18 -Broward Legacy THE FIRST REGISTERED MOTOR VEHICLES IN BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA OCTOBER 1915 TO JULy 1916 by Kenneth J. Hughes EARLY MOTOR Fort Lauderdale became a boom­ road when Broward County came TRANSPORTATION IN ing agricultural town with the ini­ into existence in 1915. Notably, the BROWARD COUNTY tiation ofEverglades drainage in the Bryan family had arrived on New In 1893, when the horseless car­ early years ofthe twentieth century. River during 1895 and were some­ riage was going through trials of ac­ New and fertile farmlands dotted the what responsible for the com­ ceptance, Frank Stranahan riverbanks, but roads were non-ex­ munity's success with their hotel and established a ferry and a trading post istent. In effect, the Studebaker other business ventures. Growth along the banks ofNew River. Here, wagon was king. Yet, times--they was inevitable, and Fort Lauderdale a small community emerged from the were changing. Roads were im­ was incorporated in 1911. The new pine woods. And in 1896, when com­ proved, and the automobile soon be­ town was small, and the first auto­ petitive automobile manufacturers came the preferred mode of travel. mobiles were sold through agents were making sound investments in The first automobile in Fort Lau­ from Miami. Detroit, Henry Flagler's railroadwas derdale was a Glide, purchased by In 1911, H. Gilbert Wheeler completed to Miami, bringing new Reed A. Bryan in 1906. Itmust have opened a garage on Brickell Avenue settlers and shipping produce to been a grand new convenience for in downtown Fort Lauderdale, ap­ northern markets. Since that time, the owner and a unique attraction parently in conjunction with his new the development of the automobile on the unpaved avenues of down­ mercantile establishment. Reed A. and its positive effects on south town Fort Lauderdale. Local records Bryan purchased his first REO from Florida have been a storybook affair. indicate Reed's Glide was still on the this establishment. Later in the de­ cade, the Broward County Garage and Automobile Company operated Established in 1915, the same year the Dixie Highway opened down the Florida east coast, Broward County grew up with the automobile. The at or near the location of Wheeler's county's first motor vehicle registration record, covering the period from Garage. It is uncertain if H.G. October 1915 to July 1916, provides an abundance of details on the types Wheeler had an affiliation with the of vehicles operating, their owners and uses. By analyzing this data, as Broward County Garage and Auto­ well as contemporary newspaper articles, advertisements and physical mobile Company. Neither can we artifacts, Kenneth J. Hughes reconstructs the automotive history of find proofthat Wheeler sold automo­ Broward County's first year. biles after 1912. Nevertheless, in­ Mr. Hughes, a former Broward County Historical Commissioner formation in the Fort Lauderdale and contributor to several past issues of Broward Legacy, has done Historical Society archives regarding extensive research, both historical and archaeological, into the county's R.A. Bryan's REO purchase indicates past. This article is an abridgement of his booklet by the same name, that H. Gilbert Wheeler was the first which is available from the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society gift shop. automobile dealer in present-day Broward County. Summer/ Fall 1998 - 19 Fort Lauderdale's first automobile, Reed A. Bryan's Glide, with New River Inn in the background. ca. 1910. The baby is Reed's nephew, Perry Bryan. county seat. During this transition, A NEW COUNTY AND Fort Lauderdale merchant new civil records were established MOTOR VEHICLE H. G. Wheeler. and maintained. These responsibili­ REGISTRATION ties included the licensing of motor cense plates recovered in present-day In 1914, the communities of vehicles. In 1918 the licensing pro­ Broward County, could be verified. Deerfield and Pompano were in Palm cess became a state responsibility, We are very fortunate to have Brow­ Beach County, while Dania, Davie, but before that date, all auto licenses ard County's Automobile Registra­ Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale, and were maintained and issued by tions still intact. Progresso were situated in Dade Florida's counties. From these records, the reader County. The border between these The actual licensing of vehicles can determine the county's most two jurisdictions followed an east­ in Broward County was acknowl­ popular sources of transportation. west trail later known as Floranada edged at an organizational County Although the source of this informa­ Road. Commission meeting on September tion, now in the Broward County By 1915, with the opening of 19, 1915. Besides the agenda of re­ Historical Commission archives, does drained Everglades lands, these com­ modeling the courthouse and order­ not indicate the year each vehicle munities hadincreased in population ing jail cells, William Q. Bryan, the was manufactured, it