Davie, Florida
Davie is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States, approximately north of Miami. The town's population was 110,320 at the 2020 census. Davie is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,198,782. Horseback riding is common as much of its historic buildings include ranches and other Western establishments. History. Prior to European colonization, the Tequesta were the native people of what is now Davie. A few campsites and graves have been found in Davie, the oldest dating back 5,000 to 7,000 years in Pine Island Ridge. After Spanish colonization , many of the Tequesta died and the remaining few escaped to Havana with the Spanish when Florida became a British colony or they assimilated into the newly arrived Seminoles in the late 18th century. As a part of Napoleon Bonaparte Broward's plan to drain the Everglades, two dredges began the project of digging the North and South New River Canals in 1906. R.P. Davie, along with his partner J.R. McKinnie and other investors, formed the Everglades Sugar and Land Company, purchasing 28,000 acres of this property in 1908. They continued the project of building the canals and “improving” the  land, as well as starting a 10-acre experimental farm known as the Davie Tract. The Zona Glade Company, formed in 1911 by employees formerly working on the Panama Canal, purchased and cultivated 700 acres of land. These enterprising pioneers called their new settlement “Zona” after the Panama Canal Zone. In January 1913, the farmers organized together as the Everglade Vegetable Growers Association, a unifying effort to collectively ship their fruits and vegetables and provide mutual aid. With weekly meetings during the prime growing seasons, the association dealt with more than farming troubles—they served as the first governing body  in the area, and when problems with mail service arose, the association put forward a solution. The name “Zona” too closely resembled another city by the name of Ozona in Pinellas County, causing trouble with mail delivery. Therefore, in April 1914, with a resolution adopted by the Everglade Vegetable Growers Association and signed by nearly all the residents, the post office formally recognized the new name of the community as “Davie.” Davie has had a reputation as a "Western" town, with the Davie Rodeo Arena that began in the early 1940s. It boasts a significant horse-owning population and once  was home to many herds of cattle. In recent years, commercial and residential development has rapidly changed the town, but Davie still tries to maintain a horse-friendly community with horse trails connecting the park system throughout the town. Pioneer City, a western theme park, was located across the street from Flamingo Gardens. It was built in the 1960s and closed a few years later. The Old Davie School. The Davie School, designed in 1917 by August Geiger, one of South Florida's most prominent early architects, opened in 1918 with about 90 students. The Davie School was the first  permanent school in the Everglades and is now Broward County's oldest existing school building. The building was in continuous use as a school until 1980. The Davie School Foundation was established in 1984 to protect and restore the Davie School to the integrity of its earlier appearance. The Foundation in conjunction with the Town of Davie, the Broward County School Board, the Soroptimists International of Davie, the Davie Historical Society and the community at large has worked tirelessly to preserve this important piece of Broward County's history. The building is now referred to as the "Old Davie School  Historical Museum," and is maintained by a collaboration of the Davie School Foundation and the Town of Davie. In the early 2000s two other historic buildings from the surrounding neighborhood were moved to the property adjoining the Old Davie School. In the 1970s Davie had the reputation of not being hospitable to Jews. Davie was rumored to be the seat of the Ku Klux Klan in South Florida; a cross was burned on the front lawn of a new Jewish family in 1977. This provoked an outpouring of community support which persuaded the family to remain, insisting that "never would  they see anti-Semitism like that again." There are Chabad houses, and a K–12 Jewish day school. Geography. Davie is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (2.32%) is water. Demographics. 2020 census. As of the 2020 United States census, there were 105,691 people, 35,708 households, and 24,675 families residing in the town. 2010 census. As of 2010, there were 37,306 households, with 8.0% being vacant. As of 2000, 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were married couples living together , 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.1% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.13. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.4% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 33.4% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females , there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $47,014, and the median income for a family was $56,290. Males had a median income of $38,756 versus $30,016 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,271. About 6.9% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over. As of 2000, those who spoke only English at home  made up 75.47% of the population, while those who spoke Spanish made up 18.74%, and French speakers made up 1.13% of residents. A few other languages spoken were Italian at 0.73%, Chinese at 0.53%, Portuguese 0.51%, and Haitian Creole being the mother tongue of 0.38% of the population. Education. Davie is host of the South Florida Educational Center. A number of educational institutions have campuses in Davie, including: Public schools. Broward County Public Schools operates public schools. Private schools. Catholic schools are under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami: Other private schools Media. Davie is a part of the Miami -Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood media market, which is the twelfth largest radio market and the seventeenth largest television market in the United States. Its daily newspapers are the "South Florida-Sun Sentinel" and "The Miami Herald", and their Spanish-language counterparts "El Sentinel" and "El Nuevo Herald".