Historic Old Town Commercial District

Historic Old Town Commercial District
Historic Old Town Commercial District is located in Florida
Historic Old Town Commercial District
Location within Florida
Historic Old Town Commercial District is located in the United States
Historic Old Town Commercial District
Location within the United States
LocationLake Worth Beach, Florida
Coordinates26°36′56.21″N 80°3′22.95″W / 26.6156139°N 80.0563750°W / 26.6156139; -80.0563750
Area16 acres (0.065 km2)
NRHP reference No.01001011[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 22, 2001

The Historic Old Town Commercial District (also known as downtown Lake Worth Beach) is a U.S. historic district located in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. The district is bounded by the Florida East Coast Railway, M Street, Lucerne Avenue (Florida State Road 802), and 1st Avenue South, according to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), while the city of Lake Worth Beach extends the eastern boundary to Federal Highway (Florida State Road 5). Overall, the district covers approximately 16 acres (6.5 ha) of land.

It contains 46 historic buildings, each constructed between 1912 and 1949 and designed in several architectural styles, including Art Deco, Classical Revival, Mediterranean Revival, and Moorish Revival. Another 13 structures within the district are considered non-contributing due to being built after 1951. Notably, the district includes the historic Lake Worth Playhouse (opened in 1924 as the Oakley Theater) and City Hall, developed in the 1930s as a project of the Works Progress Administration. Due to restoration efforts beginning in the late 1990s, the district now features an array of antique stores, art galleries, historic buildings, sidewalk cafés, and night clubs. Since September 22, 2001, the Historic Old Town Commercial District has been listed on NRHP.

Geography

The Historic Old Town Commercial District is located in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. According to the National Register of Historic Places registration form, the district covers approximately 16 acres (6.5 ha) of land, spanning westward to the Florida East Coast Railway, eastward to M Street, northward to Lucerne Avenue, and southward to 1st Avenue South.[2] Dixie Highway (also known as U.S. Route 1) runs north-south through the western side of the district.[3] Lucerne Avenue and Lake Avenue, which passes east-west between the former and 1st Avenue South, are both designated as Florida State Road 802.[4] The city of Lake Worth Beach uses slightly different boundaries, with the east end located along Federal Highway (Florida State Road 5).[5]

History

Archaeological evidence from burial mounds indicates the presence of the Jaega in the nearby present-day cities of Boynton Beach, Palm Beach, and South Palm Beach between 750 and 1500 CE.[6] In 1885, Fannie and Samuel James became among the first non-indigenous settlers in modern-day Lake Worth Beach.[7] They owned hundreds of acres of land, including 160 acres (65 ha) south of Lake Avenue (Florida State Road 802) between F and M Streets and 160 acres (65 ha) south of College Park Historic District from Dixie to Federal highways (designated as U.S. Route 1 and Florida State Road 5, respectively).[8]: 56–57, 82  The Palm Beach Farm Company platted and paved residential plots and roads between 1911 and 1912, among them Lake Avenue. In 1913, this settlement would be incorporated as Lake Worth.[9] Around this time, a business district was developed in the vicinity of Dixie Highway and Lake Avenue.[10]

The oldest surviving building in the Historic Old Town Commercial District, located at 609 Lake Avenue, opened in 1912. A frame vernacular structure, the building housed a bicycle shop for several decades.[11] The Carousel Antique Furniture Warehouse, built in 1915, is the only other remaining structure erected before 1920.[12] During the 1920s Florida land boom, dozens of new buildings were constructed in Lake Worth, including the former Scottish Rite Temple at 1000 Lake Avenue in 1921 and the Oakley Theater (now known as the Lake Worth Playhouse) in 1924. Lake Worth's business district was severely impacted by the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, with approximately 50 businesses destroyed and 200 others damaged – roughly 75% of buildings.[13][14] After the Great Depression began, construction activity continued due in part to New Deal programs. This included the Works Progress Administration building a municipal auditorium in the 1930s, which later became City Hall.[15]

