Much of Lake Worth’s early tourist trade came for the fishing. Looking toward our future: The Blueway Trail.

Have you heard about the Blueway Trail? If not, learn more about this exciting project below.

Boats full of fishermen were a common sight in the Lake Worth Lagoon and freshwater lakes during the first half of the 20th century. Competition for tourist dollars was just as fierce then as it is now. Dixie Hwy. back then was lined with motels and restaurants for as far as the eye could see.

Here’s an advertisement from that era touting fishing in a tongue-in-cheek manner, this one coming from Fort Pierce. Fishing was an important economic driver to southeast Florida’s economy.

An ad like this wouldn’t go over very well in the modern era.

Here’s our own Chamber of Commerce sign in front of what is now City Hall from the mid-century period which emphasized Lake Worth’s access to water.

“Turn left” for saltwater or “TURN HERE” for freshwater.

It’s no accident that Tuppen’s occupies a prime corner on Dixie Hwy. This picture is from the 1950’s:

Learn more about Tuppen’s using this link.

“Tuppen’s Marine & Tackle is celebrating our 60th year serving South Florida! We have been in Lake Worth, Florida since 1956. Tuppen’s is one of the oldest and largest marine and tackle stores in Palm Beach County and maybe even South Florida. When you walk into Tuppen’s for the first time it is like going back to the 1960’s. But remember that you’re only a stranger once. After that your part of our Tuppen’s family.”

Now about the Blueway Trail, “Linking our waterways. Creating Access FOR ALL”. The project has not yet begun but you can go and see for yourself the location:

• From West Palm Beach: Take Olive Ave. heading south (Olive Ave. is called Federal Hwy. in Lake Worth), take a right turn on the very first street after crossing the C-51 Canal (Maryland Drive). Go to the end of the street and make a right turn into Spillway Park.
• From Lake Worth: Take Federal Hwy. heading north and make a left turn onto Maryland Drive, the last street in Lake Worth before you cross the C-51 Canal into West Palm Beach.

Since the 1950s the S-155 Spillway structure on the C-51 Canal has blocked public access between the Intracoastal and the inland “Chain of Lakes”. The Blueway Trail is going to change that.

More benefits of the Blueway Trail. Want to learn more about this exciting project? Use this link.