To see a short video on the history of Colee Hammock, click here.
The land now known as Colee Hammock was acquired by Mary Brickell on February 25th, 1874. It is part of a larger track she bought, with a long and colorful past recorded back to 1793. It is perhaps the oldest settlement in what is now Broward County, Florida. Mary Brickell bought 640 acres of land known as the “Lewis” Donation”. It extended from the present U.S. Highway 1 on the west from Broward Boulevard on the north, to S.E. 12th Street on the south, to a line paralleled by Hendricks Isle and Coconut Isle to the east. Today the Lewis Donation includes all of Colee Hammock, the first two Las Olas islands to the east, Beverly Heights in the Las Olas shopping area east of Federal Highway, and Rio Vista to 12th Street. Charles and Frankee Lewis were living here in 1793, and according to a Spanish government report, were well established with the main house on the south side of the river, a blacksmith shop, several outbuildings and a plantation two miles further inland. Mr. Lewis was on a trip to the Bahamas during the Spanish visit. They were English, transplanted from English settlements on the mainland or Bahamas. The English occupation of Florida extended from 1763 until 1783. The Spanish allowed the Lewis settlement to remain. When the United States bought Florida from Spain in 1819, a Land Commission was established to investigate land claims by residents throughout the territory. Frankee Lewis had remained on the banks of the New River and filed a claim for 640 acres, the maximum allowed, which was approved on December 31, 1825. Her children, Jonathan and Poly Lewis, received a similar approval for 640 acres on the south side of the Miami River. These grants were in Monroe County, and the county seat was Key West. The donations were confirmed by an Act of Congress on February 8, 1827. On September 9, 1830 Frankee Lewis sold her New River Donation to Richard FitzPatrick of Key West, and moved to be with her children on the Miami River. FitzPatrick was an attorney and had helped the Lewis family with both claims. There has been confusion over the subdivision name, Colee Hammock, with another pioneer, William Cooley. William Cooley had moved into the area west of Lewis Donation by 1825. On January 6, 1836, while William was away, the Cooley family were killed by Seminole Indians who began an uprising the preceding December 28th. A monument to the Cooley Family was placed in Colee Hammock, and later Cooley Landing, a City boating facility further west on the river in Sailboat Bend, was more appropriately named for the family. It has been reported that the name “Colee” was used by Mrs. Brickell to recognize the engineer who had done the plat work for her. In any event, she filed the neighborhood plat with the name “Colee Hammock”, and dedicated a park on the River in that name. Mary Brickell did not plat her property for development for years after her 1874 purchase. She also acquired land south of the Miami River, and another large track west of the present U.S. 1 on New River in Fort Lauderdale. The Brickell’s came to Florida from Ohio and opened a store in Fort Dallas, later renamed Miami. In 1891 an overland road which ran from Fort Jupiter to Fort Dallas, traveled along the ridge route just inland from the coastal waterways. This was the path used by the military and early settlers but most travel along the coast had been by boat. The road met the New River at Tarpon Bend. When the road was opened in 1892, a ferry was established to take people in wagons across the river, and was operated by Edward Moffatt. In January 1893, the ferry was taken over by Frank Stranahan and, at Mrs. Brickell’s request, the crossing and road were moved to the present location near the New River tunnel. Frank Stranahan built his house there, and provided overnight lodging for travelers, as well as a store and trading post for Indians. Mrs. Brickell is said to have moved the road and river crossing West to protect the hammock area for residential development. When the railroad was extended from West Palm Beach to Miami through her land, she insisted that Henry Flagler build it to the west also, thus preserving the ridge and waterfront properties for residential development. Mrs. Brickell carried out her plan for residential development of the Colee Hammock portion of the Lewis Donation. M.A. Hortt, a real estate pioneer in Fort Lauderdale, contracted to purchase all but 14 of the lots in 1921 without much down, and subsequently sold the lots one by one, paying the Brickells from the sales. Mrs. Brickell died before all the lots were sold, and her estate completed the transactions. Also sold were the areas now known as Rio Vista, Beverly Heights and the Las Olas retail area. So, from prior to 1793 until the sale of Colee Hammock lots starting in 1921, this portion of the Lewis Donation remained as a single tract. Of historical significance to Colee Hammock (and Beverly Heights, Rio Vista, and subdivisions of the Lewis/Brickell property), was the arrival of Francis Abreu. Francis Abreu was raised in Cuba and the family estate on the Hudson River in New York. His grandfather, Juan Jacinto Jova was a citizen of Spain. His daughter, Marie, married Diego Abreu, a Cuban sugar plantation owner who had gone to school in Spain. Diego and Marie’s son, Francis, was a graduate of Cornell and became an architect who, along with Addison Mizner, introduced the Spanish style to Florida. Abreu used a more authentic design, less grand than Mizner but in the tradition of the tropics from Cuba. Diego Abreu apparently began wintering in Fort Lauderdale in 1921, about the time he sold the sugar plantation in Cuba. He was attracted to the Tarpon Bend area of Colee Hammock, and he and his family began buying lots. Francis designed a beachfront home on Alhambra street for his grandfather, Juan Jova. That house has been preserved as a popular restaurant. Three of Colee Hammock’s most noteworthy homes were designed by Francis Abreu. The first was for Fort Lauderdale pioneer Tom Bryan, which still stands. The second was “Casa Sonriendo” for the Erkins family. It was demolished in 1966 for a church parking lot. The third is the former Needham house, also still standing. There were others, including simple cottages for members of his own family, and large homes in Rio Vista. He designed apartments in retail buildings around the growing city. In the 1930’s following the Florida boom and bust, he took over design of the Cloisters in Georgia after the death of Mizner. It is rare in a “new city” like Fort Lauderdale to be able to trace property back as far as 1794, but that is possible in Colee Hammock. Colee Hammock remains a valuable residential treasure in Fort Lauderdale, located close to both downtown and the beach. It is becoming urban village of single family homes and small townhome developments, between the high rise downtown and the high rise beach. A few apartment houses in the area are low rise. Commercial properties along the Las Olas Boulevard in Colee Hammock are primarily owner operated businesses. Like the neighborhoods of Victoria Park to the north of Broward Boulevard and Rio Vista south of the New River, Colee Hammock must do as Mary Brickell did to preserve the residential character of the area.