West Palm Beach , also known as West Palm , is the most populous city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida. West Palm's economy is currently ranked #4 in the Milken Institute Best Performing 296 U.S. Cities index. It is the county seat of Palm Beach County, and one of the principal cities in the South Florida metropolitan area, which has an estimated 2007 population of 5,413,212. The area is known as the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach Metropolitan Division, which covers the entire Palm Beach County area. It is situated in the northernmost county of the South Florida metropolitan area.
Demographics
As of 2006, there were 86,302 people, 34,769 households, and 18,253 families residing in the city. The population density was 574.9/km² (1,488.9/mi²). There were 40,461 housing units at an average density of 283.3/km² (733.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 54.09% White (of which 36% were Non-Hispanic Whites,) 36.21% African American, 0.33% Native American, 1.46% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 4.35% from other races, and 3.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.21% of the population.
There were 34,769 households out of which 22.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.3% were married couples living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.5% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the city, 21.3% of the population is under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,774, and the median income for a family was $42,074. Males had a median income of $30,221 versus $26,473 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,188. About 20.5% of families and 23.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.2% of those under age 18 and 14.8% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 72.49% of all residents, while Spanish made up 17.71%, French Creole was at 4.46%, French consisted of 1.27%, German was at 0.62%, and Italian was the mother tongue of 0.52% of the population.
As of 2000, West Palm Beach had the sixty-fifth highest percentage of Cuban residents in the US, with 5.29% of the populace (tied with Cooper City.) It had the forty-third highest percentage of Haitian residents in the US, at 4.20% of the city's population (tied with Roosevelt, New York,) and the fifty-sixth highest percentage of Guatemalan residents in the US, at 2.24% of its population. There is a thriving Hispanic community just south of the Downtown area called Poinciana Park .
History
Henry Flagler began buying land - paying US$75,000 for the old Geer home in Palm Beach, which was then owned by R.R. McCormick of Denver, and $50,000 for a piece of E.M. Brelsford's land. Soon, the massive Royal Poinciana Hotel would rise on McCormick's land and Flagler's marble palace, Whitehall, would be built on Brelsford's. Across the lake, he bought a strip of land that stretched from Lake Worth to Clear Lake, paying $35,000 for Captain O.S. Porter's homestead and $10,000 for Louie Hillhouse's land. That $45,000 investment became West Palm Beach, the city Flagler founded for "my help". By now, South Florida's destiny was clear: Land was the hot commodity, and nearly everyone in town was trying to buy land and sell it.
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 an ominous omen for the fledgling 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. During the 1920s, the city grew rapidly during the Florida land boom, during which many historic structures and neighborhoods were built.
The city has a very rich history. Prior to the founding of Miami, West Palm Beach was a thriving cultural center. Originally, Henry Flagler intended for his Florida East Coast Railroad to have its terminus in West Palm, but due to a deep freeze, he decided to extend the railroad to Miami. For many years West Palm Beach and Miami were rival South Florida cities and they both thrived in the early 20th century. Although it was originally intended to be a settlement for the servants of the wealthy Palm Beach Island neighbors, West Palm became a thriving center in its own right. Pleasant City is a neighborhood in the original Uptown West Palm that had a thriving middle-class African-American population. This community still has a rich heritage, whereas many of the families have lived there for generations.
Pratt & Whitney, IBM, RCA and others helped put the city on the map in the late 1960s and 1970s. But now the focus was on the whole of Palm Beach County, not just West Palm Beach. The city was loving its position as the county's hub and heart. And so many other things were changing. Integration brought the end of Palm Beach and Roosevelt High schools and the beginning of a new high school, Twin Lakes (now Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts).
In the 1960s, Palm Beach County's first enclosed shopping mall, the Palm Beach Mall, and an indoor arena were completed. These projects led to a revival for the city. However, crime was a serious issue due to racial tensions and high vacancy rates. But following the 1970s, the city has undergone a renaissance as newcomers have rediscovered the city's historic areas, graceful new high-rises including Donald Trump's elegant "Trump Plaza", and a resurgent downtown entertainment and shopping district called CityPlace. Clematis Street and CityPlace are some of the centers of West Palm Beach's nightlife.
Historic neighborhoods and communities
Bel Air Historic District - Developed from 1925 to 1935 as a neighborhood for tradesmen and real estate salesmen who helped develop Palm Beach County, some of Belair was originally a pineapple plantation owned by Richard Hone. Hones's frame vernacular house, built around 1895, still stands at 211 Plymouth Road. After Hone was murdered in 1902, his property was sold to George Currie, who created Currie Development Co. But before it was developed, the land was sold to William Ohlhaber, who raised coconut palms and ferns. Eventually, Ohlhaber platted the subdivision and sold off lots. The first house built in the subdivision was Ohlhaber's mission-style home at 205 Pilgrim. Ohlhaber's grandson said Ohlhaber bought the tract to provide dockage for his 90-foot (27 m) yacht, but the yacht ran aground in the Gulf of Mexico and never reached Lake Worth. In 1947 Hone's house was bought by Max Brombacher, Henry Flagler's chief engineer, and it remains in the Brombacher family today. Belair became West Palm Beach's fourth historic district in August 1993.
Central Park - Central Park is a collective name for several subdivisions north of Southern Boulevard. It originally was part of the Estates of South Palm Beach (which went from Wenonah Place to Pilgrim Road east of Dixie Highway). Like other West Palm Beach neighborhoods, the Estates of South Palm Beach boomed after Henry Flagler's descent on Palm Beach. In 1884, James W. Copp, a bachelor in the boating business, borrowed $367.20 from Valentine Jones to buy the land. The ownership of what is now known as Central Park changed hands many times before being developed. Around 1919, the tropical wilderness was transformed into an exclusive neighborhood with curbed roads, sidewalks and a pier (at the foot of what is now Southern Boulevard). The neighborhood became part of West Palm Beach in 1926, and was named a city historic district in December 1993. In 1999 the neighborhood was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
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