About Hollywood

Hollywood, FL is a city of 130,000 residents between Fort Lauderdale and Miami located on Interstate 95, more commonly known as the Florida Turnpike. It sits next to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. It also hosts the second busiest cruise port in the world. The city is less than twenty five miles from Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami, giving business a great shipping location. Today, those locations can be found in Hollywood, FL business directory.Hollywood, FL was the dream of Joseph Wesley Young, Junior. A dream that ended up leaving him bankrupt and eventually a dream that took his life. Joseph Wesley Young Junior was born in Washington and moved to Hollywood, California before having his dream of a city built in Florida that resembled Hollywood, CA, but still had its own characteristics. He dreamed of a city that was located in the Everglades and had two lakes. One that emptied into the ocean and one that would serve as a turning point for very expensive yachts. Along these lakes, would run roads that would serve everyone from the most elite to common working people. Unique to his plan was three large circles of property that would forever remain green areas.

This dream became a reality with the creation of the Hollywood Land and Water Company, which consisted of twenty-six departments that would take care of all of the building needs of the community. In February 1921, Joseph Wesley Young Junior brought the first parcel of land. The time was the gay 1920s and speculators loved his concept. They quickly bought land as real estate properties continued to soar. Just a short six years later, the town consisted of 18,000 people and was six and a half miles long. The nearby communities of Hallandale and Dania asked to be annexed into the prosperous community. Residents chose to make their Hollywood look like Atlanta City by installing a boardwalk. They built one of the largest bathing houses in the country, containing the world's largest solarium. The Hollywood Beach Hotel was constructed with a direct line to the New York Stock Exchange. On September 18, 1926, devastation struck as the Great Miami Hurricane moved ashore devastating the town. Despite trying very hard, Joseph Wesley Young, Junior was not up to the task of rebuilding his dream city. He was soon bankrupt, and died a broken man in April 1934. Additional information can be found in the Hollywood, FL yellow pages.

Written by Lyndsey Morgan