Lake Worth Beach, Florida

Lake Worth Beach is a city in east-central Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, about 63 miles north of Miami. It is named after the Lake Worth Lagoon, which honors General William J. Worth, a leader in the United States Army during the Second Seminole War. The city is located south of West Palm Beach, southeast of Lake Clarke Shores, east of Palm Springs, and north of Lantana.

The first known settlers were Samuel and Fannie James, an African American couple, who arrived in 1885. The town grew quickly, especially during the 1920s land boom and after World War II. In 2019, the city changed its name to Lake Worth Beach.

Today, Lake Worth Beach is known for its historic neighborhoods like College Park and Old Lucerne, as well as its lively downtown area. The city hosts many cultural events each year, including a street painting festival, ethnic festivals, and one of Florida's largest LGBTQIA+ pride festivals. It is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Palm Beach County.

History

Prior to incorporation

Native Americans lived in Florida as long as 12,000 years ago. The Jaega were the first known tribe along the Florida coast in Martin and Palm Beach counties. Shell mounds from around 750 to 1500 CE show they lived near what is now Lake Worth Beach, including places like Boynton Beach and Palm Beach.

Among the first settlers who were not Native American were Samuel and Fannie James. They were an African American couple who settled by the Lake Worth Lagoon in 1885. They bought land and grew their property over time. The area’s first post office was called Jewel. Fannie James worked there for many years.

Incorporation to the Great Depression

Lake Worth Beach became an official town on June 14, 1913. James Love, a carpenter, was its first mayor. The town grew quickly. By 1920, its population was over 1,100, and it reached nearly 6,000 by 1930.

A big storm in 1928 caused lots of damage. Many homes and businesses were destroyed or hurt. The town slowly rebuilt, and new buildings went up in the 1930s.

World War II to present

During World War II, the city grew because of nearby military bases. After the war, many veterans returned and new homes were built. The city also welcomed immigrants from places like Finland.

In the 1960s and 1970s, many older buildings were replaced with apartments and shops. The downtown area was restored in the late 1990s, bringing back its historic feel.

In 2019, the city changed its name to Lake Worth Beach to stand out from nearby areas and attract more visitors.

Geography

Lake Worth Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is about 63 miles north of Miami. The city is named after the Lake Worth Lagoon, which is next to it. This lagoon was named after General William J. Worth, who helped the United States Army during a war called the Second Seminole War.

The city covers about 6.81 square miles, with land making up most of it and a small part being water. The area around Lake Worth Beach has special kinds of soil and land that are typical for southern Florida. Some parts are good for growing plants, while others are not unless special drainage is used.

Climate

Lake Worth Beach has a tropical climate, like places in the Caribbean. This means it is warm most of the year, and it is one of the few areas in the United States with this kind of climate.

Cityscape and neighborhoods

Lake Worth Beach has many different neighborhoods. There are 17 neighborhood associations that help make sure everyone's voice is heard and that the city stays a good place to live. Some neighborhoods are known for their old houses and history.

Downtown

Main article: Historic Old Town Commercial District

The downtown area of Lake Worth Beach is special and has many old buildings. It became a historic district in 2001. This area has many shops, buildings, and places that people enjoy visiting, like the City Hall and the Lake Worth Playhouse.

Demographics

Lake Worth Beach is the ninth largest city in Palm Beach County, based on the 2020 census. It is a very diverse city, with many different kinds of people living there. Fewer than half of the people living there are from non-Hispanic white backgrounds. Many people in Lake Worth Beach were born in other countries, especially in the Caribbean or Latin America. Also, not all families in Lake Worth Beach speak only English at home.

2020 census

In 2020, Lake Worth Beach had 42,219 people living there. The average age was 35.7 years old. About one in four people were children under 18, and one in eight were older than 65. Almost all of the people lived in urban areas.

There were 15,457 households. Over one in three of these households had children under 18 living in them. About one-third were families where a man lived alone without a wife or partner, and another nearly one-third were families where a woman lived alone without a husband or partner. Many households were made of just one person.

There were 17,476 places where people lived, called housing units. About one in ten of these places was empty. Most people lived in homes they owned, but some rented their homes. Lake Worth Beach had about 7,164 people living in each square mile.

Income and poverty

In 2019, the average amount of money a household made in Lake Worth Beach was $42,500. This is less than the average for Palm Beach County and for all of Florida. About one in four people in Lake Worth Beach did not have enough money to meet their basic needs.

