The City of Lauderhill

The City of Lauderhill was established on June 20, 1959. The “Founding Father” was builder/developer Herbert Sadkin.

The first officers of the City, appointed by the Governor of Florida, were Harold Wolk, who later became the first Mayor. Early Council Members included David Shapiro, Herbert Sadkin, Nathan Ringler and Jerome Wolk. They held office until the first general elections in the city on November 2, 1965.

Herbert Sadkin really had planned to name Lauderhill “Sunnydale” upon its inception. After some discussions with his dear friend, New York Times journalist, William Safire, the name Sunnydale would soon be second choice. Safire explained he disliked the name “Sunnydale” because it sounded like a neighborhood in Brooklyn. For whatever reasons, Mr. Safire liked the word play of “hill” and “dale”. Although Mr. Sadkin mentioned to Safire there are no hills there, Mr. Safire replied, “There are probably no dales in Lauderdale, either!” Somehow, out of that simple discussion, the name Lauderhill was born.