An Outing in Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
Today is going to be pretty much a relaxing day around the condo; the weather is threatening, and we don't want to embark on a long bike ride or anything like that, since we might be caught in a downpour. So we have just goofed around in the condo this morning, but now want to get out of the house and do something.
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We've picked as our destination the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park. As you can see from the map at left, the park is not too far from the condo- perhaps three miles as our route takes us. If we were on our bikes, we would follow the same route that I have marked here, but today, what with the threatening weather, we've taken the rental car. Before we entered the park, we went by the Subway near the Galleria and got some sandwiches to eat while we are at the park.
It can fairly be said that the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park would exist today were it not for The World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893. One of the visitors to the Exposition was Hugh Taylor Birch, a prominent Chicago attorney. One of the most popular exhibits was one detailing the new development getting underway in South Florida. It impressed Mr. Birch so much that he left his home in search of peace and tranquility in the south Florida wilderness. It was at this time that Henry Flagler's East Coast Railway was opening the sunshine state to tourism. In 1893, the railroad stopped in Titusville, Florida. To travel beyond this point, Mr. Birch reportedly set sail in a boat loaned to him by Henry Flagler.
Fate took another hand in events when Mr. Birch was blown ashore to safety in Lake Mabel (Port Everglades today) during an unseasonable Atlantic storm. He found himself near Fort Lauderdale, built in 1838 during the Seminole Indian conflict by Major William Lauderdale. Although the area was populated sparsely, he believed Fort Lauderdale was where "God meant him to be" and was where he would stay. He purchased over three miles of oceanfront property along Fort Lauderdale's beach for less than one dollar per acre. Henceforth, he spent the winters on his beachfront land where he could absorb the seascapes, enjoy a daily swim in the ocean and grow fruits and other plants.
Throughout his life, Hugh Taylor Birch had a love of the out-of-doors and the solitude found therein. During his lifetime, Hugh Taylor Birch donated over 1,760 acres of land to various organizations and persons in order to preserve the wilderness he had always cherished, including the expanse now known as Hugh Taylor Birch State Park.
For many years, up to the beginning of World War II, Hugh Taylor Birch returned to Chicago during the summers but spent his winters with his good friends at Bonnet House with Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Bartlett until, at age 93, he built his own beachfront residence north of Bonnet House in the "Oaks", known today as Birch State Park and Recreation Area. As owner of the land, he deeded the park to the state of Florida and granted an easement to the local government to construct Sunrise Boulevard. Mr. Birch died in 1943, and the traditions he had initiated were carried on by Frederic and Evelyn Bartlett.
The entry fee for the park is minimal- just a couple of dollars for a vehicle. We got there around noon, and drove the circular park road through the old growth natural seashore plants and trees all the way to the back of the park where there is a large picnic area. There, we stopped to have lunch. The weather being what it was, there was nobody else there, so we got a picnic table
right by the Intracoastal.
You can watch my movie of Fred having lunch with the player at right, and here is a picture that Fred took of
he and I at the picnic table.
Just outside the park boundary north of where we were sitting there is an extremely
interesting house
that is cantilevered out over the water of the Intracoastal. Fred tells me that he has seen it somewhere in a magazine before, but I am not sure where. We finished up with our lunch and were walking back to the car when I noticed that that we had a visitor at the picnic site, and you can watch him in the movie at left. If you couldn't quite make out the identity of the visitor from the movie, then here is a closeup of
our visitor.
We continued our drive around the park road, and about halfway back to the entrance saw a trailhead for a short nature trail through the interior vegetation. So we stopped to take the short hike, and I made a movie of us walking along the trail that you can watch with the player at right.
It was an interesting afternoon, but no sooner had we returned from the trail than it started to rain, so we were lucky to have gotten much of anything done today.
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February 26, 2004: Florida Trip Day 6 |
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February 24, 2004: Florida Trip Day 4 |
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