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Palm Beach County, Florida

Coordinates: 26°43′N 80°03′W / 26.71°N 80.05°W / 26.71; -80.05
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Palm Beach County
County
Official seal of Palm Beach County
Seal
Map of Florida highlighting Palm Beach County
Location within the U.S. state of Florida
Map of the United States highlighting Florida
Florida's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 26°43′N 80°03′W / 26.71°N 80.05°W / 26.71; -80.05
Country United States
State Florida
FoundedApril 30, 1909
Named forPalm Beach, Florida
SeatWest Palm Beach
Area
 • Total2,386 sq mi (6,180 km2)
 • Land1,974 sq mi (5,110 km2)
 • Water412 sq mi (1,070 km2)  17.27%
Population
 (2010)
 • Total1,320,134
 • Density669/sq mi (258.2/km2)
Websitewww.co.palm-beach.fl.us

Palm Beach County is the largest county in the state of Florida in area. As of 2010, the rapidly-growing county's estimated population was 1,320,134,[1] making it the third most populous in the state and the twenty ninth most populous in the United States. Over 40 percent of the county's population lives in unincorporated areas near the Atlantic coast.

Palm Beach County is one of three counties comprising the South Florida metropolitan area, and having been formed in 1909, is the area's second oldest. Its largest city and county seat is West Palm Beach (Central County), which has an incorporated population of over 105,000 and an unincorporated population of 250,000. Boca Raton (South County), is the second largest, having a population approaching 90,000. Boynton Beach (South County), is the third largest city, with a population nearing 70,000 residents.[2]

With wealthy coastal towns such as Palm Beach, Jupiter, Manalapan, and Boca Raton within its limits, as well as equestrian mecca Wellington and golfing haven Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Beach County is Florida's wealthiest county, with a per capita personal income of $44,518 as of 2004.[3]

History

Among the first residents in Palm Beach County were African Americans and many of whom were former slaves or immediate descendants of formers slaves who had escaped to the State of Florida from slave plantations located in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. Runaway African slaves started coming to what was then named Spanish Florida in the late 17th century and they found refuge among the Seminole Native Americans.

Henry Flagler, who made his home in Palm Beach, was instrumental in the county's development in the early 20th century with the extension of the Florida East Coast Railway through the county from Jacksonville to Key West.

Palm Beach County was created in 1909. It was named for its first settled community, Palm Beach, in turn named for the palm trees and beaches in the area. The County was carved out of what was then the northern portion of Dade County, comprising part of the areas now occupied by Okeechobee and Broward counties, part of Martin and all of Palm Beach county, initially including all of Lake Okeechobee. The southernmost part of Palm Beach County was separated to create the northern portion of Broward County in 1915, the northwestern portion became part of Okeechobee County 1917 and southern Martin County was created from northernmost Palm Beach County in 1925. About three-quarters of Lake Okeechobee was removed from Palm Beach County in 1963 and divided up among Glades, Hendry, Martin and Okeechobee counties.[4]

The African American population provided significant labor for the building of the county, its hotels, houses and Flagler's railroad.

Palm Beach County was among the last school districts in the nation to integrate, in 1971.

Geography

View of Lake Okeechobee from Pahokee.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,386 square miles (6,181 km²).1,974 square miles (5,113 km²) of it is land (making it the second-largest Florida county by land area, after Collier County) and 412 square miles (1,068 km²) of it is water, much of it in the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Okeechobee. The total area, which is the largest in Florida, is 17.27% water.

The boundaries of area code 561 exactly match the county's. Originally, it was part of area code 305, and later area code 407.

Municipalities and census-designated places

Incorporated

The county has 38 municipalities in total. The municipalities are numbered corresponding to the attached image.

