The Lake Worth Casino was constructed in 1913. Folks paid 5 cents to take a ferry across the lake…read moreto it. The first incarnation of the building was a two story bath house. The first floor had changing rooms and the second floor was used for dancing. The bath house burned down in 1919 and the Brelsford family who owned the land gave it to the city of Lake Worth so they could have a public beach. The Lake Worth Casino and Baths was rebuilt in 1922 and a wooden automobile bridge was constructed to cross the lake to reach it. The domed towers and arched columns you see today are from the 1922 building design. The casino contained slot machines until gambling was outlawed in the 1930's. The building sustained damage during the 1928 hurricane. The roof was ripped off in the 1947 hurricane and the casino was rebuilt again but not ornately. In 2011 Lake Worth restored the casino to how it looked in 1922. Although the building is called the Lake Worth Casino there is no actual casino in the building. The first floor has a municipal pool and tenants like Mulligans, Kilwins, and a Mama Mia's Pizzeria. The second floor has a 3,000 square foot ballroom with a wrap around terrace that can be rented for weddings and other private events. On the night I was there Anthony and Jessica were getting married, may they live happily ever after. During the 2011 building restoration the city also created a new ocean front park, added new restrooms, and picnic tables. I love that the city decided to honor the past by restoring the Lake Worth Casio to how it looked during Florida's golden days in the 1920's. They saved the past to create a place that future people in the Lake Worth community will be enjoying for generations to come.

This review is for the building only and the historical site, not the services offered inside. I…read morelove historical buildings and will take the time to read a historical sign whenever I find one. Today while visiting downtown Lake Worth I spotted one I had never seen in front of the town hall. The sign commemorates that the Lake Worth City Hall sits on the site of the first town hall that was built in 1915. The first town hall was school that was converted into a town hall in 1928. It was damaged in the Okeechobee hurricane of 1928 which caused the levee around lake Okeechobee to break. 2,500 people lost their lives and the area was plunged into a severe economic decline during the Great Depression. At first city hall operations were moved to the Lauriston Building at the intersection of Lake Avenue and Dixie Hwy. A new building was designed in a Spanish revival design by architect Floyd Kind at the end of 1928 and the building was completed in 1929. That building was used a city hall until 1973 when operations were transferred to the current city hall between Lake Avenue and Lucerne Ave. It is now used as the Lake worth historical museum. The current town hall once held an auditorium that held 350 people on the third floor. That is why the front of the building still bears the words municipal auditorium. The building is characterized by it's Moorish towers. It was designed by G.Sherman Childs who came to the area in 1913 to work for Addison Mizner until he opened his own firm. It was built to be hurricane resistant to provide shelter since the Great Hurricane of 1928 was still fresh in everyone's memory. The building ran out of money while it was being built due to the economic hardship of the Great Depression. Local businesses pitched in and the building was dedicated on November 28, 1935. The basement and first floor rooms were used for gatherings. During WWII the basement was used to host the Lake Worth USO. In 1953 the Lake Worth Playhouse began performances in the building. It closed in the 1970's. Today the building is still in use and holds all of the city service departments. I love the architectural design of the building. It represents the history of Lake Worth while it steers it's future.

I have been staring at the back of this colorful building during the last couple of street painting…read morefestivals. The outside has a stage and a wide lawn for hosting events. It was time to find out what was inside. The building sits on the site of Lake Worth's first school built in 1912. It was torn down in 1916 and replaced with the concrete building that served as a school and city hall that stands here today. The building had to be rebuilt after the hurricane of 1928. In 1989 the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building contained city hall until 1973 when it was moved to 7 N. Dixie Hwy. It now houses the city hall annex on the first floor and the Lake Worth Museum on the second floor. The main purpose of my visit was to see the museum. As you go up the stairs you have to pass Miss Helen's desk. She was the best part of my visit. She is a Lake Worth treasure and pioneer by marriage as her husband likes to remind her. She gave me a brief tour and made herself available to answer any questions. The rooms are set up by themes such as World War 2 and Finland, Poland, and Lithuania in tribute to the heritage of the pioneers of Lake Worth. They had a nice display of dresses and I found the photographs of the devastation wrought by the Hurricane of 1928 fascinating. Miss Helen showed me the first census taken in the city in 1912 that listed 876 chickens in the city. Then someone got hungry and there were 875, just kidding. There were only 7 automobiles in the entire city in 1912. Although small I loved my visit to the museum and especially meeting Miss Helen. As I was leaving a firefighter was meeting with her to find historical records and pictures for the firehouse. If you live in the area and have a history question she is the person to see. Admission to the museum is free so make time for a visit the next time you are in the area.

