The island had a name before it had a resort, and the name came from a shipwreck. In 1878 a Spanish brig called the Providencia ran aground here carrying a cargo of coconuts; the settlers along Lake Worth salvaged them and planted them, and within a few years the shore was lined with palms. People started calling the place Palm Beach. Before any of that the Jaega people had lived along these waters for centuries, and a scattering of pioneers grew pineapples and tended the new palm groves. It was a quiet frontier coast — until the tracks came south.
That shopping street is Worth Avenue, named in 1913 for General William Jenkins Worth — the same officer Fort Worth, Texas, is named for. Mizner and those who followed lined it with arcades and tucked hidden courtyards, the Vias, behind the storefronts: little open-air passages of shops and fountains reached through archways off the main walk. Since the 1920s it has been one of the most famous luxury shopping streets in the country, a quarter mile of boutiques running from the Mediterranean arcades down to the clock tower at the ocean.
Why People Visit Palm Beach
Palm Beach offers refined culture beside an easy ocean shoreline. Visitors pair the Flagler and Mizner heritage with museum galleries, gardens, and a quiet bike path along the water. It is polished, historic, and relaxed in pace, with year-round appeal in its parks, paths, and public spaces. The vintage Gilded Age glamour is evergreen, drawing architecture lovers and vintage-resort enthusiasts from well beyond the small island, and history and everyday island life sit side by side here in a welcoming way.
