Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, approximately north of Miami. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 59,182 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 61,146 in 2023. The first settlers in the 1890s were residents of Juno, what is now Juno Beach, near what is now the Oakbrook Square Shopping Center near US Highway 1 and PGA Boulevard. By the early 1900s, two other areas in what is now considered Palm Beach Gardens were settled—Prairie Siding, a railroad station and timber mill located at the present-day intersection of RCA Boulevard and Alternate A1A; and Kelsey City, named after magnate Harry Kelsey, who purchased of land that would become North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, and Lake Park. In 1959, wealthy landowner and insurance magnate John D. MacArthur announced plans to develop and build homes for 55,000 people. He chose the name Palm Beach Gardens after his initial choice, Palm Beach City, was denied by the Florida Legislature, because of the similarity of the name to the nearby Palm Beach. MacArthur planned to build a "garden city" so he altered the name slightly. The city was incorporated as a "paper town" (meaning that it existed only on paper) in 1959. The 1960 Census recorded that the city officially had a population of one inhabitant: 71-year old Charles Cooper, who lived in a shack without running water or electricity. According to Cooper, MacArthur had made a deal with him that "If he set fire to the old shack, I would fix him... in a house that would have running water, a toilet, and septic tank to let him live decently." Cooper's shack burned down in 1960; by 1970 he was living in a frame house provided by MacArthur.
Rapid development took place in the late 1950s into the 1960s. On August 13, 1958, the Beeline Highway was opened to the public connecting Indiantown with West Palm Beach; its construction included the laying of sod and hay on the swale of the highway by Seminole Indians. In 1959, the main entrance to Palm Beach Gardens was located at Northlake and Garden (now MacArthur) Boulevards; to mark the location, in 1961 MacArthur purchased and transplanted an 80-year-old banyan tree located in nearby Lake Park, that was to be cut down to enlarge a dentist's office. The tree was 60 feet high and weighed about 75 tons, and cost $30,000 and 1,008 hours of manpower to move it. A second banyan was moved the following year. While moving the first banyan tree over the Florida East Coast Railway, the massive tree shifted and disconnected the Western Union telephone and telegraph lines running adjacent to the railroad, cutting off most communications between Miami, to the south, and the outside world until the damage could be repaired. When questioned about the time and expense of moving the older trees instead of planting new ones, MacArthur responded "I can buy anything but age. This tree will be the centerpiece of the city's entrance, and while we could plant a little one, I wouldn't be around 80 years from now to see it as it should be." These trees still remain at the center of MacArthur Boulevard near Northlake Boulevard and are still featured on the city shield. In January 2007, the great-grandson of impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alexandre Renoir, presented a painting to the city which depicts the Gardens banyan tree. It is currently on display at the city hall on North Military Trail. The banyan tree became a symbol of MacArthur's efforts to build a "garden city", with MacArthur claiming "I built Palm Beach Gardens without knocking one tree down. There are some bearded jerks and little old ladies who call me a despoiler of the environment. But I believe I have more concern than the average person." In 1968, the Bonnette Hunt Club Lodge was built on Hood Road, and became famous for having some of the best quail hunting in Florida; it remains in operation today though its hunting grounds have since become developed into the golf courses for Mirasol Country Club. Named after retired Navy warrant officer William A. Bonnette, the club attracted famous guests and members including King Hussein of Jordan, Bing Crosby, Peter Pulitzer, and others.
The city's governmental, infrastructure, and public safety facilities grew significantly throughout the 1960s. The Palm Beach Gardens Fire Department was chartered on October 9, 1963, operating from a garage at the present-day location of the fire station at Burns Road and Military Trail, and utilizing an old pickup truck with hose donated by MacArthur. In 1965, a volunteer police reserve force was created, and the following year Herbert A. Pecht was appointed first chief of police. The department had three air-conditioned patrol cars, and was connected to other South Florida cities by a then-advanced teletype network system. On April 26, 1965, a new exit interchange of the Sunshine State Parkway (later renamed the Florida Turnpike in 1968) was dedicated in the city at PGA Boulevard; MacArthur financed the project and was instrumental in lobbying for it. In 1966, the first two-lane drawbridge spanning the Intracoastal Waterway was also completed at PGA Boulevard, linking US-1 and Juno Beach to Palm Beach Gardens. Due to its many closings and construction delays during its subsequent expansion to four lanes (completed in 1982), the PGA bridge became known to locals as the "Please Go Around bridge".
