History of Palm Beach
In the early 1880’s Henry Flagler, a wealthy Northern industrialist, founded the Town of Palm Beach with the extension of Flagler’s East Coast Railway. Enchanted by Palm Beach’s warm balmy weather and tropical environment, Flagler envisioned Palm Beach as a playground for wealthy Northerners during the cold winter months.
The Breakers Hotel
Henry Flagler thought an elegant and lavish hotel would entice his Northern guests to spend the winter, so he completed the Royal Poinciana Hotel in 1894, followed by the Breakers Hotel on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in 1901. The Breakers Hotel is still exists today, and is one of Palm Beach’s most fashionable and well-known destinations.
The Royal Poinciana Hotel
Courtesy of the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach
Henry Flagler's Palm Beach Home
Built in 1902
The Town of Palm Beach was founded during the industrial revolution, and largely built in the 1920’s. Palm Beach became the winter retreat for a new kind of American royalty with tremendous newfound wealth, and the desire to display it to the world. The estates were inspired by the grand, stately palaces of Europe, and intended to establish the families’ lineage and status, which was rarely more than a generation old.
Palm Beach soon became a resort town with lavish hotels and opulent residences. Winter residents decided to build homes of their own, and commissioned some of the grandest homes from the most well-known architects of the time to showcase their wealth.
Today, Palm Beach retains its original charm and gracious elegance thanks to the efforts by the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, which is dedicated to the preservation of the historic, architectural and cultural heritage of Palm Beach. PalmBeachPreservation.org