2010 census

In 2010, there were 34,910 people living in Lake Worth Beach. The average age was 35 years. About one in five people were children under 18, and about one in five were older than 65. Many families had children under 18 living with them.

2000 census

In 2000, there were 35,133 people living in Lake Worth Beach. Many people were from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. The average age was 35 years. About one in four people were children under 18, and about one in seven were older than 65.

In 2000, many people spoke languages other than English at home. The most common languages were English, Spanish, and French Creole. There was also a large group of people from Finland, making Lake Worth Beach have more Finnish people than any other place in the world outside of Finland. Other languages spoken included French, Mayan languages, and German.

Economy

Lake Worth Beach has about 19,978 people who work, as counted in 2019. Many people who work there actually live in nearby places like West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Palm Springs, Boynton Beach, and Delray Beach.

The city works on improving its downtown area, which has many art places, cafés, and places to enjoy evenings. There are plans to fix up the old Gulf Stream Hotel, which has been closed since 2005. Voters agreed to these plans, and work is starting to bring the hotel back to life.

Government

Lake Worth Beach uses a special way of running its city called the commission–manager form of government. The city has five people called a city commission who are chosen by voters to help make rules and decisions. The mayor leads these meetings and is also chosen by all the voters in the city.

The city has important jobs like the city clerk, who keeps important papers, and the city manager, who helps run the day-to-day work of the city. Lake Worth Beach is part of a group called Florida's 21st congressional district, and people there help make bigger rules for the area. The city tends to think more on one side when it comes to big choices, but it has changed over time.

Culture

Arts

The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County was started in 1978 to help support local arts and culture. In 2012, it moved to Lake Worth Beach and now holds many events there. Downtown Lake Worth Beach has several art galleries, and the Lake Worth Playhouse puts on plays, ballets, and musicals. The Playhouse started in 1953 and is in a building that originally opened as a theatre in 1929.

Festivals

Lake Worth Beach holds many fun festivals each year. The Lake Worth Beach Street Painting Festival draws thousands of visitors to watch artists paint on the streets. FOCUS Lake Worth shows art in November, and the Midnight Sun Festival celebrates the city’s Finnish community. There is also a big Oktoberfest event nearby, and a Día de los Muertos celebration in October. The city holds a popular parade and has a community center for its LGBT residents. There are also holiday events, bonfires at the beach, and a monthly block party.

Cinematography

Parts of the 1981 movie Body Heat were filmed in Lake Worth Beach, using local spots as the movie’s settings. Another movie, Harry & Son, was also filmed there in 1984.

Historical preservation

The Lake Worth Historical Museum is in the old City Hall building. The city has worked hard to protect its historic buildings. In 2017, seven homes from 1912 were named historic landmarks. Many small cottages built between 1913 and 1949 are still standing. Lake Worth Beach has several historic areas and buildings, including College Park, Old Lucerne, and the Gulf Stream Hotel.

Main article: Lake Worth Historical Museum

Education

Public schools in Lake Worth Beach are part of the School District of Palm Beach County. Elementary students go to four schools within the city: Barton Elementary, Highland Elementary, North Grade Elementary, and South Grade Elementary. Middle school students north of 12th Avenue South attend Lake Worth Middle School, while those south of 12th Avenue South go to Lantana Community Middle School in Lantana. All high school students in the city attend Lake Worth Community High School, which was established in 1922 and is the oldest continuously operating high school in Palm Beach County.

There is also a private school run by Sacred Heart Catholic Church for students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, and a charter school called the Academy for Positive Learning. The main campus of Palm Beach State College is located nearby in unincorporated Lake Worth. It is the oldest community college in Florida, founded in 1933.

Public libraries

The Lake Worth Beach Public Library is located in the historic downtown area. Completed in 1941, this Mediterranean-style building is part of the Library Cooperative of the Palm Beaches. The library circulates around 65,000 items each year, including books. Efforts to create a library began in 1912, and after many years of fundraising, the current building was finished in 1941. In addition to the main library, the city has many Little Free Library book exchanges, which have distributed around 500,000 books since they began.

Recreation

Lake Worth Beach has many fun places to enjoy. The city's beach is one of the few big open spaces along the ocean in Southeast Florida. In 2013, the Lake Worth Casino complex opened again after a big renovation. It looks like the original casino from the 1920s. Near the casino is the William O. Lockhart Municipal Pier, a well-known spot in Lake Worth Beach. After a storm in 2004, the pier was fixed and made higher.

