Frank Stranahan
Frank Stranahan (born August 21, 1864 in Vienna , Ohio , † June 23, 1929 in Fort Lauderdale , Florida ) was an American merchant, banker and landowner. He is considered the founder of the city of Fort Lauderdale.
Life
Stranahan's childhood and youth were in Ohio. As a young man he worked in a steel works in Youngstown, also Ohio. At the age of 27 he came to what is now Fort Lauderdale in 1893. He initially worked as a ferryman on the Tarpon River (section of the New River). Since he quickly made contact with the local Seminole Indians and gained their trust, he was soon able to set up a trading post here. He paid the Indians fairly for the products delivered and did not sell them any alcohol. From 1894 he acquired extensive property. In 1901 he built a two-story commercial building, today's Stranahan House , in which he also ran a small bank. In 1906 he built a larger building for his growing business. Around this building a little further to the west grew a village that later became Fort Lauderdale (founded in 1911). Until the mid-1920s, Stranahan was a wealthy land and property owner. After a Florida real estate collapse and weather-related business losses in 1926, Stranahan lost his fortune and took his own life in 1929.
Ivy Stranahan
As early as 1899, the trading post was large enough to have a teacher, Ivy Julia Cromartie (* 1881), assigned. She married Stranahan in 1900. After the wedding, she began teaching the excluded Seminole children at the Stranahan Trading House. The couple remained childless; Ivy Stranahan was a lifelong social worker and died in 1971. Both were buried in Fort Lauderdale Evergreen Cemetery.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Stranahan, Frank |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American businessman and city founder |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 21, 1864 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vienna , Ohio |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 23, 1929 |
| Place of death | Fort Lauderdale , Florida |