Port Everglades - Major Milestones

Major Milestones

• In 1911, the Florida Board of Trade passed a resolution calling for a deepwater port to ship farmers' produce to the north and west.
• In 1913, the Fort Lauderdale Harbor Company was formed and eventually dug out the Lake Mabel Cut, opening the New River to the sea for small boats.
• In 1924, Joseph Wesley Young, founder and mayor of the city of Hollywood, bought 1,440 acres of land adjacent to the lake and created Hollywood Harbor Development Company.
• In 1926, Young helped get a $2 million harbor improvement bond measure overwhelmingly passed by voters in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale.
• In 1927, the Florida State Legislature establishes the Broward County Port Authority.
• On February 22, 1928, 85 percent of Broward County's residents gathered for a ceremony in which President Calvin Coolidge was to push a button from the White House detonating explosives to remove the rock barrier separating the harbor from the ocean. Nothing happened, but the barrier was removed shortly thereafter.
• In 1928, Port Everglades was named through a contest conducted by several area women's groups.
• In 1929, Fort Lauderdale dedicated its first airport. That same year, the Port project was completed and the Port obtained certificates for construction of a railway connecting the Port to the Florida East Coast Railway.
• In 1929, the ss Vogtland became the first cargo ship and first foreign-flagged vessel to enter Port Everglades.
• In 1931, Port Everglades welcomed United Fruit Co., as the port's first official cruise line.
• In 1931, Aeroland Oil Co. is the first petroleum company to enter into an agreement for land and pipeline easements. Belcher (Coastal Fuels), Standard Oil (Chevron) and American Oil (Amoco) follow suit.
• 1941-1943, Port Everglades is used as a military base for the U.S. Navy.
• In 1994, Port Everglades becomes an enterprise fund governed by Broward County.
• The 1940s saw a burgeoning military presence and the '50s brought cruise liners from around the world to the Port. Around that time, the Fort Lauderdale Rotary Club began greeting ships with Florida orange juice. The tradition continued for 20 years.
• 1960s: The Broward County Port Authority was renamed the Port Everglades Authority and the site of the future Southport cargo terminal was purchased.
• 1970s: The Port became the center of Florida's first Foreign trade zone.
• 1980s: The Port purchased its first rail-mounted container gantry crane.
• 1990s: The Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center opened at Northport, two parking garages were completed and on November 22, 1994, Port Everglades' governance was transferred from the Port Authority to the Broward County government.
• 2000s: Port Everglades continuously breaks its own world record for handling the most cruise passengers.
• In 2001, Port Everglades dedicated a new Operations Center and Harbormaster Tower constructed atop the Midport Parking Garage. Port Everglades also celebrated its 70th cruise season hosting the world's largest collection of five star ships.
• In 2003, on February 28, port users and customers celebrated the 75th Anniversary of Port Everglades.
• In 2004, Port Everglades greeted the Queen. Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2, the world's largest ocean liner, as she made her first visit to mainland U.S. from the UK, by arriving at Port Everglades, her U.S. winter home port. QM2 is the longest, widest, tallest and most expensive ocean liner ever built.
• In 2009, Port Everglades opened the World's Largest Cruise Terminal and home of Royal Caribbean's 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world.
• In March 2011, the Broward County Board of County Commissioners approved an update of the Port's 20-Year Master/Vision Plan that includes key cargo expansion projects over the next six years that will add five berths, widen and deepen the channel to 50 feet and bring freight rail into the port.