West Palm Beach is a city of Florida in the United States. West Palm Beach is the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida. As of 2020, the population of West Palm beach was 117,415.
History
The city was founded by Henry Flagler as a community to house the servants working in the two grand hotels on the neighboring island of Palm Beach, across Lake Worth. The original spelling was "Westpalmbeach", but it was feared that the 13-letter word would be a bad omen for the new community. On November 5, 1894, 78 people met at the "Calaboose" (the first jail and police station located at Clematis St. and Poinsettia, now Dixie Hwy.) and passed the motion to incorporate the Town of West Palm Beach in what was then Dade County (now Miami-Dade County). This made West Palm Beach the oldest incorporated municipality in the county and in South Florida. The town council quickly addressed the building codes and the tents and shanties were replaced by brick, brick veneer, and stone buildings. The city grew rapidly in the 1920s as part of the Florida land boom. Many of the city's landmark structures and old neighborhoods were built during this period.
Originally, Flagler intended for his Florida East Coast Railway to end in West Palm but after the area experienced a deep freeze, he chose to extend the railroad to Miami instead.
In the 1960s, Palm Beach County's first enclosed shopping mall, the Palm Beach Mall, and an indoor arena were completed. They led to a short revival for the city, but crime continued to be a serious problem and by the early 1990s there were not many people living or working in downtown. Since the 1990s, developments such as CityPlace and renovation of 1920s architecture on Clematis Street have brought people back to downtown for the entertainment and shopping district.
Notable area residents, past and present
Hank Aaron, former all-time home run king. A street is named for him
Tori Amos, singer-songwriter
Bob Barker, Entertainer/Gameshow Host
Jason Bonham, drummer and son of Led Zeppelin's legendary drummer John Bonham
Glenn Close, actress
Celine Dion, singer
Jeff Gordon, NASCAR driver
Devin Hester, NFL Player with the Chicago Bears
Hey Monday, alternative rock band
Alan Jackson, Country singer
Tommy Lee Jones, actor
Rush Limbaugh, Radio talk show host
Joe Namath, former NFL quarterback
Olivia Newton-John, actress, singer
Lilly Pulitzer, Fashion Designer
Burt Reynolds, Actor, graduate of Palm Beach High School
Adrian Rogers, former president Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church Rod Stewart, singer Donald Trump, real estate mogul, TV host Serena Williams, former No.1 ranked Tennis Champion Venus Williams, former No.1 ranked Tennis Champion Tiger Woods, Professional Golfer on the PGA Tour Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook