Until it was settled in the 1940s by blacks from the Bahamas and Miami, the 300-acre tract south of Hollywood and east of Miramar was nothing but barren palmetto populated by skunks and criss-crossed by unpaved roads.
The settlers named the neighborhood Carver Ranches, after the noted black scientist George Washington Carver. It occupied nearly a square mile south of Hollywood and bounded by Pembroke Road and Hallandale Beach Boulevard.
In 1969, the state Legislature recommended Hollywood annex Carver Ranches. Local officials refused. And as late as the early ’70s, white students refused to attend Carver Ranches’ predominantly black schools.
Until 1997, Carver Ranches lacked sidewalks, a sewer system and fire hydrants.
In 2005, the neighborhood joined with the Lake Forest, Miami Gardens and Utopia neighborhoods to form the new city of West Park.
Staff researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report
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