New "Walk Fort Lauderdale" App Guides Folks on a Historical Tour Through the City

A walking tour of Fort Lauderdale’s colorful history? There’s an app for that.

History Fort Lauderdale, the newly-rebranded organization previously known as Fort Lauderdale Historical Society, recently launched the first Broward County walking tour app, Walk Fort Lauderdale. It’s totally free via the Florida Stories app on the App Store and Google Play.

The Walk Fort Lauderdale journey takes folks on a 1.5-mile trek throughout the city. The tour starts on the banks of the New River near the Bryan Homes (off SW Third Ave.) and hits 12 historical spots along the way. These stops include the Bryan/Abreu Building (201 SW Second St.), the Main Library (100 S. Andrews Ave.) and Bivans Hotel (200 SW Brickell Ave.).

Each stop features five minutes or less of an audio tour, archival photos, renderings, and cultural narratives. For example, the first stop includes a 3.5-minute audio clip, overview of the town’s first Tequesta and Seminole First Nation people, early aerial shots, and snaps from a nearby archaeological dig.

“Some of our buildings may be gone, but what is so great about this is that you get to experience history... how things may have looked 50 or 100 years ago,” says Patricia Zeiler, executive director of History Fort Lauderdale.

The app also has intuitive GPS capabilities, guiding folks via customized directions to the first stop and each spot thereafter.

“You’ll never be lost or left asking, ‘Where is this?’” said Zeiler. “If you’ve never been in Fort Lauderdale or if you’re a local, it’s all right there.”

The app was made possible in part thanks to a grant from the Florida Humanities Council. In addition to “Walk Fort Lauderdale,” there are also walking tours available for 22 other statewide destinations on the Florida Stories app, including Key West, Islamorada, Fort Piece, Pensacola and Tallahassee.