Grand hotels are fragile things, and Palm Beach's were no exception. The Breakers burned and was rebuilt more than once; the present Italian-Renaissance hotel, with its twin belvedere towers, opened in 1926 and still anchors the oceanfront. The original Royal Poinciana — by then aging and outsized — came down in the 1930s, its lumber carried off to build homes. Through it all the island held its character: a narrow strip of sand between the lagoon and the Atlantic that had decided, early and permanently, to be beautiful.
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.