Map of incorporated cities.
# Incorporated Community Designation Date incorporated Population
24 Atlantis City 1959 2,005
2 Belle Glade City April 9, 1928 16,739
37 Boca Raton City May 1925 86,396
30 Boynton Beach City 1920 66,714
33 Briny Breezes Town March 19, 1963 411
18 Cloud Lake Town 1947 167
35 Delray Beach City 1911 64,112
17 Glen Ridge Town 1948 276
32 Golf Village 1957 230
23 Greenacres City 1926 27,569
34 Gulf Stream Town 1925 777
16 Haverhill Town 1950 1,454
36 Highland Beach Town 1949 3,988
29 Hypoluxo Town 1955 2,015
7 Juno Beach Town June 4, 1953 3,262
6 Jupiter Town February 9, 1925 39,328
5 Jupiter Inlet Colony Town 1959 368
20 Lake Clarke Shores Town 1957 3,451
10 Lake Park Town 1923 8,721
25 Lake Worth City 1912 36,342
27 Lantana Town 1921 9,437
38 Loxahatchee Groves Town November 1, 2006 3,232
28 Manalapan Town 1931 321
13 Mangonia Park Town 1947 1,283
9 North Palm Beach Village 1956 12,064
31 Ocean Ridge Town 1931 1,636
1 Pahokee City 1922 6,617
14 Palm Beach Town April 17, 1911 10,468
8 Palm Beach Gardens City 1959 44,315
12 Palm Beach Shores Town 1951 1,269
19 Palm Springs Village 1957 11,699
11 Riviera Beach City September 29, 1922 29,884
21 Royal Palm Beach Village June 18, 1959 31,864
3 South Bay City 1941 4,506
26 South Palm Beach Town 1955 699
4 Tequesta Village 1957 5,273
22 Wellington Village December 31, 1995 55,584
15 West Palm Beach City November 5, 1894 103,663

Unincorporated census-designated places

Adjacent counties

Palm Beach County borders Martin County to the North, the Atlantic Ocean to the East, Broward County to the South, Hendry County to the West, and extends into Lake Okeechobee in the Northwest, where it borders Okeechobee County and Glades County at one point in the center of the lake.

National protected area

Demographics

2000 Census

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
19105,577—
192018,654234.5%
193051,781177.6%
194079,98954.5%
1950114,68843.4%
1960228,10698.9%
1970348,75352.9%
1980576,86365.4%
1990863,51849.7%
20001,131,18431.0%
20101,320,13416.7%

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 1,131,184 people, 474,175 households, and 303,946 families residing in the county. The population density was 573 people per square mile (221/km²). Approximately 41% of Palm Beach County's population resides in unincorporated areas within the county. There were 556,428 housing units at an average density of 282 per square mile (109/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 79.05% White (70.6% were Non-Hispanic White,)[5] 13.80% Black or African American, 0.22% Native American, 1.51% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 2.98% from other races, and 2.38% from two or more races. 12.44% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. In relation to ancestry (excluding the various Hispanic and Latino ancestries), 10% were Italian, 9% German, 8% Irish, 8% American, 6% English, 4% Russian, and 4% Polish ancestry according to Census 2000.[6]

196,852 of Palm Beach County residents, or 17.4% percent of the total population, were foreign-born (43% of whom were naturalized U.S. citizens).[6] The most common countries of foreign-born residents included Haiti (14%), Cuba (10%), Mexico (9%), Jamaica (6%), Canada (5%), Colombia (5%), and the United Kingdom (3%).[6]

There were 474,175 households out of which 24.90% reported children under the living in the household, 50.80% were married couples living together without children, 9.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.90% were non-related individuals. 29.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.89.

Age ranges found in the county were 21.30% under the , 6.60% aged 18 to 24, 27.00% aged 25 to 44, 22.00% aged 45 to 64, and 23.20% 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. Overall, the female to male ratio was 100:93. The female to male ratio for those over the was 100:91.

The median household income was $45,062, and the median income for a family was $53,701. Males had a median income of $36,931 versus $28,674 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,801. About 6.90% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.30% of those under age 18 and 6.60% of those age 65 or over.

2008 Census Report

U.S. Census Bureau 2008 Ethnic/Race Demographics:[7]

The median price of an existing home in Palm Beach County as of September 2006 is $380,900.[9]

Languages

As of 2000, 78.36% of all residents spoke English as a primary language, while 11.89% spoke Spanish, 2.81% French Creole, 1.12% French, 0.76% Italian, 0.68% German, and 0.52% of the population spoke Yiddish. In total, 78.36% spoke English as a primary language, while 21.64% spoke languages other than English.[10]

Politics

Palm Beach County has trended heavily towards Democrats in recent presidential elections. It was the center of a worldwide media storm in 2000, when it appeared to have made a difference in the balloting for the election between eventual winner George W. Bush over Al Gore. A major source of controversy was the butterfly ballot used in Palm Beach County, which prompted many voters to later claim that they mistakenly voted for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan instead of Al Gore because of the design of the ballot. In the end, Gore carried the county, but Bush captured the state by just 537 votes (out of nearly 5 million cast, a difference of .009%) after the recount was effectively halted by the US Supreme Court. (Bush vs. Gore)

