Welcome to the Online Archive for the City of Coral Springs

The City of Coral Springs is 24 square miles nestled in the north-west corner of Broward County. Coral Springs is known for its family atmosphere, thriving businesses, advanced recreational facilities, and top-rated schools.

Coral Springs has been unique from its inception as it is one of the first truly planned cities in Florida. In 1963 successful Fort Lauderdale builders, James S. Hunt and Joe Taravella of Coral Ridge Properties, had the vision to create a planned city from the ground up. Purchasing the first parcel of land from the Lions family, 3,860 acres that were once a green bean farm and cattle field. The Coral Springs pioneers wanted homes on ample lots and public buildings in a brick colonial style. They called for strict city code to maintain aesthetics. Hunt was a showman. To draw interest in the land that was sometimes considered "too far out", they constructed a covered bridge and recruited talk show host Johnny Carson for a land sale BBQ. The event was a huge success, and later Carson himself purchased an investment plot of his own. Westinghouse purchased Coral Ridge Properties in 1966. They brought modern style and innovation to Coral Springs, with top-of-the-line appliances and features that were cutting edge. Though Hunt died in 1972 and Taravella in 1978, their vision lives on with continued innovative leadership and a community dedicated to progress. The succeeding leadership that has followed has been key to achieving those efforts.

Help the Historian!

We include as much information as is available for each item or photograph. If you have more information about people, places or dates on the historical records, please email history@coralsprings.gov and include the catalog number. We hope you enjoy the historic items now available online. New records will be updated frequently, so check back often!

Tips for Searching

Keyword Search

The Keyword Search button allows you to perform a general search across multiple fields for any catalog records online. Keyword searches use OR as the default connector between words (e.g. a search for Covered Bridge will return records associated with Covered OR Bridge). If you want to find records where both keywords are found, type in AND between the two words. To search for a specific phrase, be sure to put the phrase within quotes (e.g. "Covered Bridge 1980"). Searches are not case sensitive.

Advanced Search

The Advanced Search button can help you be more specific with your search. You can search for a word or phrase within a particular search category or use multiple categories to further narrow down your search results. For example, searching White in the People field will bring up any records associated with a member of the White family, without having to sift through black & white photographs. You can also search People and Creator records through Advanced Search.

Catalog Searches (Archives / Photos / Libraries / Objects)

The catalog buttons can also help narrow down your search, by only searching with a selected catalog. If you only want to search for Photos, click the Photos button and type in your keyword(s) or phrase. You can also browse records within that catalog without performing a search. Phrase searching, wildcards (*) as well as AND/OR statements, are available when performing catalog searches.