Stranahan House Museum - Fort Lauderdale
 

One of the oldest houses directly on the New River and Las Olas Boulevard is the Stranahan House. This is the first house that ever was built in Fort Lauderdale.

 When around 1880 Flagler began with the development of the transport system in Florida Frank Stranahan also came to Florida. His cousin lived in Lantana and recommended him to come to Florida and to establish a trade and postal station at New River.

At that time the trading road led only to Lantana or directly to the Miami Bay by ship. The country between these two points was swamp and alluvial and hard to cross. Another barrier on this way was the New River where was no bridge and no boat for crossing.

Frank Stranahan got the job and built a ferry station at the place where today stands the Stranahan House. Besides the ferry which could easily transport the trade carts to the other side of the river he built small cabins for traders who would stay over night. For the stay over night in the cabin or the crossing of the river he took $ 2 and got so a solid foundation for the further expansion of this trading post.

The New River was also the preferred hunting grounds of the Seminole. They fished here and hunted Manatee for their food. One of the Seminole warriors understood English and so Frank Stranahan was able to establish a lively trade with the Seminole.

He delivered medicine, canned food such as peaches and tools for woodworking to the Seminole. In return he got from them pet and alligator skins and bird feathers from the Everglades. These feathers were at that time a popular commercial product and were used as decoration on woman’s hat.

In 1901 Frank Stranahan married Ivy Cromartie the first teacher in Fort Lauderdale he had to give up the trading with bird feathers. It was a condition of his wife that the feathers would no longer be traded in the future. She wanted to prevent the killing of Everglades’ birds only for their feathers.

According to the laws of Florida it was forbidden for a married woman to exercise a profession. For this reason Ivy Stranahan could also no longer officially exercise her profession as a teacher in Fort Lauderdale. To use her teaching knowledge in a good way she invited Seminole children on the weekends and taught them the necessary skills - English, reading, writing and arithmetic. This decision helped the Seminole to reach their current position in the Florida society.

After the death of her husband at the end of the twenties Ivy Stranahan was forced to let her house if she would not completely abandon it. The tenants of the house operated a restaurant that existed until 1974. In 1984 a historical society took over the house and restored it in the original style of 1900.

The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm and on Sunday from 12 pm to 3 pm. Admission costs $ 12 for adults and 11 $ for seniors / students, children $ 7. In September of each year the museum is closed for restoration works.

 

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