SILVER THATCH MOUNTED BEACH PATROL

The recreation area encompassed by Colony Club Road, during World War II, was the site of the corrals and paddocks for the United States Coast Guard’s Silver Thatch Mounted Beach Patrol. The mounted beach patrol protected the coast from U-boat activity and saboteurs. The location of the Beach Patrol headquarters was the site of the old Silver Thatch Inn, which was built by the Jelks family c. 1930s. When the Coast Guard requisitioned the property in 1942, stables, corrals and a paddock were built behind the hotel, which served as headquarters for the unit and barracks for the men. Starting the eight-hour duty at 4 P.M., the unit patrolled from Hillsboro Inlet to Port Everglades. In 1945, the unit was decommissioned and the hotel was returned to civilian control. In 1954, Ed Stack, who later became Broward County Sheriff and then was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, purchased the property and started the Bath and Tennis Club of Pompano Beach on the site. The hotel was torn down in 1972, when the Silver Thatch Atlantic Plaza was built on the property. The recreational area remains because of a 1962 deed restriction, which precludes any building on the parcel.