Pier at the beach in Lake Worth Beach is named in honor of William O. Lockhart, a former commissioner.

William Osborne Lockhart was the former pier master who passed away in 2003: “[I]t was the city’s pier that Lockhart spent many years of his life.”


The news below is from July 2003 by long-time South Florida editor and reporter Kari Barnett.

Click on image to enlarge:

Newspaper clipping from the Lake Worth Forum dated July 8th, 2003. The Forum is published by the Sun Sentinel for distribution in Palm Beach County.

The caption beneath the photo reads in part:

The pier at Lake Worth Beach, first opened in 1954, was recently renamed by the city commission for long-time activist William O. Lockhart, who died in April at age 71.

Article continues on p. 6 . . . three excerpts:

“William Lockhart was a friend of society and a proud member of this city,” said Paul Martin, who was overcome with emotion at the unanimous vote [July 1st, 2008 at City Commission] to change the name.
     Martin, along with others in Lake Worth, started a grassroots campaign months ago to raise funds to pay for the lettering on a new sign showing that the pier is named in Lockhart’s honor.

and. . .

     Along with his charitable efforts, Lockhart was a city commissioner in the late 1980s who attended many meetings around the city’s neighborhoods.
     After retiring from his city job in 1991, Lockhart was a volunteer with the Lake Worth Citizens on Patrol and was president of Lake Worth Citizens on Task.
     But it was the city’s pier that Lockhart spent many years of his life.

and the article concludes. . .

     Commissioner Nadine Burns took time at the end of last week’s commission meeting to recall what she thought Lockhart meant to the City of Lake Worth.
     “I was cleaning out one of the file cabinets here at city hall and I realized William Lockhart was one of the most repeated names,” Burns said.
     “We did a good thing tonight.”


The William O. Lockhart Pier was one of the sites visited by writer Lori Durante* of the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History in a blog post dated Oct. 2012 titled, “Black Bahamian descendants from Miami tour historic Lake Worth”. According to Durante former Palm Beach Post reporter Willie Howard provided research on Lockhart’s ancestry.

Another stop on the tour was the St. John’s Episcopal Church in the City of Lake Worth: “Lake Osborne Addition was once Lake Osborne ‘Colored’ Addition that was settled around 1917 by black Bahamians.” Durante then states that in 1999 the City deleted the derogatory term ‘Colored’ from City plat maps.

Durante’s tour also visited the Grant AME Chapel, “[E]stablished in 1922 and is the oldest black church in Lake Worth. The church organization originated in the neighboring Town of Lantana.”

More history about the William O. Lockhart Pier: the hurricanes of 2004–2005.

After the pier was renamed in 2003 and according to reporter Kari Barnett some thought the name change would be “confusing for some visitors” and others wanted the name to remain the “Lake Worth Pier” a much bigger issue came along in September 2004. What no one could have predicted and very few were prepared for: hurricanes Frances and Jeanne and then Wilma visited the very next year.

Here is news from 2006 as reported by Palm Beach Post staff writer Nicole Janok on, “Lake Worth moving to rebuild pier”.

“The $2.8 million project is slated to begin in January and take approximately 10 months”.

LAKE WORTH — Longtime surfer James Linkins remembers the days when Lake Worth Beach had sandbars that produced killer waves. But ever since Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne destroyed the William O. Lockhart Municipal Pier two years ago [2004], the waves haven’t been the same.”

Newspaper clipping from October 28th, 2006.

Click on image to enlarge:

On Sept. 4th, 2004, Hurricane Frances pummeled Lake Worth — then two weeks later we got hit by Hurricane Jeanne — winds estimated 120 mph. Then along came Wilma in 2005. Fast forward to 2009. . .

The William O. Lockhart Municipal Pier held its grand reopening on May 9th, 2009 and Lockhart has kept his place in City of Lake Worth history.

*Does the name Lori Durante sound familiar? It should. Durante is one of Lake Worth’s greatest ambassadors. She was featured in an article by Palm Beach Post business reporter Jennifer Sorentrue:


Delray Beach resident Lori Durante launched Taste History Culinary Tours in 2011, combining the idea of a narrated bus tour with the growing popularity of food tastings.
     She started the venture in Delray Beach, and then added tours in Boynton Beach, Lantana, Lake Worth [emphasis added], and West Palm Beach’s Northwood Village neighborhood and Arts and Entertainment District.