The city's name can be traced back to Sir Edward J. Reed, a member of Britain's Parliament for the County of Pembroke from 1874 to 1880, who formed the Florida Land and Mortgage Company in 1882 and purchased 2 million acres of Florida swampland. A road put through one of the tracts came to be known as Pembroke Road. When incorporating the city, Walter Smith Kipnis, the city's first mayor, suggested the name Pembroke Pines because of the pine trees growing near Pembroke Road.
Many World War II servicemen who had trained in South Florida wanted to return after the war, and the open expanses of land that would become Pembroke Pines, occupied primarily by large dairy farms, offered inexpensive acreage for housing development.
Pembroke Pines was officially incorporated on January 16, 1960, with the casting of 425 votes in a resident's carport. At the time of incorporation, the city was less than a square mile between Pembroke Road, Hollywood Boulevard, SW 72nd Avenue, and the Florida Turnpike.
The city motto is "Join Us--Progress with Us", and the city website proclaims their commitment to "forward thinking in an ever-changing world."
Skeletal remains of animal hunters dating back about 10,000 years have been found around Broward County, showing that human beings have lived in the area for a long time.
In 2001, State Farm Insurance declared Pines Boulevard and Flamingo Road the most dangerous intersection in the United States based on its accident claims. WFOR-TV reported that there were 357 accidents during a two-year period. The intersection has since been redesigned, with additional lanes added.
Hurricane Andrew was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged or destroyed. It stripped many homes of all but their concrete foundations when it passed through Miami-Dade County in August 1992, destroying more than 63,500 houses and leaving 65 people dead, prompting thousands of Florida residents to move northward to Pembroke Pines. By 1999, it was the third fastest growing city in the United States.
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