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Special Feature continued

U.S. Representative Dwight L. Rogers addresses constituents at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark progress in his South Florida Congressional District. (Public domain photo)

District. He was the first Fort Lauderdale resident elected to the Their sons, Romney Rogers and Hugh Morris, continued the
U.S. House of Representatives, and he and his wife, Florence, families’ embrace of Rio Vista homes. In 1984, Romney and
divided their time between Fort Lauderdale and Washington, Candace Rogers bought Virginia Shuman Young’s historic
D.C. Rogers served in Congress for five terms until 1954, 1935 home on Southeast Seventh Street. A former mayor of
when he died following a heart attack. His son, Paul Rogers, Fort Lauderdale and longtime city commissioner, Young lived in
succeeded him in office and served another 12 terms. the home that she grew up in and was owned by her father, a
tugboat captain. And Hugh Morris bought the house next door.
Partners’ Namesake Sons also Early
Rio Vista Residents

Rogers’ oldest son, Dwight L. Rogers, Jr. and Morris’ son John
E. Morris Jr., both joined the Rogers & Morris law firm after
serving in World War II. They were longtime friends and
schoolmates at the University of Florida.
Although the Rogers & Morris law firm often handled real
estate transactions involving Rio Vista homes, it was the Junior
Rogers and the Junior Morris who bought their families’ first
homes in Rio Vista.

Dwight L. Rogers Jr. and his wife, Virginia, bought their first
home in 1944 on Southeast Sixth Street in Rio Vista. They sold
that house in 1954 and bought a home on the New River at
709 Rio Vista, where they lived out their lives. Meanwhile,
John Morris Jr. first resided in Fort Lauderdale’s Idlewyld
neighborhood, then purchased a home on Rio Vista’s Ponce
de Leon Drive. Area residents may remember when Romney and Candace Rogers’ Rio Vista home
was decorated with artificial snow for the filming of a national television commercial.
(Photo courtesy Romney Rogers)
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