City of Lauderhill

City of Lauderhill Municipal Water Report Info

ABOUT LAUDERHILL

The City of Lauderhill was established on June 20, 1959, with builder/engineer Herbert Sadkin as its "Founding Father." The initial city officers appointed by Florida's Governor included Harold Wolk, who became the first Mayor. Early Council consisted of David Shapiro, Herbert Sadkin, Nathan Ringler, and Jerome Wolk, who served until the first general elections on November 2, 1965.

Interestingly, Herbert Sadkin originally intended to name the city "Sunnydale." After discussions with his friend, New York Times columnist William Safire, the name changed. Safire disliked "Sunnydale" because it reminded him of a Brooklyn neighborhood. He preferred the wordplay of "hill" and "dale." When Sadkin pointed out there were no hills in the area, Safire cleverly replied, "There are probably no dales in Lauderdale, either!" From this exchange, the name Lauderhill was born.

In Lauderhill's early years, few people wanted to live in what was known as "Dairy Farm country." The city initially had more cows than people, with thousands of acres devoted to grazing cattle that produced fresh milk for the well-known McArthur Dairy. Until recently, traces of the dairy farm remained visible.

The Inverrary area was designed as a planned urban development, with each section carefully mapped for specific purposes. It later became home to the Inverrary Country Club and hosted the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Golf Classic. In the late 1970s, the Northwest section developed as a single-family residential community, considered so remote that residents joked they were "living in the Everglades!"

Lauderhill was also a pioneer in commercial development. The Lauderhill Mall, which opened in 1966, was the first enclosed air-conditioned shopping center in the southeastern United States. The land where the mall stands was previously used for trapping crocodiles and other wildlife.