The Snook Islands Natural Area is a wetland area with a boardwalk and a place to launch kayaks. The city also has a golf course with 18 holes and a beautiful park with a old bandshell for festivals. Lake Worth Beach has over 20 parks and fun places to visit. On the west side of the city, John Prince Memorial Park has trails for biking and walking, and lots of space for picnics and camping.

Media

Lake Worth Beach has a weekly newspaper called the Lake Worth Herald and Coastal/Greenacres Observer. It shares news about Lake Worth Beach and nearby places such as Greenacres, Hypoluxo, Lake Clarke Shores, Lantana, Manalapan, Palm Springs, and South Palm Beach. The Lake Worth Herald started in 1912 and is the city's oldest business. Another newspaper, The Palm Beach Post, serves the area daily.

The city is part of the West Palm Beach–Fort Pierce television market. It includes many stations with different network affiliations. Several radio stations can also be heard in the area, including WWRF, an AM station playing Regional Mexican music, which is based in Lake Worth Beach.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Interstate 95 runs north-to-south along the west side of the city, with two ramps in Lake Worth Beach, one at 10th Avenue North and the other at 6th Avenue South. Several highways go through the city. U.S. Route 1 (Dixie Highway) and state roads 5 (North Federal Highway) and A1A run north-to-south in Lake Worth Beach, while State Road 802 (Lake Worth Road, Lake Avenue, and Lucerne Avenue) runs east-to-west. The Robert A. Harris Bridge, built in 1973, links Lake Worth Beach to its beach area, crossing the Intracoastal Waterway (Lake Worth Lagoon) at State Road 802. Palm Beach International Airport is the nearest airport, located in nearby West Palm Beach, while Palm Beach County Park Airport is just southwest of the city.

The Tri-Rail commuter rail stops at the Lake Worth Beach station, which opened in 1989. Tri-Rail connects Lake Worth Beach to other cities in eastern Palm Beach County and to Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The city is also served by PalmTran buses. This includes Route 1, which runs along Dixie Highway; Route 61, which goes along 10th Avenue North to Dixie Highway to Lucerne Avenue and reaches Palm Beach State College; Route 62, which runs along Lake Worth Road and Lake Avenue to the beach; and Route 64, which runs along 6th Avenue South to Dixie Highway and then south along Barton Road and Andrew Redding Road.

Emergency services

Lake Worth Beach used to have its own fire department from 1913 until 2009, when firefighters chose to join Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Reasons for this change included saving money for the city and giving firefighters better chances for career growth. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue has two stations in the city, Station 91 at 1020 Lucerne Avenue and Station 93 at 1229 Detroit Street. The city has an Emergency Management Program to get ready for, deal with, and recover from emergencies and disasters. Some parts of the city are in Evacuation Zone C, which means they need to leave if a big hurricane (Category 3 or stronger) is coming. The nearest hospital is the JFK Medical Center in Atlantis.

Utilities

Unlike many places in eastern Florida, Lake Worth Beach runs its own electricity service. Started in 1914 to serve about 600 people, Lake Worth Beach Electric Utility now serves around 27,000 customers as of 2019. This includes about 7,200 customers in Palm Springs and some nearby areas. In 2017, the city built and started using a solar farm, making it the first city in Florida to do so. By May 2021, over 38% of the city's electricity came from solar power. The Lake Worth Beach Water Utilities Department gives residents drinking water and collects wastewater and stormwater. Drinking water comes from a water treatment plant and travels through about 168 miles of pipes. The city also runs 33 pump stations and a master pump station that collects wastewater from several nearby places before sending it to a treatment facility. Stormwater flows through 46 outfalls into the Lake Worth Lagoon.

Notable people

Lake Worth Beach has been home to many interesting people from different fields. Some of them are well-known musicians like Arthur Altman and Guy Fieri, authors such as Martin Amis and James Patterson, and athletes including Trea Turner, who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies, and Otis Thorpe, a former National Basketball Association player.

Others have made their mark in politics, entertainment, and various professions. The city has also seen residents who have achieved fame in sports like baseball, football, and golf, as well as in music and the arts.

Sister cities

Lake Worth Beach has friendly cities around the world that it keeps close ties with. These cities are Lappeenranta in Finland, Saint-Marc in Haiti, Southend-on-Sea in England, and Sopot in Poland. These sister cities help share ideas and support each other.