From the desks of Betty Nelander and Andrew J. Davis:
You can give a toast to Palm Beach County’s 100th birthday on Wednesday.
But you won’t have candles to blow out, a parade to attend or even a champagne glass to raise.
You can, however, brown-bag it with county employees.
That’s right. They will celebrate Palm Beach County’s incorporation on July 1, 1909, with a brown bag lunch. At noon. At the Governmental Center courtyard. Call the modest day of fanfare a nod to the economy.
County dignitaries are expected to talk, plus there will be a presentation from the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, photographs and music. Self-guided tours of the Palm Beach County History Museum, which is located within the 1916 courthouse, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a docent-led tour at 3 p.m.
If this doesn’t ring your bell, take heart.
The remainder of the year will bring a slew of community events and and exhibits. And the upcoming Fourth on Flagler celebration along the Intracoastal Waterway will reference the milestone.
But the unveiling of a giant centennial bell will have to wait.
Fund raising “wasn’t fast enough,” says county special projects manager John H. Jamason of Palm Beach County’s public affairs office. The Palm Beach County Cultural Council is continuing to raise money for the 1,000-pound bell, which will be housed in a structure to be designed through the Palm Beach County Art in Public Places program and placed outside the 1916 courthouse. Good things will have to come to those who wait, quietly. The tolling of the bell won’t happen till next year at the earliest.
As far as the county is concerned, it was created from Dade County, which at the time, stretched from the St. Lucie River to the tip of the Florida Peninsula. Even with the creation of Broward, Martin and Okeechobee counties from the county’s land area, it remains the largest county geographically east of the Mississippi.
Here is an abbreviated timeline of the county:
1513 – Juan Ponce de Leon claims Florida for Spain.
1565 – St. Augustine is founded under Spanish rule.
1696 – Jonathan Dickinson shipwrecked near Jupiter Island.
1795 – Spain establishes Florida’s current boundaries.
1821 – Spain sells Florida to U.S. for $5 million.
1824 – Mosquito County established; includes area of Palm Beach County.
1830 – First census has population of South Florida at 517 people.
1840 – Soldiers discover and name Lake Worth.
1845 – Florida admitted to the Union as 27th state.
1860 – Jupiter lighthouse first lit.
1861 – Florida secedes from the Union, joins Confederacy.
1868 – Florida readmitted to Union.
1873 – First formal homestead claim in Lake Worth region.
1878 – The Providencia wrecks off the coast full of 20,000 coconuts, which were distributed and planted.
1885 – 1893 – Barefoot mailmen carried mail the 136 miles between Palm Beach and Cape Florida.
1893 – Henry Flagler, Standard Oil Tycoon, declares Palm Beach a “veritable paradise.”
1894 – Flagler’s Royal Poinciana Hotel is completed. It is then the largest wooden structure in the world.
1894 – Flagler’s railroad, FEC Railway arrives.
1894 – The City of West Palm Beach is incorporated.
1896 – Flagler opens the Palm Beach Inn, which becomes The Breakers, in 1901.
1897 – Palm Beach Daily News established.
1900 – West Palm Beach’s population was 564.
1909 – Palm Beach County formed with West Palm Beach as the county seat.
1909 – The Palm Beach County weekly newspaper is established, later becomes the Palm Beach Post.
1910 – Population of Palm Beach County was 5,577.
1911 – Palm Beach incorporated.
1913 – Henry Flagler dies in Palm Beach.
1920 – County population: 18,654.
1920 – Port of Palm Beach opens.
1920 – Good Samaritan Hospital opens.
1926 – Hurricane heavily damages South Florida.
1930 – County population: 51,781.
1938 – Flagler Memorial Bridge opens.
1940 – County population: 79,989.
1947 – Airport terminal opens at Palm Beach International Airport.
1950 – County population: 114,688.
1950 – Southern Boulevard Bridge opens.
1951 – Airport reactivated as air base during Korean War.
1957 – Sunshine State Parkway (Florida’s Turnpike) opens.
1959 – Royal Park Bridge opens.
1960 – County population: 228,106.
1964 – Hurricane Cleo causes $50 million damage in Palm Beach County.
1964 – Florida Atlantic University opens.
1966 – New terminal at PBIA is dedicated.
1970 – County population: 348,993.
1976 – I-95 is completed from Miami to Palm Beach Gardens.
1980 – County population: 576,812.
1988 – New passenger terminal opens at PBIA.
1989 – Tri-Rail begins service.
1990 – County population: 863,518.
1991 – Raymond F. Kravis Center opens.
1995 – New county courthouse is dedicated.
2000 – County’s butterfly ballot sparks storm over state’s presidential electoral vote.
2004 – Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne strike.
2005 – Hurricane Wilma strikes.
2008 – Original 1916 courthouse opened after four-year restoration.
Sources: Palm Beach County, Howstuffworks.com, Palm Beach Daily News