Located in Florida’s Broward County, Plantation is one of the main cities within Miami’s metropolitan district. It is a popular residential and shopping area within easy access of Southern Florida’s beaches, as well as boasting world-class golfing facilities.
Plantation’s main commercial hub lies along West Broward Boulevard, with an extensive shopping mall that is home to supermarkets, big name brand stores and restaurants. Westfield Broward and The Fountains shopping malls are on South University Drive just to the south-west, while the Plantation Preserve Golf Course and Club boasts a series of fairways and lakes in between. The semi-private Jacaranda Golf Club extends across a 36-hole championship course to the west, nestled within an upmarket residential district set around glistening lakes and canals.
The Plantation Historical Museum has a small exhibition detailing the city’s history, together with a butterfly garden, while the Plantation Heritage Park is a popular recreation area in the city, with plenty of walking trails, two children’s playgrounds and a disc golf course. Numerous primary and high schools scatter throughout the city, while the University of Phoenix is the main tertiary hub along North Pine Island Road. Plantation is also home to the Esperanto language institute headquarters and DHL’s World Headquarters for the Americas.
Plantation is well connected to Miami by public bus services, as well as to nearby Fort Lauderdale and its surrounding beach suburbs. The Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is the closest entry point, located just to the east of the city, while Miami International Airport is around 50 kilometres to the south.
Plantation was named after the Everglades Plantation Company which was situated on the land prior to its purchase by Frederick C. Peters in 1941. Broward Boulevard was established as its first major thoroughfare and the first homes built six years later before Plantation was officially incorporated as a city with its own mayor in 1953.