Palm Beach

Nestled quietly on a barrier island of the county of its same name, Palm Beach was first settled by the Jaega natives approximately 3000 years ago. Still, it wasn’t until 1872 that white settlers started arriving in the area, leading to the quick growth of the town of Palm Beach. The first residents of Palm Beach built the first post office in 1879. That same year they planted 15 thousand pineapples on the island in order to create a farm. Palm Beach got its name in 1878 when a Spanish ship loaded with coconuts wrecked off the coast. The coconuts ended up on the beach and grew into a palm grove, from where the town got its name.

Palm Beach continued its fast growth, and by 1886 it had built its first school house, which can still be observed at Phipps Ocean Park. As it is, Palm Beach is considered to be one of the wealthiest cities in the country, thanks to the 42 billionaires who own property in the area. Palm Beach is also the oldest municipality in the nation due to the incorporation of West Palm Beach in 1894.

The economy of Palm Beach depends mostly on tourism, an industry that creates approximately 70,000 jobs every year and contributes more than $7 billion to the local economy annually. Additionally, Palm Beach produces sweet corn and about half of the sugar cane produced by the US as a whole.

Palm Beach has been the stage for many interesting stories, including one in which Judy Garland forgot the blue dress she was going to wear to JFK’s inauguration. Hotel employees realized what had happened and rushed the dress to the airport, where an Air Force plane transported it to Washington for the event. Today, visitors to Palm Beach are able to enjoy its beautiful beaches and reefs, as well as a myriad of historic landmarks, luxurious resorts, gorgeous mansions and an amazing shopping district. All of this makes Palm Beach a prime destination for tourists worldwide.