Old Davie School
N 26° 03.882 W 080° 14.126
17R E 576475 N 2883073
Designed by August Geiger, this was the first permanent school built in the Everglades in 1918 and is the oldest existing school building in Broward County. The school is listed on the NRHP and is a Florida Heritage Site.
Waymark Code: WM667W
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 04/11/2009
Views: 20
The following is the text from the historic marker:
"This historic structure was the first permanent school in the Everglades and is now Broward County’s oldest existing school building. The Davie School was designed in 1917 by August Geiger (born 1888), who came to Miami in 1905 from New Haven. Connecticut and later became one of South Florida’s most well known early architects. The school opened its doors in 1918 to 90 students and was in continuous use as a school until 1980. The masonry vernacular, concrete structure is topped by a shallow hip roof behind a parapet. From the day it opened, the Davie school served as the area’s source of education as well as a center for community gatherings. In 1988 the Davie School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the Old Davie School Historical Museum is a historic, cultural, social and artistic resource dedicated to providing information and learning opportunities for students and the community at large. The building represents an irreplaceable link with history of early 20th century pioneering, settlement and education in Western Broward County."
I visited this location at night when it was closed while I was on a 15-mile hike to the airport. I discovered the sign and snapped several pictures but it was too dark to get any good ones of the house. The sign came out well, however. It is an expansive property with several buildings, including a house, to the rear. It is definitely worth a return visit for more investigation.
"School was held in a packing house along the South New River (C-11) canal until 1911, when a wooden, two-room school house was constructed on a one-acre piece of property two blocks east of our current location. By 1916, the Davie settlement had outgrown the small wooden structure and the need for a larger school was quickly addressed. The Davie School, designed in 1917 by August Geiger, one of South Florida’s most prominent early architects, opened its doors in 1918 to 90 students.
The school quickly became the center of community life in Davie, with dances and box suppers, holiday programs and community plays, social functions, political rallies and elections. In 1925, a small group of residents met in the ‘official town hall’ meeting place, the upper room of the school, to initiate incorporation. Frank Stirling, a prominent Davie pioneer, was elected the first Mayor of Davie. During the Flood of 1947, the second floor of the school was one of the few dry spots in town and many people took shelter there. The school was routinely used as a hurricane shelter.
"
SOURCE