Broward County, Fl: The Photography of Gene Hyde

In 1915, the South Florida communities of Fort Lauderdale, Dania, Pompano, Hallandale, Deerfield, and Davie joined together to form a county. They named it Broward, in honor of the governor whose Everglades drainage program had brought them such prosperity. Today, Broward is Florida’s second largest county, with 1.6 million people. Photographer Aaron Eugene Hyde came to Fort Lauderdale in 1933, at the age of 16, to begin a 40-year career, serving as one of the county’s few professional photographers and the photographer for the Broward edition of the Miami Herald. Gene recorded fascinating people, places, and times pivotal in the county’s development. His photos evoke nostalgia for the not-that-distant past, a way of life Broward County residents will never see again.