and a new city, Oakland Park, was incorporated. The new town extended from Federal Highway on the east to Northeast Third Avenue and from North Fork of Middle River to Prospect Road.

In subsequent years, the little city of Oakland Park was largely the home of area farmers and ranchers. The small Oakland Park Methodist Church (the only church in town at that time) was the hub of social activities. Oakland Park Elementary School (on the National Register of Historic Places) opened in 1925 and is today the oldest functioning school in the county. Dixie Highway was the “main drag,” home to most of the local businesses.