History
Harbor Beach History: George English, L.C. Judd and the Islands off A1A
By Glen Primak, GLEN PRIMAK GROUP · Updated
1940: a new beach development
According to local historian Jane Feehan, the Harbor Beach Company, formed by George W. English, bought about 200 acres south of the U.S. Coast Guard station from pioneer Tom M. Bryan in 1940, at $1,000 an acre. Miami architect Russell T. Pancoast designed a wall, a gate and a field office, and the first 73 lots went on sale in January 1942. Early advertising pitched oceanfront, lake and Intracoastal lots, some with room for large boats. We have not checked the purchase details against county deed records.
The same account says all 73 lots in the first unit had sold by 1946, when a second unit went on the market, followed by a third in the 1950s. Plans for a private beach club, today’s Harbor Beach Surf Club, were in place by the mid-1940s.
The 1950s: the islands west of A1A
A 2015 Sun Sentinel profile credits Realtor L.C. “Cooley” Judd, who arrived in Fort Lauderdale in 1937, with developing the Harbor Beach Islands, part of the coastal single-family development he did from Bahia Mar to Port Everglades. The isles west of the beach strip, on dredged canals off Lake Sylvia and the Intracoastal, were recorded in their own plats; check the county plat index for which ones Judd recorded and when.
What the county plat records show
Broward County Property Appraiser legal descriptions place each street in these plats (plat book–page):
| Street(s) | Recorded plat |
|---|---|
| Seabreeze Blvd, S Ocean Dr, E Lake Dr, Sylvan Ln, Harbor Beach Pkwy | Harbor Beach Unit 1 Resub (19-10) |
| Seabreeze Blvd, S Ocean Dr, E Lake Dr, Mayan Dr, Haskins Ave | Harbor Beach Unit 2 (21-18) |
| River Ln, part of Mayan Dr and S Ocean Dr | Harbor Beach Unit 3 (30-33) |
| Mercedes Dr | Harbor Beach Unit 4 (35-12) |
| Lucille Dr | Lucille Island (37-19) |
| Laguna Dr, Laguna Ter | Laguna Isle (40-1) and a resubdivision (49-46) |
| Del Lago Dr | Del Lago Isle (42-2) |
| Isla Bahia Dr, Isla Bahia Ter | Isla Bahia (47-27) |
| Harborage Isle Dr | Metes-and-bounds parcels; legal descriptions refer to “Harborage (unrecorded)” |
A local history feature in the Miami Herald describes the Harborage island as likely filled in the 1960s.
Houses by decade
Of the 308 single-family parcels in the county records for the association area, the year-built field shows 12 from the 1940s, 99 from the 1950s and 41 from the 1960s, then a long run of rebuilding: 46 from the 2000s, 38 from the 2010s and 32 from the 2020s (as of October 24, 2026). The median year built is 1971. Year built reflects the main building on the parcel today, not when the lot was first developed.
Today
The City of Fort Lauderdale’s GIS shows no City-designated historic district in Harbor Beach. The Harbor Beach Homeowners Association describes guard gatehouses and private security patrols. Membership in the association is voluntary, per Glen Primak, local agent. See the FAQ →
Sources
- Fort Lauderdale's Harbor Beach: exclusive then and now (Jane Feehan, Sept 2022) — Jane's History Nook (local history blog) (accessed Oct 24, 2026)
- Realtor L.C. Judd created swank beachside homes (Sun Sentinel, May 17, 2015; archived copy) — Sun Sentinel via Internet Archive (accessed Oct 24, 2026)
- Las Olas: See old pictures of Fort Lauderdale street (photo captions on Lake Sylvia and the Harbourage island) — Miami Herald (accessed Oct 24, 2026)
- Harbor Beach Homeowners Association (newsletters and community information) — Harbor Beach Homeowners Association (accessed Oct 24, 2026)
- Parcel legal descriptions and year-built fields (tax roll 2026) — Broward County Property Appraiser (accessed Oct 24, 2026)
- City of Fort Lauderdale GIS: HistoricDistrict and Neighborhood_Associations layers — City of Fort Lauderdale (accessed Oct 24, 2026)