Through much of its history, the Historic Stranahan House Museum has been a central gathering place for Fort Lauderdale. In more recent years, it’s become fairly clear by looking at any number of events around town that Fort Lauderdale loves a good Friday night food-truck-and-music event. A beer or two for mom and dad and fun stuff for the kids? Even better.
Now the historic house where early city leaders Frank and Ivy Stranahan lived is opening its doors for some Friday night fun. The second annual Founding Families Fall Festival at the Historic Stranahan House Museum is Friday, Sept. 27. The casual evening of music, food trucks and family-friendly fun and games aims to bring casual, community vibes to a place that has long been a spot for locals to meet. Admission is $5, children and teenagers 18 and under are admitted free.
“It’s supposed to remind people that this little wooden house is more fun than they might think,” says Jennifer Belt, the museum’s executive director.
The South Florida native came to the Stranahan House two years ago after serving as events and marketing manager for the Broward Public Library Foundation. One of her goals is to bring people through the door who might not otherwise consider coming to a historic house and museum. She’s also the mother of two children. When she thought about events that might get more people through the doors, she considered what she and her friends appreciate: Something laid-back and casual where there’s fun stuff for kids and food, music and perhaps a few grownup beverages for the adults.
“I am a mom of a three-year-old and a one-year-old,” she says. “We’re always looking for activities that we can enjoy and that our kids can enjoy.”
Belt says its first fall festival last year drew about 500 people.
“We were pleasantly surprised by the number of people who showed up,” says Belt. “It was just such a fun, easy event. We heard from both people who had never been here before and our long-term supporters that they just enjoyed the casualness.” Fun, history, kids, food and drink. “We have it running from 5 to 8 p.m. to really get that young family crowd.”
It’s also a great way to nod to several different eras of the house’s history. The idea of the Strahanah House as a casual meeting place is one that’s been with it since the beginning. For Frank and Ivy Stranahan, it was a home and a business, a trading post for what in the late 19th and early 20th century was still a small, remote community. People would gather there, including Seminoles who would come down the New River and camp on the porch while trading wares.
“We keep trying to bring the Stranahan House back to everybody’s mind to remind everybody that when it was first built, it was a community center,” says the executive director.
That’s the earliest example of the house as a gathering spot. But Belt is also thinking about more recent history.
“That was 120 years ago, but we just celebrated our 40th anniversary of being a museum,” she says. Early in its days as a museum, the home, which also housed a restaurant for many years, frequently hosted evening socials. Belt learned about that in a personal way — her husband is a Fort Lauderdale native, and her in-laws told her about attending Friday evening “Stranahan socials” in the 1980s.
Like last year’s event, this year’s will also honor a handful of local families with longstanding ties to the community.
Belt hopes that when attendees are enjoying a fun Friday night, they also stop to consider their community’s roots.
There’s such a deep history and a close-knit community,” she says, “which you don’t expect because Fort Lauderdale is now such a large community.”
Upcoming Stranahan House events include History Happy Hour on Thursday, Nov. 7, the popular annual Cookies with Santa on Saturday, Dec. 7, along with Victorian Christmas tours in December, the Stranahan Speakeasy on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025 and the museum’s biggest fundraiser, Pineapple Jam, on Saturday, March 29, 2025.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “The Founding Families Fall Festival
“
WHERE: The Historic Stranahan House Museum, 335 SE 6th Ave., Fort Lauderdale
WHEN: 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27
TICKETS: $5, children and teenagers 18 and under admitted free
INFORMATION: Call (954) 524-4736 or
http://stranahanhouse.org/ffff/
