History

Seven Isles History: W.F. Morang & Sons and the 1920s Land Boom

By Glen Primak, GLEN PRIMAK GROUP · Updated October 23, 2026

A developer from Boston

Seven Isles began with W.F. Morang, who came to Fort Lauderdale from Boston in the early 1920s, during the Florida land boom of roughly 1923–1926. His firm, W.F. Morang & Sons, Inc., had already worked on Rio Vista Isles. In Seven Isles it dredged and filled about 80 acres, turning shallow bay bottom beside the Intracoastal Waterway into a set of finger islands separated by canals.

Two subdivisions, one neighborhood

Morang marketed the land under two names. “Lauderdale Isles” took in the streets now called Aqua Vista, Barcelona, De Sota, Sea Island and Pelican Isle. “Lauderdale Shores” took in Castilla and Del Mar. Many of the street names have Spanish and Mediterranean roots, in keeping with the boom-era style. The HOA’s history page explains each name.

The gateway columns and the 1926 hurricane

In 1925, Morang built a grand entrance: twin columns about 40 feet tall, set on pedestals about 25 feet apart. A dock ran sightseeing boat tours for prospective buyers. The September 17, 1926 hurricane knocked the columns down and, together with the collapse of the land boom, ended the original sales push.

The east pedestal still stands, about 120 feet west of Seven Isles Drive. In 1995, a campaign led by resident Diane Hess saved it through historic designation, with help from a state matching grant.

A hotel that never opened

Morang himself built no homes. According to the HOA history, a hotel called the Croissantania was started at the east end of Aqua Vista, but work stopped because of a building-material shortage after the ship Prinz Valdemar sank in Miami’s harbor.

From 50-foot lots to today’s larger homesites

The original plats laid out 50-foot-wide lots. After the bust, much of the land was consolidated into acreage between 1928 and 1937 and re-platted into homesites between 1937 and 1952. Today most lots are wider than 75 feet and many exceed 100 feet, and all but one of the original 50-foot lots have been combined. Broward County Property Appraiser records show building waves in the 1950s and again from the 1990s onward. See the market snapshot →

The modern neighborhood

Residents formed the Seven Isles Homeowners Association in 1986. The association renamed the former NE/SE 23rd Avenue as Seven Isles Drive. Residents also paid for a guardhouse, designed by a resident, at the neighborhood entrance. Continue to the street & lot guide →