Region: Southeast

HUGH TAYLOR GIRCH STATE PARK
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Contact Information
3109 East Sunrise Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, 33304
(954) 564-4521

In 1893, the Chicago attorney came to south Florida in search of a secluded area for his home. He settled in a small village called Ft. Lauderdale that included a store, a few houses and the remains of the old Fort Lauderdale Army Post.Purchasing oceanfront property for about a dollar an acre, he eventually owned a three-and-a-half mile stretch of land along the beach. In 1940, at age 90, he built his last home here. He called his 180-acre estate Terramar, "land to sea."

Wishing to preserve his subtropical paradise from the development that was springing up all around it, Birch donated his estate for use as a public park. On July 1, 1949, Hugh Taylor Birch State Recreation Area officially opened to the public. It is now an island of trees and greenery in the middle of urban Ft. Lauderdale.