West Palm Beach was supposed to be the final stop on tycoon Henry Flagler's railroad through Florida in 1893. But West Palm turned out to be its own city, rather than just the commercial center for Palm Beach.
West Palm Beach is the largest of 37 municipalities in Palm Beach County, both in population and area. Historic homes commingle with ultramodern high-rises there, and the downtown area segues into suburbia. In and around the area are theaters, restaurants, hotels, museums, historic sites, zoos, golf courses, tennis courts, parks and preserves, and watersports activities. Palm Beach, its sister island, is just across the Intracoastal Waterway, so visitors have endless options when it comes to fine dining, upscale hotels, sandy beaches and shopping.
On historic Clematis Street, downtown, you'll find the Brown Bag Concert series (Friday afternoons in the spring and fall), the Off the Wall Film Series and the Clematis by Night street party, where some of the best live music—R&B, reggae, blues, soul and swing—is featured each week.
Sights—Palm Beach Maritime Museum; Yesteryear Village.
Museums—Norton Museum of Art.
Memorable Meals—Chateaubriand at Okeechobee Steakhouse; rock shrimp at Suite 225; baby back ribs at Brewzzi.
Late Night—Martinis and tapas at Blue Martini; dancing at Resort; blues at Ray's Downtown; country music at Renegades.
Walks—Strolling along the waterfront on Flagler Drive; walking in and out of upscale shops along Worth Avenue in Palm Beach.
Especially for Kids—Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee; Palm Beach Zoo; Rapids Water Park; South Florida Science Museum.
Streets in West Palm Beach run north to south and east to west, and are named in alphabetical order for native plants. The exceptions are Highway 1, which runs from Maine to Key West, Florida, and Flagler Drive, which runs along the Intracoastal Waterway.
Palm Beach is just across the Intracoastal Waterway, and it is known for its upscale shopping and dining, beaches, luxury accommodations (such as the famed Breakers Hotel), and posh estates, including the compound of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago and Henry Flagler's Whitehall. The island is accessed by the Flagler Memorial, Royal Park or Southern Boulevard drawbridges.
West Palm Beach is also within an hour's drive of several destinations in Palm Beach County—Boca Raton and Delray Beach are both located at the county's southern boundary, and Jupiter and Tequesta are municipalities to the north of West Palm Beach. To the west is the polo capital of Wellington, as well as the more rural communities of Loxahatchee and the Acreage.
The Palm Beach wilderness was transformed into a posh resort destination after industrialist Henry Morrison Flagler visited the island in 1892. Although Europeans had settled in Palm Beach in the 1870s, cultivating fruits and vegetables, tourists spurred growth there after finding their way to Flagler's elaborate Breakers Hotel by way of his Florida East Coast Railway.
Flagler launched a construction boom in the area. By 1910, Palm Beach County had been created, with West Palm Beach as its county seat. The next decade saw high-rises and modest to grand homes sprout. However, real estate scams and hurricanes in 1926 and 1928 stifled further development.
Then in the 1950s and '60s, city residents began abandoning West Palm Beach for the suburbs. It was not until the 1990s that the city experienced a rebirth, with the revitalization of historic buildings, the development of CityPlace and major renovations along Clematis Street.
