Did you know? A fairly descriptive and impressive history of our Seven Isles neighborhood can be found on online on Wikipedia. The following extractions from Wikipedia provide a few interesting historical snapshots:
When WF Morang arrived in Fort Lauderdale from Boston in the early 1920s, his company, W.F. Morang & Sons, Inc., helped develop and dredge some of the finger islands around the city including 80 acres that currently include Seven Isles. His first projects included Rio Vista Isles where he dredged canals and built roads and bridges before dredging the area north of Las Olas Boulevard, which included the isles of Aqua Vista, Barcelona, De Sota, Sea Island, Pelican Isle, and “Lauderdale Shores”, which now includes Castilla Drive and Del Mar Place.
Morang promoted the sale of then named “Lauderdale Isles-Lauderdale Shores,” by erecting a gateway to the development consisting of twin columns based on two pedestals set approximately 25’ apart and columns approximately 40’ high. At the north side of the seawall between the columns, Morang constructed a boat dock from which sightseeing tours were launched with prospective buyers. While the columns were toppled in a 1926 hurricane, one surviving pedestal can still be seen along Las Olas, approximately 120’ west of Seven Isles Drive.
Though Morang built no homes and never completed the project, he began the building of The Croissantania, a hotel to be located at the eastern end of Aqua Vista Boulevard. The hotel had foundation work and walls, but construction was halted due to material shortage.
The original plat for the development of Seven Isles included all lots being only 50’ wide. Over time, all but one of the original 50’ lots were re-platted into larger lots or merged with adjacent lots through land sales.