Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
look clean enough to eat off. Life here revolves around charity balls, Beverly Hills-style
shopping and wine-soaked three-hour lunches. Though all the bling may feel a bit intimid-
ating, fear not - much of Palm Beach is within the reach of budget travelers. Stroll along
the truly gold Gold Coast beach, ogle the massive gated compounds on A1A or window-
shop in uber-ritzy Worth Ave - all for free.
History
The first tourists to visit Palm Beach in the late 19th century came for fishing and hunting,
not fancy balls. The area was largely swampland made famous by a man named Alligator
Joe, who wrestled alligators to entertain the visitors for the princely sum of 25ยข.
McCormick, a Denver railroad and land developer, dates from the period and is the oldest
house on the island. Built in the Florida vernacular style, the shingle cottage was famous
as the 'showplace along the shores,' so pretty was its stained glass windows, its Georgian
marble floors and commanding viewing turret. Oil magnate and railroad entrepreneur
Henry Flagler was immediately taken with it and bought it from McCormick as his winter
retreat, that is until he completed his adjacent Whitehall Mansion in 1902. In the interim,
he extended his railroad to its service town West Palm Beach in 1894 and started attracting
a more monied crowd to his two hotels, the 1100-room Royal Poinciana Hotel (opened
1894 and closed in 1934) and the Palm Beach Inn, now more famously known as the
Breakers
.
Sights
