HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-08 Kelsey City A Dream Finally Realized (Gateway Magazine)The Kelsey City Arch.
rSI North Palm Beach Landmarks
<esey City:
A dream 1fld y lea ized
"Welcome to Kelsey City, Gateway
to the World's Winter Playground",
read the sign on a giant arch erected
over the old Dixie Highway at the en-
trance to this promising new com-
munity of another era, now known
as Lake Park. Pillars from this arch
still remain, serving as a faded
reminder of those bygone days.
The history of this part of the North
Palm Beaches is full of excitement,
drama and even tragedy. It all began
in the early 1920's when Harry S.
Kelsey, a rich restaurateur of Boston,
saw promise in the area and made ex-
tensive land purchases of ocean
front, lake front and other acreage in
Palm Beach County. For the site of
Kelsey City, the first planned and
zoned municipality in Florida, he
12 Gateway, Aug./Sept. 197c
/9 74.
An of ympicstyle diving platform at the
public North Palm Beach Country Club
chose what he considered the most
favorable spot on Lake Worth.
S. J. Blakely, a friend from Massa-
chusetts, was brought down to help
landscape the community. He started
the Kelsey City Nurseries, still in oper-
ation today, to provide material for
landscaping the city and a park. He
hauled palm trees over from nearby
Munyon Island and, to provide the
community with an ocean beach,
made plans to build a bridge from the
mainland to the island and then to the
coastal strip.
The complete townsite, which in-
cluded approximately nine hundred
acres, was planned to have three sec-
tions: residential, retail business and a
manufacturing -wholesale district. More
than a million dollars was invested dur-
ing the city's first years. Kelsey also
acquired 60,000 acres around the town
which he planned to use for farming.
He built three houses for the first specu-
lation and invited people to see for
themselves the wonders of his city. Lots
were sold at large auctions, with pros-
pects arriving by car on the Dixie High-
way and by boat on Lake Worth. The
boom was on! If one wished to view the
land before buying, one could climb an
observation tower to look at the selec-
tion available. Kelsey was, without
177
NORTH PALM BEACH PUBLIC LIBRARY
The new Blue Heron high-level bridge
links the mainland with Singer Island.
Boating in Lake Worth.
doubt, an enterprising and inventive
entrepreneur.
Land on the lake was set aside for a
public park and a yacht club. Kelsey
Park, which still stands by the lake,
featured a majestic fountain and was
beautifully landscaped with exotic
plants and shrubs. Kelsey and Paris
Singer, son of the founder of the Singer
Sewing Machine Company, built the
palatial, elegant Palm Beach Winter
Club, which soon became a mecca for
American millionaires and foreign
nobility. It featured a fine 18-hole golf
course which was considered one of
the best designed and built courses of
the time. At the opening of the club in
1926, the guest list included such
eminent society names as Vanderbilt,
Phipps and Woolworth. It is said that
Al Jolson even sang one of his stan-
dards in the men's locker room.
The future seemed bright indeed,
when suddenlythe Florida land bubble
began to pop. Kelsey found himself in
debt to the Federal Government and on
the verge of bankruptcy. Then came the
terrible hurricane of 1928 which further
sealed the fate of the town and of Harry
Kelsey. Damage was beyond belief,
with not a leaf remaining on trees or
shrubs and the entire area covered in
rubble. Coupled with the gathering
These rearing horses on U.S. #1 are a familiar landmark to residents.
clouds of the approaching stock mar-
ket crash, the vast devastation of the
storm stopped the development of the
town almost completely.
It was during this period that the
organization of a man named Sir Harry
Oakes began to acquire land interests
in the area. About 80% of Kelsey City,
Munyon Island and the Winter Club
were acquired by Tesdem, Inc., the
Oakes corporation. The name of the
town was changed to Lake Park, four-
teen houses were built and some muni-
cipal improvements were made.
Although sharing the same surname,
Sir Harry Oakes shared little else with
Harry Kelsey. In style and thinking,
they were two very different sort of
men. Oakes, after living fourteen soli-
tary years as an itinerant prospector,
discovered gold in Canada which
turned out to be the second largest vein
in the western hemisphere and made
him a millionaire almost overnight.
Even though his corporation owned
most of Kelsey's land, Oakes did not
have any great interest in it. He did not
share Kelsey's dream of developing the
area into a thriving, world-famous
resort.
Oakes turned the luxurious Winter
Club into one of his many homes, ad-
ding a south wing and using the barn
for his wife's saddle horses. He lived
there only intermittently, however,
spending most of his time in the Baha-
mas where he also had extensive land
holdings. In 1943, Oakes was murdered
in the Bahamas and the ensuing trial
made headlines all over the world. His
son-in-law was tried for the crime but
acquitted, so the bizarre case remains,
to this day, an intriguing mystery.
With little of its former grandeur
left, the Oakes mansion today serves as
home for the North Palm Beach Art
and Recreation Center. Only the down-
stairs portions of the mansion are used,
the upper regions having been taken
over by the local pigeon population.
Plans are afoot to restore the building
as a historic landmark but the cost of
this project remains a major stumbling
block.
The golf course, which was a popu-
lar part of the WinterClub in its heyday,
has undergone renovation over the
years and remains in top condition and
is called the North Palm Beach Country
Club. A modern new club house, com-
plete with one of the largest and finest
olympic pools in the South, occupies
the site adjacent to the old Oakes man-
sion. The contrast between old and
Please turn to next page
13
AeoiP
1-3
0
Continued from page13
new lends a unique, nostalgic charm
to the club's premises.
During the war years, many changes
came to the North Palm Beach area.
The influx of servicemen, many of
whom were stationed at nearby Camp
Murphy, helped to call attention to the
beauty of the area and opened up the
possibilities of future development.
After the war, many men returned
home to their families singing the
praises of this part of South Florida.
The last period of development, be-
ginning in 1958, has been perhaps the
greatest change of all. Banker's Life
and Casualty Company of Chicago,
owned by John D. MacArthur, bought
Oakes' Tesdem holdings for five and a
half million dollars, starting a period
of rapid expansion. Industry entered
the area and the population burgeoned.
At the present time, there are few lots
left for construction in the former
Kelsey City and surrounding area. In
1921, the assessed value of Kelsey
City was little more than $25,000. The
valuation of the same area today ex-
ceeds $50 million. Although it took
almost forty years, the dream of Harry
Kelsey has finally been realized. Far
beyond his expectations, no doubt. ;c1
A cheerful fountain highlights a shopping mall on Singer Island.
EASTERN CEMENT CORP.
Co11 PORT OF PALM BEACH
P. O. BOX 10296
RIVIERA BEACH, FLORIDA 33404
Telephone :305/842-3229 Cable: EASTCOR
Serving the Construction Industry of South East Florida
14