HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-09-08 Munyon's Island -- you wouldn't have wanted to miss it (Evening Times)INYO , DR. JANEB 2`
32--The First 60 Years, The Evening Tines, Wed., Sept 8 and The Post, Thugs., Sept. 9, 1982
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you wouldn't have
wanted
Munyon's iskrn
September 1922 — No one should
vacation in Florida without taking
the hour-long boat trip from West
Palm Beach to visit a tropical won-
derland known as Dr. James Mun-
yon's Island.
The atmosphere of his resort, lo-
cated at the northern end of Lake
Worth and near the mouth of the
Indian River waterway, is one of
pleasure and delight.
Owner of Munyon's Proprietary
Medicines in Philadelphia, Dr. Mun-
yon will entertain you with stories
about tropical shrubs and trees and
will offer you valuable advice on
how to retain the health and vigor of
your youth as he takes you on a tour
of his island paradise.
"With this medicine, there is
hope," says the gregarious Dr. Mun-
yon, greeting his visitors and holding
up a bottle of his famous patented
formula while pointing to the heav-
ens with his outstretched hand.
No visitor leaves Munyon Island
without drinking from his fountain -
of -youth and purchasing a bottle of
this health -rejuvenating medicine,
which Munyon sells for $1.99 and
which contains, among its ingredi-
ents, papaya juice and sparkling wa-
ter which spouts continuously from a
fountain on his island.
Soon under Dr. Munyon's guidance
the visitor is looking to the sky at the
cluster of huge cocoanuts that sway
in the ocean breeze, hanging atop
long slender palm trees growing
around the island.
"The flowers and shrubs blossom
here continuously," he says. "Over
There are orange and grapefruit
trees, and one can eat the delicious
fruit directly from the branches
when it ripens during the season."
Dr. Munyon has built a coquina sea
wall around the 22-acre island,
where he has planted every kind of
native plant known to this tropical
land of Florida.
"Before long we will have gondo-
las, piloted by gondoliers, sailing the
waters around the island and passing
under Japanese bridges and Vene-
tian columns," he says. "Electric
lights will flash in the palm leaves as
the soft summer breezes swing the
branches to and fro.
"A causeway will be built from
here across the lake to Kelsey City,
and Mr. Kelsey will build a mam-
moth 12-story hotel with adjoining
bungalows where visitors can see
both the ocean and the mainland
from their rooms," he continues.
"People from all over the world will
come here to enjoy the climate and
beauty and drink from my `fountain
of youth."'
The visit passes too quickly in the
company of this charming, captivat-
ing man who, as you leave, points to
the heavens with bottle in hand and
chants again, "With this medicine,
there is hope."
And on the boat trip home, visitors
drink heartily from their bottle of
Munyon's medicine, for who knows
but what Dr. Munyon may have
found that which Ponce de Leon
sought in vain.
(Editor's Note: Dr. Munyon's
"fountain of youth" was actually fed
by a pipe carrying plain water
pumped from the mainland. His
dreams for the island were crushed
along with the fortunes of many oth-
o miss it
ers when the Florida boom collapsed
in the late 1920s. The island, located
within the boundaries of the Village
of North Palm Beach, remains unde-
veloped and was part of the package
of oceanfront land purchased in 1981
by the state from the John D. MacAr-
thur estate.)