One of the earliest establishments of its kind in the area, the New River Inn was built by Edwin T. King for Philemon Bryan in a masonry vernacular style. Beach sand was used to create the concrete construction to make the building hurricane resistant. Originally called the New River Hotel, this building replaced a 1902 wooden structure known as the Bryan Hotel, which was moved to the rear of the site and served as a hotel annex. In the 1940s the name was changed to the New River Inn and it served as a hostelry until 1955. In a letter dated July 31, 1968, Stuart L. Bryan, grandson of the builder of the New River Inn, stated: “The present concrete building was completed in 1905 from blocks made on the grounds in detachable iron molds by hand labor... The sand for the blocks used in the New River Inn was brought from the beach on barges. All walls inside and out were of this beach sand concrete...The inn is a two-and-a-half story whitewashed structure. The roof is hipped with dormers projecting from all sides. There is a belt course of smooth cast blocks at the second floor level creating a marked contrast with the rusticated blocks applied on the rest of the building. By using two different types of molds, the effect of ashlar and rusticated stone has been simulated. Thirteen stone columns support a two-story verandah on the south and east sides of the building.” Its proximity to the New River and its location adjacent to the railroad emphasize the importance that early modes of transportation played in the development of the Fort Lauderdale area. Visitors to the inn merely had to disembark at the dock on the south lawn of the inn and were surrounded by tropical gardens and scenic walks leading to the entrance. The hotel featured 40 guest rooms, a dining room, sewer and irrigation systems and running ice water and was lit with carbide lamps. Located in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale’s historic district, the New River Inn has been faithfully restored. It now houses the History Museum of the Fort Lauderdale History Center operated by the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society. For more information, call 954-463-4431 or visit www.oldfortlauderdale.org.

Philemon and Lucy Bryan's Home was built in 1905 by contractor Edwin T. King at the request of their two sons Reed and Tom. Philemon and Lucy first lived in a wood frame house that had been converted into the Bryan Hotel. The New River Inn replaced the hotel. This house is built of locally made hollow concrete block in the then fashionable Colonial Revival style. During World War II it served as a boarding house for young women whose husbands were in the service. The house is the oldest remaining example of residential masonry architecture in Fort Lauderdale. The offices of the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society are located in the Philemon Bryan House

The King Cromartie House still survives as it is one of the earliest homes in Fort Lauderdale and was built by one of the very first pioneers. Ed King came to the New River Settlement with his wife and young family to find that there was just a smattering of people living here. Ed set to work becoming our area’s first building contractor. It was Ed who built the (also still existing) Stranahan House. The early settlers began to raise their families and by 1899, there were nine children in the New River Settlement, including those of Ed and his wife. This entitled them to a schoolteacher – provided they had a schoolroom. Ed and other pioneers set to work and built a tiny, wooden one-room schoolroom. When the teenage schoolteacher arrived from Miami, it was Ed who picked her up at the station and took her – by boat along the New River – to his home where she lodged with his family. This schoolteacher was called Ivy Cromartie. The next year, she became Mrs Ivy Stranahan. Ivy had strong family ties and persuaded members of her family to move up to the New River from their home in Lemon City. One was her brother, Bloxham. Ed King build his home in 1907 in what is now Smoker Park. Bloxham Cromartie and Ed’s daughter Louise were married, hence the name given now to the house. Ed himself died in the forgotten hurricane of 1928. Rather spookily, this was on the anniversary of the 1926 hurricane that had wreaked such havoc in Fort Lauderdale in 1926. Ed was in Okeechobee when the hurricane struck – the area was very badly hit. Ed was trying to rescue two children when he was hit by flying debris. His memory lives on in the King Cromartie House.