Lake Worth is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, which takes its name from the intercoastal waterway along its eastern border. The lake itself was named for General William J. Worth, who led U.S. forces during the Second Seminole War. This article needs additional citations for verification.

 

Lake Worth City Hall

 

Local folklore has it that the first post office in the Lake Worth area was founded in the 1880s by a married African American couple who were freed slaves. The initial name for the post office was Jewel. The post office was located in a small dry good shop which the couple operated to serve the lake traffic which connected the small pioneer homesteads located along the banks of the Lake Worth lagoon.

 

After Henry Flagler extended his rail line south from West Palm Beach to Miami in 1896, a land development scheme was created to plant a townsite between the railroad and the lake. Purchasers of lots within the townsite would also receive a larger plot of land west of town for agricultural use. The initial name proposed for the new town was Lucerne. However, the U.S. Post Office refused to accept the name because there already was a Lucerne, Florida post office. Therefore, the city fathers settled on the name Lake Worth, for the lake on which the fledgling town was sited. One of the main streets was named Lucerne Avenue instead. The city was officially incorporated in 1912. Many of the first residents were farmers from other parts of the American south and mid-west, looking to benefit from the growing winter vegetable market of the time. The city benefited with the rest of south Florida during the Florida land boom of the 1920's. A wooden automobile traffic bridge over Lake Worth was completed in 1919. The first casino and municipal beach complex was completed shortly thereafter. The 1920s also saw the completion of the Gulfstream Hotel, which towers over the downtown to this day.

 

The city was severely damaged in the 1928 hurricane, toppling the bell tower on the elementary school (today the City Hall Annex) and destroying the beachfront casino and automobile bridge over Lake Worth. This led to a severe economic decline within the community which led into the Great Depression. Things were so dire in the city in the 1930s, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration built a striking, moorish-styled "City Gymnasium" on the corner of Lake Avenue and Dixie Highway to provide employment for the impoverished citizenry. The building today serves as City Hall.

 

Development started again after World War II with many modest pensioners, especially from Quebec, Finland and eventually Germany, moving to the city and building 1,000-square-foot cottages. These new immigrants brought their industrious nature with them as well as their native customs, restaurants, shops, and churches and for decades the town flourished. To this day one can find an unusual abundance of beer halls, chocolatiers, Bavarian delicatessens and Lutheran churches, which stand out in the semi-tropical urban sprawl of south Florida.

 

The South Florida construction boom brought a new wave of immigrants in the past few decades. Central American immigrants, largely from from Guatemala, have added a Hispanic aspect to Lake Worth's culture. Sadly, an influx of cash economy illegal aliens has also resulted in a rise in crime. Their fear of reporting crime due to their status has contributed to a rise in criminals who prey both on the immigrants' fear of deportation and the knowledge that these illegals are paid in cash and rarely use the banking system. Currently, the robbery rate is over 3 1/2 times the national average, and the overall crime rate is over 2 1/3 times the national average.

 

After a short period of neglect and decline in the 1980s and 1990s, the downtown area has seen a huge resurgence in interest and development and once moribund property values have soared. The city's charming main street, Lake Avenue, contains some of the oldest commercial structures in south Florida, including the Lake Worth Play House and the art deco building, originally a cinema, which formerly housed the PBICA. The re-discovery of this unique charm has spurred new interest in the city.

 

The city was hit especially hard by Hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma in 2004 and 2005. Their famous fishing pier was the most damaged and with the help of FEMA it is now being repaired; it is anticipated to reopen in the Spring of 2008.

 

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Peanut Island is a 79-acre island at the mouth of the Lake Worth Inlet in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The island was created by dredging-related projects in 1918 which also created the inlet and the Port of Palm Beach. Originally named Inlet Island, the island was renamed Peanut Island for a planned peanut oil-shipping operation which failed in 1946. A $13 million USD renovation on the island in 2005 resulted in Peanut Island Park including camp sites, a pier, and a manmade reef. The island also features a blast shelter built in secret for President John F. Kennedy shortly after his 1960 election. Kennedy often spent winters in nearby Palm Beach, Florida. The shelter is operated by the Palm Beach Maritime Museum and is open to visitors as an example of Cold War-era concerns for the president's safety. There are no roads to Peanut Island. If you do not own a boat you will need to find a local water taxi or boat rental. For those of you who haven’t experienced Peanut Island, this place really rocks with a lot of boaters who like to have fun.