does list them sufficiently enough to gain voting tax collector, filed a list of required by manufacturer, or sometimes, by strength. This happened during a supplies: one Register for Automo­ crucial era in south Florida history biles and Motorcycles, auto applica­ when much local political interest tion blanks for licenses, fifty "To centered on expenditures and prohi­ Hire" automobile license plates, 250 bition. One particularly divisive is­ "Owner's Use" automobile license sue concerned the taxation of Fort plates and fifty motorcycle license Lauderdale area citizens to provide plates. Subsequently, it was deter­ for a deep-water port at Miami. mined that the new county of Brow­ When Miami area leaders blocked ard had less than 300 automobiles, initial efforts to create a new county trucks and buses, and not more than from the northern portion of Dade, fifty motorcycles. This information Fort Lauderdale interests promoted was most likely obtained from the county-wide prohibition. Since the previous Dade County Automobile Miami hotels and tourist resorts License Registration records. Sev­ wanted unrestricted alcohol sales, eral recent inquiries by historians this tactic paved the way for the cre­ and license plate collectors have ation of a new county. failed to locate the whereabouts of Thus, Broward County was es­ Dade County's registrations. If tablished on October 1, 1915 from these records were located, this sup­ parts ofDade and Palm Beach Coun­ position, as well as the identity ofthe William Q. "Quince" Bryan, first ties. Fort Lauderdale became the few surviving 1915 Dade County li- Broward County Tax Collector. 20 -Broward Legacy model name. For example, any Ford satisfactory to the welfare of their no need to worry about traffic jams, automobiles on the road between taxpayers. They recognized that it traffic lights or fuel shortages. Nev­ 1915 and 1918 were most likely would be unfair to charge a "Private ertheless, road conditions presented Model Rs, Model Ns or Model Ts. Use" automobile owner the same li­ a major concern. Other manufacturers provided simi­ cellsing fee as the owner who used lar designs to compete against Henry the vehicle for taxi service or trans­ THE FffiST ROADS IN Ford. A few examples were porting produce. Subsequently, BROWARD COUNTY Chevrolet's Baby Grand and Four county vehicle licenses were also The first road through what was Ninety, Mr. Willy's Overland, and classified on the basis of "For Hire" to become Broward County was a Dodge Brothers' Touring Car. Most and "Motorcycles." mere trail cut through the pine were powered by four or six-cylinder Broward County also charged li­ woods in 1838 by Major William engines. censing fees based on vehicle qual­ Lauderdale's Tennessee Volunteers In contrast, some motor vehicles ity, measured in tonnage. A Ford and Lieutenant Robert Anderson's were rather uncommon and usually owner who used the vehicle for "Pri­ Third Artillery Pioneers. It was manufactured in small, unsuccessful vate Use" in 1916 was charged $5.00 mapped by Lieutenant Frederick quantities. Some, known as cycle­ per year, while a Cadillac owner paid Searle of the U.S. Topographical cars, had only one or two cylinder $10.00. Motorcycle owners were usu­ Corps. This mule trail was improved engines and rode on motorcycle tires. ally the most fortunate, having to for the passage of military supply One example ofa cyclecar registered fork over only $2.00 per year. By wagons in 1857, during the Third in young Broward County is the 1917, commercial vehicles were pay­ Seminole War. At the same time, the Grant. This and similar vehicles had ing $20.00 per year. first stationary bridge in what we a short production span ranging from The standard wage for common now call Broward County was con­ 1910 to 1916, and were eventually labor in 1915-17 averaged about fif­ structed across the upper reaches of phased out by improved development teen dollars per week. Thus, most the Hillsboro River by CaptainAbner and price reduction of standard au­ everyone's great-granddad had to Doubleday--the legendary inventor tomobiles. pay one-third of his weekly wages, ofbaseball. Notably, this survey indicates minimum, to keep the old lizzie on Most travelers who visited south that Overland, Buick, Chalmers and the road for one year. By today's Florida in the later part of the nine­ Studebaker automobiles lagged be­ standards, the licensing fees for teenth century followed the sea route hind Fords in popularity--all were keeping motor vehicles on the road or the Florida East Coast Railway to running a close race for second place. during 1916 were expensive. In ad­ their destinations. Yet, after the The Chevrolet, rather new on the dition, south Florida's economic con­ turn of the century, some wealthy market in 1915 and 1916, was not ditions must have made such a northerners did travel by automo­ well known or well rec~ived in Brow­ payment doubly painful to great­ biles to their winter homes in ard County; only two were registered granddad's wallet.