I love a historical architectural tour and there is a great neighborhood on the northeast edge of…read moreLake Worth called The College Park Historic District, also known as College Park Residential Neighborhood. It was one of the first established neighborhoods in Lake Worth. Edgewood Realty Co. of West Palm Beach created the neighborhood in 1924 during Florida's land boom years in the 1920's. This subdivision was created by plats filed between December of 1924 and May of 1925. Within 3 hours 90 percent of the plats were sold. The developer wanted the neighborhood to be upscale so a minimum lot width of 50 feet was required and all new dwellings had to cost at least $5,000. The neighborhood is called College Park because the streets are named after a prominent colleges or universities like Harvard, Duke, and Princeton. Typical architectural styles are Mediterranean Revival and Mission style. The land boom ended in 1928 due to hurricanes and the Great Depression. The neighborhood saw another increase in construction after WWII when vets returned home and sought the warmer climate of Florida. Houses built during this time were single story, slab on grade masonry houses in Masonry Vernacular, International and Ranch architectural styles. John Price who served as county commissioner in Lake Worth was a resident of College Park. He was able to get the state and developers to donate more than 1,000 acres of land in the 1930's and 1940's which became John Prince Park, Palm Beach State College's Lake Worth campus, and the Lantana Airport. College Park was designated a U.S. historic district on February 9, 2001. Ninety historic homes and building reside in the boundaries of Maryland Drive, North Federal Highway, 19th Avenue North, and North Dixie Highway. Spillway Park located on the C-51 Canal is also located in this historic neighborhood.

It is the Lake Worth Avenue Bascule Bridge and can sometimes be referred to as the Palm Beach…read moreBascule Bridge. Officially, it is the Robert A. Harris Memorial Bridge named named for a retired Air Force officer who was director of the Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce from 1961 until his death in 1969. The bridge joins Lake Worth to Lake Worth Beach. This bridge (technically, two bridges) carries Lake Avenue (State Road 802) over the Intracoastal Waterway. it has a 35 foot vertical clearance over the water and the channel is 90 feet wide at the center. Two lanes of traffic in each direction with a raised pedestrian walkway on the outside. Three bridges have stood in this spot - the first was a wooden bridge built in 1918 that replaced a rowboat ferry. That was the longest toll-free bridge on the East Coast at the time. In 1937, a concrete bridge was built to replace the original one that was damaged in a storm. The 1937 bridge remained until 2011 when it was dismantled and pieces of it were sunk to create an artificial reef nearby. The current four-lane bridge opened on July 10, 1973. There is no toll to cross. The bridge is close to the Mar-A-Lago home of President Trump. Parts of A1A / South Ocean Boulevard nearby are closed by the Secret Service when he is here. Expect traffic and such, but thankfully there are road signs around the neighborhood indicating that the road is closed. [Review 173 of 2025 - 1958 in Florida - 23738 overall]

The first bridge to built here was a wooden one built in 1918 so that people didn't have to take a…read morerowboat to get across the Intracoastal. It was dedicated on July 4, 1919 and the time it was the longest toll free bridge on the east coast. The old wooden bridge was replaced by a concrete bridge 1937. Which was damaged by a storm. When it was time to replace the bridge in the 70's, the old pieces of the 1937 bridge were left on the side of the new bridge until 2011 when they were sunk to create a reef for the Snook Islands Natural Area. The bridge that sits here now is the third bridge and it is officially called the Robert A. Harris Memorial Bridge. The bridge was named for Robert A. Harris, a retired Air Force Officer who served as the director of the Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce from 1961 until his death in 1969. The four lane concrete bridge was dedicated on July 10, 1973. It connects downtown Lake Worth to the Barrier Islands and Lake Worth Beach. The view is stunning of the Lake Worth Lagoon as you drive over the bridge. The city of Lake Worth also utilized the land under the bridges to make parks and they put in fishing piers. Old Bridge Park, Bryant Park, and Snook Islands Natural Area all lie at different points at the base of the bridge. The city took the bridge and then maximized what would have been unused to land to make places for people to relax and play and for nature to thrive. This bridge and it's surrounding parks is just one of the reasons I love Lake Worth so much.

In the 1900's this park was part of a bridge from Palm Beach to the mainland. In the early 1970's…read morethe four lane Robert A. Harris Memorial Bridge was built and sits here today. Pieces from the old 1937 bridge were used as a fishing pier for many years. In 2011 The pier was demolished and sunk off the coast of the Snook Islands as an artificial reef. Improvements were made to the park in September 2017 including a new sea wall, sidewalk, native plant landscaping, and a floating dock that sits in the Lake Worth Lagoon. The park runs from one side of the bridge and goes underneath it to the other side. Now the park is a popular fishing area for the residents and visitors to Lake Worth. There are also benches if you just want to sit and take in the beautiful view. If you are interested in learning more about the park construction project, the Lake Worth Lagoon, or the history of Lake Worth there is an informative display at the edge of the parking lot.

What an interesting find, located right near the park parking lot and fenced city machinery yard…read more It's the first schoolhouse built in Palm Beach County. You can't walk in, but you can walk around it, admiring the garden and redwood structure.

