Fascinating documents for those who follow the long history of Lake Worth.

Before we get to those “fascinating documents” did you know the College Park neighborhood in this City is one of the oldest historic neighborhoods? There is more information below about the very early years of this neighborhood that formed east of Dixie Hwy. and across a canal from West Palm Beach. A canal we now call the C-51 Canal.

And there’s news about the College Park Neighborhood Association!

The legendary block parties are back! The first one is tomorrow, Saturday, June 16th from 4:30–10:00. Location is Pennsylvania Ave. between Fordham and Dartmouth drives.

“We are reviving the neighborhood block parties! We will be closing down a portion of Pennsylvania Drive for the festivities between Dartmouth Dr. and Fordham Dr. The CPNA will provide the basics: ice, napkins, plates, flatware. This event is potluck style but we will also have grills (on loan from your neighbors) so that you can grill your own food. Bring your favorite beverages.”


For more information and how you can contribute use the CPNA Facebook event page or send an email to: collegeparkboard@collegeparklakeworth.com


“Anything you can contribute as far as food, equipment, or entertainment is welcome. Have a folding table or two? Bring them. Have a Karaoke machine? Bring it. Have extra chairs? Bring them.”

Now back to those fascinating historical documents about this City of Lake Worth. . .

Below is a scan of a copy so please excuse the reproduction faults. Coming from early in the development of the City of Lake Worth, this is an advertisement by The Palm Beach Farms Company, the firm that first platted and sold lots here. I am guessing this dates from sometime in the late teens. The caption below the photo says, “Eggplants are Money Makers in Palm Beach County.”


The company had 5-acre lots west of what would become the City of Lake Worth, roughly the area we now know as Greenacres. These were to be agricultural lots and the promotional draw to the area. The initial plan was to promote the larger lots out west and give one 25′ lot nearer the coast as a “beach cottage” to make the deal more appealing. As time passed, the lots selling were the 25′ lots, not the larger agricultural parcels.

This next document probably springs from that transition period when the company began to focus on what was to become Lake Worth.




This next image is an interesting price listing for various lot locations and sizes based on the plat shown.


The next plat (image below) is the northern part of Lake Worth, the north orientation is to the right. If you read the “Avenue” names, you can see the 25′ lots known as North Lake Worth begin at 23rd Avenue. I doubt this plat map was ever recorded. If it was was later superseded by the College Park plat that would have been recorded in the early 20s.

What is revealing on this particular plat is the names for the “lettered streets”. On it you will see “Jasmine” for “J”, “Kentia”, “Lantana”, “Mango”, “Nassau”, “Oleander”, “Poinciana” and “Quail” that round out that section of the alphabet. There was also an “Iris” and “Hibiscus”, both east of Dixie Hwy. This is another clue this was never recorded before the College Park plat.




This next image is a plat of the southern part of Lake Worth east of the FEC railroad tracks. “Palmway” is substituted for “Poinciana” used in the northern part of the City. Also note the names of the avenues. The ones that I can pick out are “Wistaria”, “Valena”, “Utic (?)”, and “Satsuma”. This part holds fairly true lot-wise to what was platted in this area, less the avenue and street names. The north orientation is the top of this plat map:




A little slice of our City’s history I hope you enjoyed. Below is an early picture during the initial development of Lake Worth. It probably dates from the early 20s. Can you tell where this is?

This is one of the early photos of what would later come to be called the College Park neighborhood.