Whether you’re a long-time resident or a South Florida transplant, there’s a lot about Palm Beach County that you probably don’t know. Here are 5 fun facts about the Palm Beaches.
A Rail of a Tale
The entire stretch of Florida’s East Coast Railway ran from Key West to Palm Beach opened access to travel and shipping throughout the entire state. Originally called Flagler’s Folly, this stretch of railroad is what earned Henry Flagler his title of the “inventor of modern-day Florida.”
Humble Beginnings
1909 is the year that marked Palm Beach as the 47th county in Florida. Today, our beautiful county is home to 1.3 million residents spread amongst 38 different municipalities. One of the smallest municipalities being the village of Cloud Lake with 135 residents to West Palm Beach with over 100,000 residents.
Shores of Gold
You have probably heard our coastline described as “Gold Coast” or the “Treasure Coast” and it is for good reason. Real treasure rests on the sandy floors along our coast. The history of shipwrecks off of Palm Beach County dates back to the 1890’s and today, treasure hunters are still finding sunken Spanish galleons in our local waters.
Small Airport Big Punch
If you have flown into or out of the humble Palm Beach International Airport (PBIA), you probably noticed three tiny terminals. Although it doesn’t seem like much PBIA is a powerhouse. The airport operates 12 airlines with over 200 flights per day. Conde Nast Traveler voted it amazingly as the 3rd best airport in the United States and 6th best in the world.
Sugary Sweet Florida
Palm Beach County is the nation’s leader in producing sugar. 18% of the tasty sweetener is grown on 400,000 acres of cane fields across the middle of the state, where the soil is called “black gold” because of its fertility. The Glades area produces just less than 900,000 tons of raw sugar and almost all of it is shipped from the Port of Palm Beach.