I happened on this by building chance and when I saw the sign on the side of the road and I stopped…read moreto take a look. The schoolhouse was founded in 1886 as the first school house in southeast Florida. The first students were taught by the reverends 16 year old daughter Hattie Gale. It was originally located one mile north of Royal Poinciana Bridge and it served the children of Lake Worth. During the height of it's enrollment in the 1890's 35 students attended at one time. It ceased to operate as a school house in 1901 and was used instead as a tool shed where it fell into disrepair. The Gardener's Society of Palm Beach rehabbed it in 1960 and moved it to where it resides today in Phipps Ocean Park. Today the school house is used as part of a living history program which was started in 1990's. Fourth grade classes in the surrounding counties can come to visit for a free field trip to see what a school day was like at the turn of the century. On the day I came by the schoolhouse was closed and I believe it is only open to school children which I think is a shame because as a teacher I would really like to visit. I wish they would consider opening it to the general public on a weekend once in awhile. There is a screen over the windows making it difficult to see inside but from what I could make out there were desks and displays on the walls. I love history so I enjoyed seeing this building even if i couldn't look inside. I think it is wonderful that this piece of history was preserved for the school kids of today.

This vernacular frame structure is the oldest home in Boynton Beach. The house was built in 1907 by…read moreBert L. Kapp, a Dutchman who moved to Boynton from Michigan. He sold the house to A.E. Parker, Major Nathan S. Boynton's son-in-law. The house then passed into the possession of Charles Lee Andrews, a Confederate Civil War veteran and his 42 year younger wife Katie. When Katie passed away in 1971 she was still collecting her husbands Civil War veteran benefits. She was the last person to collect them in Palm Beach. Katie's son and daughter inherited the house and after her son passed away and his widow moved out it deteriorated. In 1998 Boynton resident Bob Katz bought the house and restored it. He had the house moved to the lot next door. He passed away at the age of 50 leaving the ownership of the house without a resolution. I saw the house during the Pirate and Mermaid Festival. It was decorated for Halloween and singers were performing from the porch. It's such a cute house and an important part of Boynton Beach's history. It would be wonderful if the city could gain ownership of it and open it up for tours.

This clock tower is the centerpiece of the beach across from the two rock columns with Worth Ave…read moreengraved at the top. Plenty of tourists today waiting for their chance to take that memorable picture. The fifteen foot tall tower is made out of coquina and coral stone. The center lower dome of the tower could hold seven people comfortably.

The Worth Ave Clock is directly on the beach with lots of people fighting for a chance to take a…read morepicture. The clock time was actually correct so it's working. There is a faded bronze plaque inside the clock tower that gives info about the Palm Beach pier in 1925. Nice pictures here on the beach.

Next to the picnic pavilion in Bryant Park in Lake Worth, you will find this historic marker which…read moreis part of the Florida Historical Marker Program. The Historical Marker Program is one of the Division of Historical Resources' most popular and valued public history programs. It raises awareness of Florida's cultural history while enhancing the enjoyment of historic sites for residents and tourists. The blue historic markers tell the stories of the people and places that were important to Florida's history and they can be found in front of churches, schools, buildings, roads, archaeological sites, battlefields, cemeteries, and historically important sites like this one. Historic marker F-1143 was installed in 2020 by The Historical Society of Lake Worth, City of Lake Worth Beach. Before Lake Worth was incorporated it was known as Jewell thanks to Fannie James who with her husband Sam were the first African-American people to file claim for a homestead in the area. Fannie who was a former slave was the one who filled out a lengthy form, asking the First Assistant Postmaster General in Washington, D.C., to approve a new post office on the western shore of Lake Worth in what was Dade County. She had to choose a name and after considering several finally decided on Jewell, perhaps because the couple had received the nickname, the black diamonds from the white homesteaders in the area. On the form she declared the population to be 13. After the post office was approved in September 1889, Fannie became the postmistress for the next 14 years while also operating a dry-goods shop she and her husband ran on their 187-acre homestead built by Sam, a carpenter. At first mail was delivered by boat and then after the Florida East Coast Railway was completed between West Palm Beach and Miami, it came by train. In 1909, the northern part of Dade County became Palm Beach County. That same year Sam passed away at the age of 81. In 1910, Fannie sold the majority of her property to the Palm Beach Farms Company. She only kept the lot her house was on which was located within 100 feet of the current South Bryant Park Picnic Pavilion. On June 4, 1913, Jewell was incorporated as Lake Worth. Fannie passed away on May 6, 1915 at the age of 73 after she was struck by a car while driving her horse and buggy to West Palm Beach. Today Lake Worth has grown to a population of approximately 40,000 people. Although Fannie and Sam are long gone, their contributions to Lake Worth are remembered to this day and commemorated by this sign.