in late October 2020, In 1920,
Joseph Young arrived in
South Florida to create his own "Dream City in Florida". His vision included the beaches of the
Atlantic Ocean stretching westward with man-made lakes, infrastructure, roads, and the
Intracoastal Waterway. He wanted to include large parks, schools, churches, and golf courses, all industries and activities that were very important to him. After Young spent millions of dollars constructing the city, he was elected its first mayor in 1925. The town quickly became home to northerners known as "
snowbirds", who fled the north during the winter and then escaped the south during the summer. By 1960, Hollywood had more than 2,400 hotel units and 12,170 single-family homes. Young bought up thousands of acres of land around 1920, and named his new town "Hollywood by the Sea" to distinguish it from his other real-estate venture, "Hollywood in the Hills", in New York. The
Florida guide, published by the
Federal Writers' Project, describes the development of Hollywood, an early example of the
planned communities that proliferated in Florida during the real-estate boom of the 1920s: Prospective purchasers of land were enticed by free hotel accommodation and entertainment, and "were driven about the city-to-be on trails blazed through palmetto thickets; so desolate and forlorn were some stretches that many women became hysterical, it is said, and a few fainted." Hollywood was severely damaged by the
1926 Miami hurricane; local newspapers reported that it was second only to Miami in losses from the storm. Charges were dropped against the 3 nurses and the nursing home chief was acquitted. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity created Rebuild Florida, an initiative to provide aid to citizens affected by Irma. Its initial focus was its Housing Repair Program, which offered assistance in rebuilding families' homes. The program prioritized low-income vulnerable residents, such as the disabled, the elderly, and families with children under five. The program had varied results across the state, with hundreds of citizens claiming they were left without help.
Timeline • 1921 – Hollywood by the Sea
platted on land of Joseph Wesley Young • 1923 – Hollywood Hotel opens. Later renamed the Park View Hotel when the Hollywood Beach Hotel opens. • 1925 • Hollywood
incorporated •
Hollywood Police Department established • Hollywood Boulevard Bridge built (approximate date) • 1947 –
Hurricanes occur • 1957 •
Seminole Tribe of Florida gained official recognition by the federal government, with tribal headquarters located in Hollywood. • 1970 – Population: 106,873 • 1971 • Pageant of the Unconquered Seminoles held in Hollywood • 1974 –
Broward County Library System established. • 1982 – West Lake Park opened • 1996 • Kolb Nature Center opened in West Lake Park • City website online (approximate date) • 1997 –
New Times Broward-Palm Beach newspaper began publication • 2004 –
Seminole Tribe of Florida's
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in business • 2013 –
Frederica Wilson became
U.S. representative for
Florida's 24th congressional district • 2016 – Josh Levy became mayor • 2018 - The first hotel in almost 50 years, Circ By Sonder, opens in Downtown Hollywood. • 2019 –
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood guitar shaped hotel opened, with pool and manmade lake ==Geography==