History
Nurmi Isles History: 1920s Dredging, Victor Nurmi and the 1948 Moderne Bridges
By Glen Primak, GLEN PRIMAK GROUP · Updated
The 1920s: finger islands off Las Olas
The islands north of East Las Olas Boulevard were made in the Florida land boom of the 1920s. FDOT’s historic-bridge documentation says the New River Development Company began dredging the area in 1920, and the “Bridge of the Isles” state historical marker describes four finger islands dredged during the boom, each joined to Las Olas by its own bridge. Fort Lauderdale has long been called the “Venice of America”, a phrase the Nurmi Isles Homeowners Association still uses.
The fourth of those islands, Isle of Venice, is a separate neighborhood today and is not covered by this guide.
1944: Victor Nurmi buys the islands
According to the state marker and FDOT’s documentation, developer Victor Nurmi bought the property in 1944. FDOT’s account puts the price at $250,000 and says Nurmi planned about 250 homes. His work included:
- Deeper dredging of the canals.
- About five miles of new concrete seawalls.
- New boulevards and landscaping.
- New bridges from each island to Las Olas.
We have not checked these purchase details against county deed records.
Nurmi later told his own story in a short memoir, The Fabulous Finn: Sailor, World Traveler, Builder of Islands, Creator of Nurmi Isles (1979). The homeowners association describes him as a pioneer developer and architect of the 1940s.
1948: the Moderne bridges
FDOT’s inventory lists the four island bridges over the Las Olas Canal (Isle of Venice, Fiesta Way, Nurmi Drive and Royal Palm Drive) as built in 1948. The state marker describes them as low-level, cast-in-place concrete slab bridges built by the Powell Brothers, with Moderne pedestals, urns and lettering.
The original spans were replaced in 2015–2016. FDOT’s environmental review of the Fiesta Way replacement notes that each bridge is the only road connection to its island, and that the Las Olas Canal is not navigable, so the Coast Guard required no navigational clearance. The “Bridge of the Isles” marker, erected in 2015, stands on East Las Olas Boulevard west of NE 20th Avenue.
Postwar houses
FDOT’s documentation, citing a 2007 cultural-resource survey, says architects Clinton Gamble and Robert E. Hansen designed many of the first houses: simple geometric planes, white stucco, large areas of glass and circular windows, rather than the Mediterranean Revival style of the 1920s. Which of those first houses survive is not covered here.
The county records still show that first wave. Of the 159 single-family homes, 66 were built in the 1940s and 1950s: 31 on Fiesta Way, 17 on Nurmi Drive and 18 on Royal Palm Drive. Nurmi Drive and Royal Palm Drive have been more heavily rebuilt since the 1990s. Compare the isles →
Plats
The county’s legal descriptions place each street in its own plat:
| Isle | Plat in county legal descriptions |
|---|---|
| Royal Palm Dr | Nurmi Isles Island No. 1 (Plat Book 21, Page 29) |
| Nurmi Dr | Nurmi Isles Island No. 2 (Plat Book 19, Page 24) |
| Fiesta Way | Nurmi Isles Island No. 3 (Plat Book 24, Page 42) |
Historic designation
The City of Fort Lauderdale’s GIS shows no designated historic district in Nurmi Isles as of October 24, 2026. Individual houses may still have their own history; ask the City’s historic preservation staff about a specific property.
Back to the Nurmi Isles overview →
Sources
- Bridge of the Isles (Florida historical marker F-864, erected 2015 by FDOT District 4 and the Florida Department of State) — The Historical Marker Database (HMdb.org) (accessed Oct 24, 2026)
- FDOT historic bridge documentation, structure 865734 (Isle of Venice, Fiesta Way, Nurmi Drive and Royal Palm Drive bridges over the Las Olas Canal; cites SEARCH 2007) — Florida Department of Transportation (archived by UF GeoPlan Center) (accessed Oct 24, 2026)
- FDOT ETDM project 9167: Fiesta Way bridge replacement over the Las Olas Canal — Florida Department of Transportation (accessed Oct 24, 2026)
- Nurmi Isles Homeowners Association (history and community information) — Nurmi Isles Homeowners Association (accessed Oct 24, 2026)
- Parcel legal descriptions and year-built fields (tax roll 2026) — Broward County Property Appraiser (accessed Oct 24, 2026)
- City of Fort Lauderdale GIS: HistoricDistrict and Neighborhood_Associations layers — City of Fort Lauderdale (accessed Oct 24, 2026)