1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Palm Beach

PALM BEACH, a winter resort on the east coast of Florida, U.S.A., in Palm Beach county, about 264 m. S. of St Augustine; served by the Florida East Coast railway. It is situated on a peninsula (about 30 m. long and 1 m. wide) separated from the mainland by Lake Worth, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean, and derives its name from the groves of coco-nut palms which fringe the lake. The coco-nut was introduced here by chance, through the wrecking, off the coast, in January 1879, of a coco-nut-laden Spanish vessel. The Gulf Stream is within about 1 m. of the shore, and the climate is mild and equable, the winter temperature normally ranging between 70° and 75° F. On the Atlantic is the Breakers, a large hotel, and facing Lake Worth is the Royal Poinciana, the largest hotel in the southern states. Palm Beach has few permanent residents and is not incorporated. On the mainland just across the lake is the city of West Palm Beach (pop. in 1905, state census, 1280), a pleasure resort and the county-seat of Palm Beach county (created in 1909).