Seeking Paradise

AMERICA’S FIRST RESORT DESTINATION

From the Native Americans who first lived here to the early pioneers seeking to create settlements to farmers tending to Belle Glades’ “black gold” soil to immigrants from the Caribbean and Latin America … The Palm Beaches have been influenced by many cultures and ways of life.

This vivid landscape was home to Native American tribes for at least 6,000 years. In what is now DuBois Park in Jupiter, you can see remnants of an ancient Native American coastal shell mound. Learn more about the various local tribes and Spanish explorers by visiting the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum, where artifacts are on display. The lighthouse is the oldest structure in The Palm Beaches, shining brightly since 1860.

With the arrival of industrialist Henry Morrison Flagler, The Palm Beaches soon began resembling the picturesque resort destination it is today. Flagler led the charge of developing the Florida East Coast Railway, making Florida more accessible to travelers. He chose this area to build the Royal Poinciana Hotel (which at the time was the largest wooden structure in the world) and the iconic oceanfront resort now known as The Breakers. These two palatial resorts put The Palm Beaches on the map as America’s First Resort Destination™, the only destination developed exclusively for tourism. In 1902, Henry Flagler built Whitehall, his Gilded Age estate which paved the way to get Palm Beach County incorporated in 1909. Here, Flagler entertained the greatest industrialists and thinkers of the Gilded Age, setting the stage to make Palm Beach the destination of world leaders and celebrities for decades to come. Today, Whitehall houses the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum in Palm Beach where you can learn more about Flagler’s achievements.

Another important influence was the eccentric Addison Mizner. In the 1920s, he was an architect who established The Palm Beaches’ architectural style through his buildings on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, using a mix of Spanish and Mediterranean Revival styles. Among his famous works was The Cloister Inn, now known as The Boca Raton

Continue your lesson into local cultural history at Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum, which touts a collection of photos and artifacts spanning over 12,000 years. The permanent People and Places gallery gives a comprehensive overview of the region’s rich past.

Want to know how The Palm Beaches got their name?

The Providencia, a Spanish ship carrying coconuts on its way from Cuba to Spain, shipwrecked just offshore in 1878. Local pioneers salvaged and planted the coconuts, which soon became towering coconut trees with beautiful palms. The first hotel was named the Coconut Grove House, and the local beauty inspired Henry Flager to call the area, “veritable paradise.”