Presidential Election Results 1960-2008
Year Democrat Republican
2008 61.50% 342,527 37.90% 211,163
2004 60.35% 328,687 39.05% 212,688
2000 62.27% 269,754 35.31% 152,964
1996 58.06% 230,687 33.68% 133,811
1992 46.36% 187,869 34.63% 140,350
1988 44.07% 144,199 55.47% 181,495
1984 38.32% 116,091 61.67% 186,811
1980 36.37% 91,991 56.79% 143,639
1976 48.68% 96,705 49.45% 98,236
1972 27.18% 40,825 72.35% 108,670
1968 28.08% 32,837 53.19% 62,191
1964 46.91% 43,836 53.09% 49,614
1960 39.72% 29,871 60.28% 45,337

Transportation

Expressways

I-95 and Florida's Turnpike are controlled-access expressways that serve Palm Beach county. Southern Boulevard (signed FL 80/US 98), which runs east-west through central Palm Beach County, is a partial freeway from Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach to US 441/FL 7 in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach. In the late 1980s, there were plans to construct an 11.5 miles (18.5 km) toll freeway from Royal Palm Beach to downtown West Palm Beach. It would have run between Belvedere Road and Okeechobee Boulevard; necessitating the destruction of several homes and churches along its path. Opposition from local residents eventually killed the project.[11][12][13]

Major Highways

Railroads

Airports

Public Transit

  • PalmTran provides bus service throughout Palm Beach county.

Seaport

The Port of Palm Beach is located in Riviera Beach, where Celebration Cruise Line operates 2-day cruises to the Bahamas.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

All of Palm Beach County is served by the School District of Palm Beach County. As of 2006, it was the 4th largest school district in Florida and the 11th largest school district in the United States. As of August, 2006, the district operated 164 schools, including 25 high schools, and, as of July 22, 2006 had an additional 33 charter schools, with seven more scheduled to open in August, 2006.[14] Newsweek listed three Palm Beach County high schools in the top 50 schools in the list 1200 Top U.S. Schools - Atlantic Community High School, Suncoast High School and the Alexander Dreyfoos School of the Arts, all public magnet schools.[15]

Colleges/Universities

Public libraries

Palm Beach County Library System operates public libraries.

Sports

The Palm Beach Imperials are an American Basketball Association 2006 expansion franchise.

The Jupiter Hammerheads are a Single-A affiliate of the Florida Marlins and the Palm Beach Cardinals are a Single High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Both teams play their games at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter.

Currently, the St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins conduct their spring training at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter.

Prior to the construction of Roger Dean Stadium, the Montreal Expos and Atlanta Braves held their spring training at Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach. The West Palm Beach Expos, a Single-A affiliate of the Montreal Expos, also played their games there.

Annual events of interest

Places of interest

Media

See also

References

  1. ^ http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/
  2. ^ Twenty most populous counties in America
  3. ^ "Florida Fun Facts Q&A". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  4. ^ Palm Beach County - County history - Accessed August 14, 2009
  5. ^ "Demographics of Palm Beach County, FL". MuniNetGuide.com. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  6. ^ a b c "Palm Beach County, FL Detailed Profile". city-data.com. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  7. ^ 2008 Palm Beach County Demographics
  8. ^ 2006-2008 Demographics of Some Other Race
  9. ^ "Home sales continue plunge". 2006-11-21. Retrieved 2006-12-05. [dead link]
  10. ^ "MLA Data Center Results for Palm Beach County, Florida". Modern Language Association. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  11. ^ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-03-17/news/8601160782_1_corridor-study-central-county-authority-members
  12. ^ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-10-16/news/8603020944_1_authority-members-routes-sansbury/2
  13. ^ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2005-03-06/news/0503050284_1_new-interchange-lanes-palm-beach-county
  14. ^ School District of Palm Beach County "Just the Facts" 2006-2007 - retrieved August 11, 2006 Template:Wayback
  15. ^ The Complete List: 1,200 Top U.S. Schools - Newsweek America's Best High Schools - retrieved December 9, 2006 Template:Wayback

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Palm Beach County, Florida.

Government links/Constitutional offices

Special districts

Emergency services

Judicial branch

26°43′N 80°03′W / 26.71°N 80.05°W / 26.71; -80.05

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