Friday 13 November 2015

Ramona Maharaj on the Move from the City of Hamilton to Fort Lauderdale

Ramona Maharaj says the move from the City of Hamilton to Fort Lauderdale was one of the best decisions she’s made in her life. Maharaj is at work on completing her Master’s degree in English at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Fort Lauderdale. She loves the excellent weather year-round, the sandy beaches, and the artistic community that she found in Fort Lauderdale when she moved there.

Ramona Maharaj City of Hamilton Fort Lauderdale was mostly uninhabited from the 15th century until the 1890s for various reasons. The native inhabitants declined in population since first meeting Spanish explorers, and white settlers struggled to gain a foothold in the region. The first Fort Lauderdale was constructed in 1838 to help US forces battle the Seminole Indians. The fort was abandoned in 1842 after the war concluded. In 1893, Frank Stranahan opened a ferry across the New River. More people arrived in the area after the Florida East Coast Railroad completed a route through the area in 1896. Fort Lauderdale was incorporated in 1911 and designated the county seat of Broward County in 1915. In the 1920s, people flocked to Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding area during the Florida Land Boom, which ended abruptly in 1926 during one of the worst hurricanes on record, and later the Great Depression. Today, over 1.8 million people live in the Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area.

Ramona Maharaj City of Hamilton moved to study English at FAU. She hopes to one day teach English at the college level and write criticism, fiction, and nonfiction.