Stranahan House
Built 1901, listed in the National Register of Historic Places 1973
335 S.E. Sixth Avenue, Fort Lauderdale
Photo captions:
Stranahan House
Image Courtesy of the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society, Stranahan Collection
Frank and Ivy Stranahan
Image Courtesy of the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society, Stranahan Collection
Stranahan House, 1970s
Image Courtesy of the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society
Stranahan House, 2008
Image Courtesy of Broward County Libraries Division
Stranahan House, built in a classic Florida frontier design, is the oldest surviving structure in Broward County. It overlooks the picturesque New River. Home to two of Fort Lauderdale’s best known pioneer residents, Frank and Ivy Stranahan, it was originally constructed as a trading post, the third such structure on the site. Mr. Stranahan married Ivy Julia Cromartie in 1900. When they first met, Ivy was 18 years old and had come from Lemon City to teach at the first Fort Lauderdale school.
The Stranahans welcomed the Seminole Indians, who would sleep on the house’s broad porches when they came to town to trade. Mrs. Stranahan was an early advocate of education for both Indians and blacks. Although she only formally taught school for a year, many of the Indian children who visited her home learned to read through her efforts. The Stranahans donated land for the third school for black children, Old Dillard School, known originally as the “Colored School,” in Fort Lauderdale.
Frank Stranahan’s major business interests were in real estate and banking. He organized the Fort Lauderdale State Bank in 1910 and served as its president. He was also active in local politics. As a result of the collapse of the “land boom” after the 1926 hurricane and the great depression, the Fort Lauderdale State Bank failed. Mr. Stranahan’s other business interests also suffered. Despondent and in poor health, he drowned himself in the New River.
The house has served over the years as a post office, town hall and restaurant. Mrs. Stranahan died in 1971 having watched Broward County’s tremendous growth. In her will she left her property to the Seventh Day Adventist Church. The house was purchased shortly thereafter by the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society and the Fort Lauderdale Board of Realtors who began the restoration effort. The house features Dade County pine walls (termite resistant) and oak flooring. In 1982, extensive archaeological investigations, conducted by archaeologist Robert Carr, helped document the late 19th-century history of the site and revealed deposits of much older prehistoric artifacts. It is now a house museum, run by Stranahan House, Inc., open to the public for tours and special events. This well-restored house museum focuses on the Stranahan family and Fort Lauderdale’s early 20th-Century history. For more information, call 954-524-4736 or visit www.stranahanhouse.org.