West Palm Beach was established in 1894, two decades after pioneers first arrived in the wilderness at Lake Worth. In 1893, Henry M. Flagler, Standard Oil magnate and Florida railroad mogul, finalized plans to extend his Florida East Coast Railroad south in order to turn Palm Beach into a winter playground for the rich. He designed West Palm Beach as the mainland commercial and residential support for his new resort. From its humble beginnings, it has become Palm Beach County's largest city and the seat of government. The city has suffered fires, hurricanes, boom times, and hard times, always emerging triumphantly. This installment of West Palm Beach's fascinating story shares its unique settlement and growth through the end of World War II.
West Palm Beach was established in 1894, two decades after pioneers first arrived in the wilderness at Lake Worth. In 1893, Henry M. Flagler, Standard Oil magnate and Florida railroad mogul, finalized plans to extend his Florida East Coast Railroad south in order to turn Palm Beach into a winter playground for the rich. He designed West Palm Beach as the mainland commercial and residential support for his new resort. From its humble beginnings, it has become Palm Beach County's largest city and the seat of government. The city has suffered fires, hurricanes, boom times, and hard times, always emerging triumphantly. This installment of West Palm Beach's fascinating story shares its unique settlement and growth through the end of World War II.
West Palm Beach was established in 1894, two decades after pioneers first arrived in the wilderness at Lake Worth. In 1893, Henry M. Flagler, Standard Oil magnate and Florida railroad mogul, finalized plans to extend his Florida East Coast Railroad south in order to turn Palm Beach into a winter playground for the rich. He designed West Palm Beach as the mainland commercial and residential support for his new resort. From its humble beginnings, it has become Palm Beach County's largest city and the seat of government. The city has suffered fires, hurricanes, boom times, and hard times, always emerging triumphantly. This installment of West Palm Beach's fascinating story shares its unique settlement and growth through the end of World War II.
This book offers three tours that showcase the history of Palm Beach through its architecture. The tours are arranged in chronological order and are illustrated with historical photographs from the archives of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. The first is a driving tour that covers the history of Palm Beach from the Pioneer Era to the present day. The tour spans a distance of 10 miles, going as far north as the Lake Worth Inlet and as far south as Phipps Ocean Park. It also includes three optional walks. The second offers a biking tour that follows the length of Lake Trail, which was the only real road on the east side of Lake Worth until Henry Flagler arrived and built his two resort hotels and related infrastructure in the mid-1890s. The tour spans a distance of five miles and is the best way to understand the Pioneer Era of Palm Beach. The third features a walking tour through the midtown business district between Royal Palm Way and Worth Avenue, also known as the Royal Park Addition. The tours are a great way to explore the rich history of Palm Beach and appreciate its architectural heritage.
An Illustrated History of Palm Beach is a nostalgic journey through the history of the town of Palm Beach as told through the photographic collection of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. From an early pioneer community, Palm Beach evolved over the past 150 years into today's sophisticated resort, starting with the grand hotels of Henry Flagler, the Royal Poinciana and The Breakers, and elegant mansions of the Gilded Age. An Illustrated History of Palm Beach is a primary source look into the development of one of America's most prosperous and enchanting communities.
Palm Beach is known all over the world as a place synonymous with the Good Life. Named for the beautiful beaches and trees lining the area, Palm Beach was first founded in 1909. As the epicenter of fashion for the elite social season, Palm Beach has attracted tourists and new residents alike for many years! For everyone from Hollywood stars to heads of state, from literary and artistic icons to millionaires and international business magnates, the allure of this lush area has been irresistible. The perfect coffee-table book, Historic Photos of Palm Beach contains nearly 200 photographs collected from Florida's top historic archives.
From West Palm Beach's beginnings as a service town to Palm Beach, Standard Oil tycoon Henry Morrison Flagler's resort village, the city has evolved into a trendy art, cultural, and shopping mecca. This book delves into the history of some of the unique individuals and groups, past and present, who have made a memorable impact on West Palm Beach throughout its history.
The Palm Beaches in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s were a wonderful place to grow up. There were beaches, woods and empty fields for kids to explore. As the population crunch had not yet occurred, folks knew each other and got along...Living all over town, I knew the many neighborhoods of West Palm Beach: Northboro, Centralboro, and Southboro. As my father had a small jewelry store in the 500 block of Clematis for 34 years, I was quite familiar with the many businesses on Clematis. In this personal history, I have mentioned the names of friends, neighbors, teachers and just plain folks I knew over the years and have come to love. I believe their story has to be told and my story would be incomplete without them.
Visual Art and the Urban Evolution of the New South recounts the enormous influence of artists in the evolution of six southern cities—Atlanta, Charleston, New Orleans, Louisville, Austin, and Miami—from 1865 to 1950. In the decades following the Civil War, painters, sculptors, photographers, and illustrators in these municipalities employed their talents to articulate concepts of the New South, aestheticism, and Gilded Age opulence and to construct a visual culture far beyond providing pretty pictures in public buildings and statues in city squares. As Deborah C. Pollack investigates New South proponents such as Henry W. Grady of Atlanta and other regional leaders, she identifies "cultural strivers"—philanthropists, women's organizations, entrepreneurs, writers, architects, politicians, and dreamers—who united with visual artists to champion the arts both as a means of cultural preservation and as mechanisms of civic progress. Aestheticism, made popular by Oscar Wilde's southern tours during the Gilded Age, was another driving force in art creation and urban improvement. Specific art works occasionally precipitated controversy and incited public anger, yet for the most part artists of all kinds were recognized as providing inspirational incentives for self-improvement, civic enhancement and tourism, art appreciation, and personal fulfillment through the love of beauty. Each of the six New South cities entered the late nineteenth century with fractured artistic heritages. Charleston and Atlanta had to recover from wartime devastation. The infrastructures of New Orleans and Louisville were barely damaged by war, but their social underpinnings were shattered by the end of slavery and postwar economic depression. Austin was not vitalized until after the Civil War and Miami was a post-Civil War creation. Pollack surveys these New South cities with an eye to understanding how each locale shaped its artistic and aesthetic self-perception across a spectrum of economic, political, gender, and race issues. She also discusses Lost Cause imagery, present in all the studied municipalities. While many art history volumes concerning the South focus on sultry landscapes outside the urban grid, Visual Art and the Urban Evolution of the New South explores the art belonging to its cities, whether exhibited in its museums, expositions, and galleries, or reflective of its parks, plazas, marketplaces, industrial areas, gardens, and universities. It also identifies and celebrates the creative urban humanity who helped build the cultural and social framework for the modern southern city.
