Beyond the Palm Beaches

Today there are 38 municipalities in Palm Beach County. Others came and went over the years, some renamed or absorbed into other towns. Early residents often relied on West Palm Beach for goods and services that their smaller communities could not support. Banks, for example, did not exist beyond Palm Beach and West Palm Beach until the Bank of Delray opened in 1911, and the Bank of Lake Worth in 1913. See Communities for descriptions of the settlements that established a post office during the Flagler Era. When the Flagler Era ended, Palm Beach County would experience growing pains with the coming of the Land Boom followed by the Land Bust and the Depression. This would be a period of extremes both in growth and wealth.