[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 211 (Friday, January 3, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1647-E1648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING THE CITY OF DANIA BEACH

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 3, 2020

  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, it is with great pride that I 
rise to recognize the 115th anniversary of the City of Dania Beach in 
Florida's 23rd Congressional District.
  Broward County's first and oldest city, Dania Beach's historic roots 
date back to the 1880s when 12 Danish families moved from Chicago to 
the area's first planned settlement, Modello. It was soon after that 
A.C. Frost built the first home, the first general store, and became 
Modello's first postmaster. It was Frost's buildings that eventually 
housed the area's first two schools.

[[Page E1648]]

  The town incorporated in 1904, and since many of its 35 residents 
were Danes, the name changed from Modello to Dania.
  In 1910, Russian immigrant Louis Brown moved to rural Dania. Brown 
was the first known Jewish settler in Broward County and opened Brown's 
Department Store on Main Street, which is now known as Federal U.S. 1.
  Thanks to settlers such as Frost and Brown, Dania continued to 
thrive, soon growing to more than 1,200 residents, and nearly 30,000 
today. It was a small yet resilient community that weathered fires and 
hurricanes that at times devastated the town.
  Dania Beach is home to several historic properties and sites--the 
Bank of Dania, the Poinciana Hotel, the Dania Library & Women's Club, 
and several private residences once occupied by settlers and pioneers. 
Dania Beach is home to the first Florida state park named for African 
Americans. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park was named for civil 
rights activists Dr. Mizell, the area's first black doctor and Johnson, 
Broward County's first NAACP president.
  Madam Speaker, it is a great honor for me to represent the City of 
Dania Beach in our nation's capital. I thank Mayor Lori Lewellen, the 
Members of the City Commission, and the city's staff for their many 
accomplishments that have made the City of Dania Beach a wonderful 
place to live, work, visit and raise a family.

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