Surveying Fort Lauderdale’s fascinating history chronologically, this pictorial retrospective begins with the 1890s, a time when this part of the country was still part of America’s frontier, isolated and wild. With the coming of the railroad and the twentieth century, an agricultural economy developed, and, soon, the Florida land boom would bring thousands of new settlers to the area. Fort Lauderdale’s glistening beaches and comfortable climate earned the city an early reputation as a tourist town and, eventually, as a Spring Break mecca.