Cooley's Landing Park - Real Fort Lauderdale Haunt

William Cooley was an early settler in East Florida. He moved to the New River area (later to become Fort Lauderdale) in 1826 and started an arrowroot plantation. Eventually he became involved in local administration, and in 1835/6 he was involved in adjudicating a case in which white settlers were accused of killing a Creek Indian chief named Alibama. The settlers were arrested but later released due to insufficient evidence. Because of this, the Creeks were outraged and placed most of the blame on Cooley. 15-20 Indians raided Cooley's home on January 4th, 1836, while he was away on an expedition, killing his wife and children. The incident has been known as ""Cooley's Massacre"" or ""New River Massacre."" It ended the New River settlement and it would be more than a half century before whites would resettle in the area again in significant numbers. Cooley moved to Tampa, where he died in 1863.

A small park called "Cooley's Landing" is all that is left on the original plantation. It was erected on the spot where the home once stood, on the north side of the river. (Some sources place Cooley’s plantation on the south side, which is called “Cooley’s Landing South” today, but local historians believe it was indeed on the north side.) Reports say that each year around January, screams of dying children can be heard.

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