Local author Betty Turso will be at the Lake Worth Historical Museum tomorrow.

Seating is very limited.

Contact information, time and address of this newly-renovated museum are at the end of this blog post.

This event is sponsored by the Historical Society of Lake Worth.

The author will speak about her book: John Horse: Florida’s First Freedom Fighter. John Horse (1812–1882) was a fighter of African and Seminole Indian ancestry who fought in the Second Seminole War against the American Army.

In 1842 then-Colonel William Jenkins Worth declared victory when the defeated Seminoles were forced far into the Florida Everglades seeking safety from the American forces.

As a side note, the Town of Lake Worth was incorporated in 1913 which included the Beach. As the Seminole’s retreated many from the Town of Lake Worth from places up north headed west and draining the Everglades as they went creating what would later be called John Prince Park, further to the west the City of Atlantis incorporated in 1959 and the Village of Wellington was incorporated in 1995.

I’ve heard stories from people telling me they used to ride air boats from John Prince Park through swampland and muck out to what later became Wellington. And now there is a new place even further west called the ‘Agrihood’ of Arden. And the march west continues.


Now back on topic. . .

Does the American military commander “Worth” sound familiar?

Colonel Worth later became General Worth. Both the City of Lake Worth and the then-freshwater lake called Lake Worth were named in honor of General William Worth.

The original Town of Lake Worth formed in 1913 and the once freshwater “Lake Worth” is now called the Lake Worth Lagoon, a brackish waterway between the City and what some like to call ‘The Island’ of Palm Beach.

And briefly, this City’s long military history delves into the topic of topophilia from the Greek topos (place) and -philia (love of ):

[I]s a strong sense of place, which often becomes mixed with the sense of cultural identity among certain people and a love of certain aspects of such a place.

Which explains why there is so much interest in renaming the City of Lake Worth to become the “City of Lake Worth Beach”. It’s the Beach which defines this City is so many ways, as opposed to all those unincorporated areas west of the City with a ‘Lake Worth’ address that wish they had a beach.

Call 561-632-9044 to reserve your seat for
7:00 on Wednesday, December 12th. 

Click on image to enlarge.

The Lake Worth Historical Museum is located in the Cultural Plaza, on the 2nd floor of the City Hall Annex (414 Lake Ave.). FYI: Outside the Annex is the City’s Military Memorial Monument dedicated on Veterans Day last year.