History of the Brazilian Court Hotel

miles south of the Palm Beach Inlet. Mr. and Mrs. Malden settled on the north side of the inlet. W. M. Butler and Will H. Moore lived near the south end of the lake on an island that would later be known as Hypoluxo, an Indian word meaning "big water all around, no get out." In 1873 the population doubled with the arrival of five more brave souls; three mem- bers of the Pierce family, H. F. Hammon, and Will Lainhart. Mail service was sporadic at best. With no easily accessible overland route, correspondence came by ship. In 1878 the settlers petitioned for a mail route from the St. Lucie post office to Lake Worth. Mr. V. O. Spencer was named postmaster at Lake Worth in 1880. Many have believed that there were no coconut trees growing in the Lake Worth area until the Spanish baroque "Providencia," loaded with coconuts from Trinidad, ran aground in January of 1878. But rec- orded history proves otherwise. Accounts from Charles Pierce indicate that August Lang, the first white settler on Lake Worth, planted many coconut trees around the lake. Lang walked the beaches col- lecting nuts that had been carried from the West In- dies by the Gulf Stream currents. Many of the nuts sprouted and grew along the shore. There were co- conut trees grown and bearing when the Pierces and other settlers arrived in 1873. When the "Providencia" wrecked five years later, the cargo was salvaged by H. F. Hammon and Will Lainhart. Four- teen thousand coconuts were sold at $2.50 per hun- dred and planted throughout the Lake Worth area. Within years the island looked like one large coconut grove. The earliest hotel in Palm Beach was established by Captain E. N. Dimick in the early 1880s. His con- verted residence became the Coconut Grove House and eventually consisted of some fifty rooms. Dimick became the first Mayor of Palm Beach and was later elected to the Florida Senate. In 1886 settlers on the island petitioned the govern- ment for another post office, suggesting the name Palm City. The name was rejected because it had already been taken by another Florida town. The name of Palm Beach was accepted as a second choice.

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