Commercial growth also came rapidly to the region. The city's first commercial building permit was issued to RCA in 1960, for the construction of a factory. On May 25, 1961, RCA opened a $4 million plant for manufacturing personal computers at the western end of Monet Road (now RCA Boulevard). At its peak in the 1960s, the plant would employ over 3,400 workers before closing in 1972. . Pratt & Whitney, the aerospace technology corporation, would also build facilities along a 7,000-acre site located in the drained Everglades swamplands west of the Beeline Highway. Opening on June 15, 1958, the Pratt & Whitney plant developed rocket and jet engines for the U.S. military and would eventually employ nearly 9,000 workers at its peak, making it the largest employer in the county until the mid-1990s. To support the development of its nascent commercial growth, the city provided homes for many of the employees.
1970–1990: City facilities expansion
By 1970 the city had a population approaching 7,000 people. City growth was slow but steady throughout the 1970s and 1980s, as the population had still not reached the predicted 55,000 people envisioned by MacArthur. The 1970s saw the first hotel (a Holiday Inn, now the site of the Doubletree Hotel), first supermarket, first apartment rental community, first shopping center, first multistory office building (The Admiralty Building) and the construction of the North County Courthouse Complex. Governmental and services structure continued to grow, with councils throughout the 1970s focusing on city facilities expansion. In 1970, construction began on the City of Palm Beach Gardens Municipal Complex. In recognition of his patronage of the city, MacArthur was made honorary mayor by the city council in 1972. Garden Boulevard, the location of his transplanted banyan trees, was renamed MacArthur Boulevard in his honor on July 4, 1972, over MacArthur's temporary opposition (having stated in a letter to Mayor Walter Wiley just two days prior, "I had no interest in having a street named after me, or I would have done so when I named all the streets."). It would become the city's first historical district. By 1980, the city council had elected its first woman councilmember, Linda Monroe, who would later go on to serve as the city's first female mayor.
On July 3, 1976, the expansion of I-95 to connect Palm Beach Gardens with Miami was completed and opened to the public. Ending at PGA Boulevard, it would not be until Dec. 19, 1987 that the final 44-mile "missing link" between PGA Boulevard and Ft. Pierce would be finished—completing the final gap in the 1,919 miles of the interstate highway between Miami and Maine. In 1979, Sikorsky Aircraft opened a facility at the Pratt & Whitney site along the Beeline Highway, where it would make, improve, and test helicopters including the UH-60 Black Hawk, S-92, and the RAH-66 Comanche. In 1978 ground broke on the construction of the PGA National Resort Community, under developer E. Llwyd Ecclestone on 2340 acres of land acquired from MacArthur. The master-planned community was estimated to cost $500 million at the time, with a target of 6900 homes to construct over a 15-year period, as well as an office park, shopping center, light industrial zone, and golf courses. The community would become the new permanent home of the Professional Golfers' Association of America.
In 1983, the city's first community recreation center was built on Burns Road. The opening of the Gardens of the Palm Beaches (subsequently shortened to The Gardens Mall) in 1988—then Florida's largest mall with 150 stores anchored by Burdines, Sears and Macy's—initiated a new wave of development; as did the sell off in 1999 of approximately in the city by the MacArthur Foundation. Development of this property happened quickly and led to much new growth in the city, particularly with further improvement of roads, additional parks, and the expansion of the north campus of Palm Beach Junior College into Palm Beach Community College. As a condition for approval of development on the Gardens Mall, the developers were required to build a second fire station (now Fire Station No. 2) at Campus Drive and RCA Boulevard. On January 1, 1995, the Palm Beach Gardens Fire Department became the provider of emergency medical services in the city. By 1989, growth was so rapid that there were five hotels under construction or completed that year alone. Thousands of homes and commercial properties were developed during this time by a small handful of developers with close associations to MacArthur, including Otto "Buz" DiVosta, Vince Pappalardo, and Seymour A. "Sy" Fine. The city adopted an Art in Public Places ordinance in 1989 and has amassed an eclectic collection of works. The city suffered much damage to its tropical landscaping in the hard freezes of 1985 and 1989, but has experienced no freezing temperatures since then.
1990–present
The city was hit by Hurricane Frances, Hurricane Jeanne, and Hurricane Wilma in 2004 and 2005. Much of the city lost power for days at a time after each storm, and many traffic signals and directional signs in the city were destroyed. Many homes and businesses were severely damaged during the first two storms and contractors and construction materials were at a premium. Hundreds of homes were only nearing final repair when Hurricane Wilma hit the following year damaging or destroying many of those completed or ongoing repairs. In 1993, the Palm Beach Gardens Police SWAT team was formed to execute high-risk warrants, barricaded suspects, and hostage situations. On June 7, 2011, the city dedicated a new Emergency Operations and Communications Center to provide emergency response services for Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and Juno Beach.
The Gardens Mall, PGA Commons, Midtown, Legacy Place, and Downtown at the Gardens are the center of the city's retail market. They are located on the municipality's main stretch on PGA Boulevard.
In 2000, construction was completed on a renovation of the city's municipal complex.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and , or 1.05%, is water.
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