Coconut Creek is a city located in Broward County, Florida. The city took its name from the coconut trees that were planted in the area by early developers. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 43,566. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 48,889.
Coconut Creek is located at 26°16'30"N, 80°11'5"W (26.275010, -80.184719). The city is in northern Broward County. It is bounded by the following municipalities:
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.5 km2 (11.8 mi2). 29.9 km2 (11.6 mi2) of it is land and 0.6 km2 (0.2 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 2.04% water.
As of the census of 2000, there are 43,566 people, 20,093 households, and 12,035 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,456.4/km2 (3,773.2/mi2). There are 22,182 housing units at an average density of 741.5/km2 (1,921.2/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 86.28% White, 6.16% African American, 0.13% Native American, 2.37% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.86% from other races, and 2.15% from two or more races. 11.65% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 20,093 households out of which 22.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.4% are married couples living together, 7.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 40.1% are non-families. 32.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 18.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.16 and the average family size is 2.73.
In the city the population is spread out with 18.0% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 26.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 41 years. For every 100 females there are 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 82.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $43,980, and the median income for a family is $55,131. Males have a median income of $40,965 versus $31,188 for females. The per capita income for the city is $25,590. 7.1% of the population and 5.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 10.5% of those under the age of 18 and 5.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
The following article was published in the Quad City News, Coconut Creek Anniversary Edition, published November 18, 1987. Some updating of the information has occurred.
From the earliest days of populating northern Broward County, the area that now encompasses Coconut Creek, Margate, North Lauderdale, Tamarac, and parts of Coral Springs was primarily farmland or Florida wilderness. Early Pompano settlers were mostly farmers, and many of those pioneer families farmed land west of Pompano (it didn't become Pompano Beach until 1947) for decades. Those families included names familiar even today -- Lyons, Blount, Sample, McNab, Wiles, and Hammond -- because of roads named for them.
Where Windmill Park stands today
Behind the Earl Johns property at 1051 N.W. 45th Avenue, a windmill and a cement water trough still remain as remnants of the migrant camp that extended along 45th Avenue and westward in the days of extensive agriculture in this area. West of 45th Avenue were acres of farmlands worked by some 300 migrant field workers housed in barracks.
They burned grass from the acreage, plowed by mule-drawn hand plows, and sowed and reaped crops by hand. They were paid $1.25 per day, and a day was ten hours long. Mr. Johns recalled the view of the labor camp at night with the campfires in front of each shanty and the families eating, following by group singing of spirituals.
Summers were a nightmare of heat and insects. Area pioneers remember in particular, the fierceness of horseflies and mosquitoes that attacked the livestock. In order to save their livestock from these flying killers, most farmers trucked their horses and mules to a railroad siding on Dixie Highway, where they were loaded onto boxcars and sent to North Florida for the summer.
Those early roads were mostly one-lane shell or dirt trails leading to or by the farms operated by those pioneers. In time, two state highways were eventually built -- State Road 7, which became part of the federal highway system as U.S. 441, and State Road 834 (now Coconut Creek Parkway), which followed the route of the old Hammondville Road west from Pompano. Hammondville was probably the first community in the Quad City area, and was named that because a store and one or two other business establishments flourished at what is now the intersection of Coconut Creek Parkway and State Road 7, on or adjacent to the Hammond property.
Lyons Road, now a major north-south thoroughfare, originally stretched from Palm Beach County south to Cypress Creek (the C-14 canal), then turned west at what is now West Atlantic Boulevard to dead end at the Two Mile Canal (now Riverside Drive in Coral Springs). Portions of Lyons Road came into existence north of what is now Coconut Creek Parkway simple because drainage of an agricultural area known as Punkin Swamp required digging of shale and sludge that was piled up alongside a drainage ditch. Flattened out, it became the base of a road that was eventually paved.
A sawmill, serving farmers, carpenters, and builders for miles around, once stood just south of West Atlantic Boulevard, east of Lyons Road, and the David Moore Dairy Farm was once located where Coconut Creek Elementary and Broward Community College now stand. Tomato farms were still on the land across the Parkway from Coconut Creek Plaza until the mid-1980's. Just north of the Plaza, strawberries, peppers, and beans were growing when Coconut Creek became a city in 1967.
Once Edgefield
Pompano Beach real estate developer R. E. Bateman realized the area would grow, and bought the land that became the nucleus of Coconut Creek in 1956. Approaching 15 feet above sea level, the area was well drained. There were trees everywhere, particularly native pines. These, coupled with an abundance of rock, caused Bateman to speculate why the reason the area hadn't been farmed -- there was too much clearing and root-stumping to do. However, he thought, if as many of the trees as possible were retained, it could be developed into beautiful homesites. He named the area Edgefield -- and started clearing the land that literally was on the edge of several farm fields. Deciding the community-to-be needed a more tropical name to attract home buyers, he changed it to Coconut Creek -- borrowing from the Dade County communities of Coconut Grove and Indian Creek.
By the early 1960's, homebuilder John W. Jack Brown had teamed with Bateman, and Brown would become the principal builder of the early Coconut Creek homes in the area called South Creek today. Among the first moves made to attract buyers was laying out a park area around Lake Julie. White sand was brought in to make a beach on the east side of the park, and in 1963-64, there were water skiing exhibitions every Sunday afternoon. People came in droves to see events performed by area ski clubs on Lake Julie and the lagoon. This park today is the site of the City's Community Center and is now known as Donaldson Park.
Source:
CoconutCreekFL.com
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