Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park is a

Florida State Park There are 175 state parks and 9 state trails in the U.S. state of Florida which encompass more than , providing recreational opportunities for both residents and tourists. Almost half of the state parks have an associated local 501(c)(3) non-pr ...

located in

Dania Beach, Florida Dania Beach (Dania until 1998) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 31,723. It is part of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census ...

off Florida State Road A1A. The park is named for late civil rights activists Von Mizell and Eula Johnson, who first pressured Broward County (for years) to have at least one beach for African Americans, then led wade-ins in Ft. Lauderdale in 1961 that led to desegregation of the county's beaches the following year. The park's former namesake, John U. Lloyd, served as

Broward County Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 m ...

Attorney for over 30 years and was instrumental in obtaining the land for the park.

History

The park, opened in 1953, was originally the first beach open to African Americans in Broward County, and was first called simply "the Colored Beach". According to its official web page, "it was once the county's designated 'colored beach'". That it came into existence was due to 7 years of effort by Dr. Mizell and others. "The next challenge was getting the County to approve the construction of an access road leading to the beach, which still lacked any restrooms or shelter." Access was only by boat. A road was built in 1965. Thanks to the efforts of Mizell and Johnson, Broward County Beaches were desegregated in 1962.

Activities and amenities

Activities include fishing, surf casting, canoeing, and kayaking, as well as swimming, boating, picnicking, and wildlife viewing. Amenities include a beach, two boat ramps, an education center, picnic tables, grills, and seven covered picnic pavilions. Visitors can rent canoes, kayaks, pavilions, and volleyball nets and balls. Thank The park is open from 8:00 am till sundown year-round. In addition the park includes Whiskey Creek, an inlet which serves as a

manatee Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living speci ...

sanctuary. Within the park is the Dania Beach Erojacks, a popular reef frequented by scuba divers. On July 1, 2016, John U. Lloyd Beach State Park was renamed the Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in honor of civil rights efforts undertaken by Mizell and Johnson during segregation.

References

External links

Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park
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Florida State Parks

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Absolutely Florida

John U. Lloyd Beach State Recreation Area
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Wildernet
{{Authority control Parks in Broward County, Florida State parks of Florida Protected areas established in 1973 Hollywood, Florida Beaches of Broward County, Florida Beaches of Florida 1973 establishments in Florida African-American history of Florida History of racial segregation in the United States