In 1880, Irving R. Henry from North Carolina, homesteaded
130 acres of land which he purchased for $1.00 an acre.
Captain O. S. Porter purchased the land from Henry and then
sold it to Henry Morrison Flagler, the founder of Standard
Oil and the Florida East Coast Railroad, for $30,000 dollars.
Flagler desired to keep his resort of Palm Beach free from
commercialism. On February 4, 1894, he moved the businesses
which dealt with his railroad operation from the Royal Poinciana
Hotel in Palm Beach to the 48 block area he had purchased
on the west side of the lake.
The town to the west was to be the living quarters for his
beach employees, the commercial center for the area, and
the terminus of his railway. Canvas tents and shanties were
erected for the workers. Because these structures caught
fire easily, the first public service organization developed
in the area was the "Flagler Alerts," a group
of volunteer fireman under the direction of J. E. Phillips,
President. The pumping station and the few fire hydrants
installed did little for fires a month apart which burned
down the buildings on the south sides of Banyan and Clematis
Streets.
On November 5, 1894, 78 people met at the "Calaboose"
(the first jail and police station located at Clematis St.
and Poinsettia, now Dixie Hwy.) and passed the motion to
incorporate the Town of West Palm Beach in what was then
Dade County. The town council quickly addressed the building
codes and the tents and shanties were replaced by brick,
brick veneer, and stone buildings.
On incorporating the town, the council provided for an elected
Town Marshall who was charged with keeping the peace and
acting as tax collector. At the incorporation meeting, W.
L. Torbert was elected Town Marshall over J. D. Ross, with
a salary of $60.00 a month, an upper income for the times. |