The widening of Dixie Highway by 32 ft (9.8 m) in the 1970s led to the demolition of several historic buildings within the business district.[3] Restoration efforts in downtown occurred in the late 1990s, with the Florida Department of Transportation spending $3.9 million to improve sidewalks and streets and the city of Lake Worth contributing over $670,000 for benches, landscaping, planters, trash cans, and new lights and sidewalk pavers.[16] Consequently, downtown experienced a resurgence in economic activity, with the area now featuring an array of antique stores, art galleries, historic buildings, sidewalk cafés, and night clubs.[17] On September 22, 2001, the Historic Old Town Commercial District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[18]

Architecture

Several architectural building styles are presented in the Historic Old Town Commercial District, including Art Deco, Classical Revival, Craftsman, Frame Vernacular, Masonry Vernacular, Mediterranean Revival, and Moorish Revival.[12] A majority of the structures feature Masonry Vernacular architecture. Most buildings within the district are also one or two stories in height and often abut each other.[2]

Contributing structures

The Historic Old Town Commercial District has 46 structures listed as contributing, including:[12]

Address Year built Style Structure type Notes
501-503 Lake Avenue 1935 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
509 Lake Avenue 1930 Ranch Commercial
511 Lake Avenue 1945 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
515-517 Lake Avenue 1945 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
601 Lake Avenue 1939 Art Deco Art Museum Lake Theater building. Later housed an art museum associated with Palm Beach Community College.[19]
Current headquarters of the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County[20]
609 Lake Avenue 1912 Frame Vernacular Commercial Kerr's Bicycle Shop between 1929 and the 1970s[21]
611-613 Lake Avenue 1945 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
615 Lake Avenue 1935 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
617-619 Lake Avenue 1923 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
621 Lake Avenue 1935 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
705 Lake Avenue 1925 Masonry Vernacular Commercial Tuesday Gallery[21]
707 Lake Avenue 1923 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
708-712 Lake Avenue 1935 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
709 Lake Avenue 1925 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
713 Lake Avenue 1924 Masonry Vernacular Theater Lake Worth Playhouse[15]
716-718 Lake Avenue 1935 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
717 Lake Avenue 1930 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
720-722 Lake Avenue 1935 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
728-730 Lake Avenue 1930 Masonry Vernacular Hotel Originally the Rose Apartments, later the Cleve Hotel and Fountain's Department Store[21]
800-802 Lake Avenue 1940 Masonry Vernacular Commercial Originally the Lake Worth National Bank[21]
801 Lake Avenue 1920 Mission Commercial
803 Lake Avenue 1919 Classical Revival Commercial Originally the Bank of Lake Worth[22]
804 Lake Avenue 1940 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
805 Lake Avenue 1923 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
806 Lake Avenue 1915 Masonry Vernacular Commercial Carousel Antique Furniture Warehouse[19]
811 Lake Avenue 1923 Masonry Vernacular Commercial Rowe Building[15]
913 Lake Avenue 1949 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
915-917 Lake Avenue 1925 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
920 Lake Avenue[nb 1] 1933 Moorish Revival City Hall Lake Worth Beach City Hall[19]
921 Lake Avenue 1930 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
1000 Lake Avenue 1921 Mediterranean Revival Commercial/Social Originally the Scottish Rite Temple[15]
1014 Lake Avenue 1940 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
625 Lucerne Avenue 1945 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
631 Lucerne Avenue 1923 Masonry Vernacular Hotel Originally the McCarthy Hotel[21]
701 Lucerne Avenue 1923 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
807 Lucerne Avenue 1945 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
1013 Lucerne Avenue 1945 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
11 North J Street 1935 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
9-15 North H Street 1946 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
17 North H Street 1924 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
8-12 South J Street 1925 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
11 South J Street 1924 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
17-25 South J Street 1923 Masonry Vernacular Residence Thurber Building[24]
32 South J Street 1935 Masonry Vernacular Commercial
32A South J Street 1935 Masonry Vernacular Garage
35 South J Street 1923 Masonry Vernacular Commercial

