🐟 You've driven past all of these

The train that built your city turned 130 this year.

On February 22, 1896, the first Florida East Coast Railway train rolled into a tiny settlement called Pompano. There were no roads. No real buildings. Just a handful of settlers and a surveyor who allegedly named the town after a fish he ate for dinner.

Henry Flagler, retired oil exec turned Florida railroad obsessive, had been pushing tracks south after a freeze killed the citrus crops up north. Pompano grew up alongside those tracks. Settlers came from Georgia, the Carolinas, the Bahamas. A general store opened at NE 1st and Flagler Ave in 1900. By 1908, it was officially a city. By the 1920s, the population had quadrupled.

Then hurricanes happened. Then the Depression. Pompano went back to farming, and in 1939 opened a farmers market with what was supposedly the longest loading platform in the world. The city added "Beach" to its name in 1947, turned farmland into subdivisions in the '50s, and here we are.

130 years later, the trains still run through town. Here's what else is happening this week. 👇

📅 Announced April 20, 2026 📍 John Knox Village · 651 SW 6th St

Pompano's own John Knox Village just earned top marks from U.S. News & World Report in their 2026 Best Senior Living rankings - picking up high ratings across Independent Living, Continuing Care Retirement Community, and Assisted Living categories.

JKV has been a fixture in Pompano since 1967 and recently brought on Melissa Honig as President & CEO, the first woman to hold the role in the community's 58-year history. Between the national recognition and new leadership, this is a good moment for one of Pompano's most established institutions.

If you've got parents, grandparents, or yourself weighing options, it's worth a look.

👉 johnknoxvillage.com

📅 Applications open now through May 1, 2026 📍 Apply online at pompanobeachfl.gov 💰 Funding varies · City-funded

If you run a nonprofit that serves Pompano Beach residents, the city is accepting partnership applications for FY 2026–2027 right now. This is the one annual window to apply. The funding priorities this year fall under two pillars: Workforce-focused Excellence (job training, education) and Community-focused Excellence (behavioral health, senior services, community events).

The deadline is May 1 at noon sharp — no extensions. If you missed the info session on April 15, the application guidelines and sample docs are all on the city website.

Worth passing along to anyone you know doing community work in Pompano.

👉 pompanobeachfl.gov/government/community-partnerships