Davie is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States. The town′s population was 91,992 at the 2010 census. It is the most populous municipality labelled as a ″town" in Florida, and the fourth most populous such community in the United States, trailing only Hempstead, New York; Gilbert, Arizona; and Cary, North Carolina. Davie is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,012,331 people at the 2015 census.
History
Davie was founded by Tamara Toussaint and Jake Tannebaum. The original name of the town was Zona. In 1909, R.P. Davie assisted then Florida Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward by draining the swamplands. Robert Parsell (R.P.) Davie, a developer, bought about 27,000 acres (109Â km2) in the area. He built a school in Zona. In 1916, the people of the town were so grateful they renamed the town after him. It was carved out of Everglades land that was mostly underwater.
Davie has always had a reputation as a "Western" town, with many earlier buildings having "Wild West" architecture. It boasts a significant horse-owning population and once was home to many herds of cattle. In recent years, commercial and residential development has discouraged such practices, but Davie still tries to maintain a "Western" feel. Pioneer City, a western theme park, was located across the street from Flamingo Gardens. It was built in the 1960s and closed a few years later.
The Old Davie School
The Davie School, designed in 1917 by August Geiger, one of South Florida's most prominent early architects, opened its doors in 1918 with about 90 students. The Davie School was the first permanent school in the Everglades and is now Broward County's oldest existing school building. The building was in continuous use as a school until 1980. The Davie School Foundation was established in 1984 to protect and restore the Davie School to the integrity of its earlier appearance. The Foundation in conjunction with the Town of Davie, the Broward County School Board, the Soroptimists International of Davie, the Davie Historical Society and the community at large has worked tirelessly to preserve this important piece of Broward County's history The building is now referred to as the "Old Davie School," and is maintained by a collaboration of the Davie School Foundation and the Town of Davie.
In the early 2000s two other historic buildings from the surrounding neighborhood were moved to the property adjoining the Old Davie School.
- The Viele House, built beginning in 1912, is the oldest residential structure remaining in Davie and is an excellent example of vernacular architecture. It survived the hurricane of 1926 and the floods of 1947. It was continuously occupied by members of the Viele family until being moved to the Old Davie School property. Regrettably, the Viele House was sealed to accommodate a modern air conditioning system, as part of the permanent preservation plan. One of the most important features of the original structure was the non-electric "air conditioned" design of the home. Specifically, warm air was drawn up and out through the opening in the top of the attic. The natural air flow kept the home relatively comfortable, even in the hot south Florida, climate. Also, as with most of the old Davie homes, the Viele House was elevated on pillars, which permitted the breeze to blow under the building.
- In 2004 the former home of Colonel Charles A. & Katherine M. Walsh (1912â€"1932) and the Bud & Betty Osterhoudt family (1958â€"2004) was also moved to the site.
Jewish Davie
In the 1970s Davie had the reputation of not being hospitable to Jews. Davie was rumored to be the seat of the Ku Klux Klan in South Florida; a cross was burned on the front lawn of a new Jewish family in 1977. This provoked an outpouring of community support which persuaded the family to remain, insisting that "never would they see anti-Semitism like that again." As of 2016, Davie has a thriving Jewish community. There are Chabad houses, Temples, a Jewish High School, and a Jewish Community center
Geography
Davie is located at 26°04′53″N 80°16′49″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 35.7 square miles (92.5 km2), of which 34.9 square miles (90.4 km2) is land and 0.85 square miles (2.2 km2) (2.32%) is water.
Demographics
As of 2010, there were 37,306 households, with 8.0% being vacant. As of 2000, 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.1% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.13.
In the town, the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 33.4% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $47,014, and the median income for a family was $56,290. Males had a median income of $38,756 versus $30,016 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,271. About 6.9% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, those who spoke only English at home made up 75.47% of the population, while those who spoke Spanish made up 18.74%, and French speakers made up 1.13% of residents. A few other languages spoken were Italian at 0.73%, Chinese at 0.53%, Portuguese 0.51%, and French Creole being the mother tongue of 0.38% of the population.
Education
Davie is host of the South Florida Educational Center. A number of educational institutions have campuses in Davie, including:
Media
Davie is a part of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood media market, which is the twelfth largest radio market and the seventeenth largest television market in the United States.
Its daily newspapers are the South Florida-Sun Sentinel and The Miami Herald, and their Spanish-language counterparts El Sentinel and El Nuevo Herald.
Davie Digest is the local free community newspaper serving the town with community news and an interactive website allowing for the community to submit news and subscribe to the paper.
Points of interest
Notable people
- Jerry D. Bailey, horseracing jockey
- Richard Bleier, major league baseball player
- Danny Joe Brown, lead singer of Molly Hatchet
- Nick Castellanos, baseball player
- Chris Chambers, American football player
- Aroldis Chapman, baseball player
- Gaby Dunn, Internet personality
- Leslie Grace, recording artist
- Rocky Johnson, professional wrestler, father of Dwayne Johnson
- Mike Lawrence, comedian
- Jim Leyritz, baseball player
- Austin Mahone, recording artist
- Bryant McKinnie, American football player
- Chad Ochocinco, American football player
- Kathy Ritvo, racehorse trainer
- Rick Ross, rapper
- Shannon Spake, NASCAR correspondent for ESPN
- Jason Taylor, American football player
References
External links
Media related to Davie, Florida at Wikimedia Commons
- Town of Davie official website
- Davie, Florida Police Department