Non-contributing and other buildings

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) registration form classifies 13 structures within the Historic Old Town Commercial District as non-contributing, including: 513, 519, 521-525, 603-605, 701, 702, 706, 807, 809, and 1030 on Lake Avenue; 13 North J Street; and 15 and 27-31 on South J Street.[25] Each of the buildings at the aforementioned addresses are considered non-contributing due to being constructed after 1951.[2]

Because the city of Lake Worth Beach defines the district's eastern boundary at Federal Highway (Florida State Road 5), the local government considers the Old Lake Worth City Hall (also known as the City Hall Annex) to be part of the district.[5] At the federal level, this building has been listed on the NRHP since 1989.[26] The city of Lake Worth Beach also considers the public library building to be a contributing structure, a Mediterranean Revival-style structure erected in 1941.[5] However, the NRHP does not list its address, 15 North M Street, as either a contributing or non-contributing building.[12][27]

Notes

  1. ↑ This address, 920 Lake Avenue, is taken from the Historic Old Town Commercial District's registration form.[19] However, the city of Lake Worth Beach, Florida, lists the current address for the City Hall as 7 North Dixie Highway.[23]

References

General

  • Sherry Anderson; Carl Shiver (2001). Historic Old Town Commercial District (Report). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. National Park Service. Retrieved May 1, 2026.

Specific

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Anderson & Shiver 2001, p. 5.
  3. 1 2 Anderson & Shiver 2001, p. 6.
  4. ↑ "Roadway Atlas (Page 81)" (PDF). Palm Beach County Engineering and Public Works. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "Lake Worth Beach Walking Tour of Old Town". City of Lake Worth Beach, Florida. p. 2. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Archaeology in Palm Beach County". Historical Society of Palm Beach County. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  7. ↑ Ted Brownstein (Fall 2013). "Social Status and Race in the Pioneer Lake Worth Community – A Case Study of Fannie and Samuel James" (PDF). The Tustenegee. Historical Society of Palm Beach County: 24. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  8. ↑ Ted Brownstein (2013). Pioneers of Jewell. Lake Worth, Florida: Lake Worth Herald Publications. ISBN 978-0-9832609-4-3.
  9. ↑ "Did You Know..." (PDF). The Tustenegee. Historical Society of Palm Beach County. April 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  10. ↑ Anderson & Shiver 2001, p. 17.
  11. ↑ Anderson & Shiver 2001, p. 8-9.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Anderson & Shiver 2001, p. 10-12.
  13. ↑ Palm Beach Hurricane—92 Views. Chicago, Illinois: American Autochrome Company. 1928. p. 5. OCLC 08648474. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  14. ↑ "36 Lives Lost is Storm Toll Over Florida". Miami Herald. September 18, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved May 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Anderson & Shiver 2001, p. 18.
  16. ↑ "Property values grew downtown in 1997, the first time in years". The Palm Beach Post. February 15, 1998. p. 7B. Retrieved May 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Did You Know..." (PDF). The Tustenegee. Historical Society of Palm Beach County. April 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  18. ↑ Anderson & Shiver 2001, p. 1.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Anderson & Shiver 2001, p. 8.
  20. ↑ "Cultural Council For Palm Beach County". The Boca Raton Observer. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Anderson & Shiver 2001, p. 7.
  22. ↑ Anderson & Shiver 2001, p. 9.
  23. ↑ "Lake Worth Beach City Hall Chambers". City of Lake Worth Beach, Florida. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  24. ↑ Anderson & Shiver 2001, p. 19.
  25. ↑ Anderson & Shiver 2001, p. 11-12.
  26. ↑ "Florida - Palm Beach County (State Listings)". National Register of Historic Places.com. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
  27. ↑ "Lake Worth Beach City Library". City of Lake Worth Beach, Florida. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
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