National Register
Northwest (Palm Beach) Historic District
Palm Beach County, FL
Listed: 01/22/1992
The Northwest Historic District is significant under Criterion A as the center of the segregated black community of West Palm Beach, Florida from 1915 to 1941. The District's history reflects the development of a black community in south Florida during the first half of the 20th century.
The person credited as the first black settler in present day Palm Beach County, Willie Melton, arrived in the Lake Worth area in 1885. More black pioneers followed soon after, most migrating from the Deep South and the Bahamas. Many toiled as field laborers on local pineapple and vegetable farms, while others worked in the fledgling tourist industry. The early black population lived in a small settlement called the Styx, which was located on the east side of Lake Worth in what is now Palm Beach.
When Henry Flagler announced his plans to extend the Florida East Coast Railroad through Palm Beach, blacks from all over the southeast moved to the area in search of work. In 1894, as Palm Beach was being transformed into an exclusive resort community, Flagler decided to move the Styx community across Lake Worth to West Palm Beach. The relocation of the Styx community to the newly platted town of West Palm Beach in 1894 was haphazard. As in other Florida cities, the black population congregated together in areas where land owners were willing to rent or sell property to them. The black settlement in West Palm Beach was located north of the town and west of the Florida East Coast Railroad tracks near what is now the intersection of Tamarind Avenue and First Street. Known as the Northwest Neighborhood, the settlement soon spread as far south as Evernia Street, and as far north as Fifth Avenue, (now Seventh Street), west of the F.E.C. railroad tracks. During the 1910s, it grew northward, joining with a smaller black settlement known as Pleasant City. Pleasant City was located between what are now Eighteenth and Twenty-third Streets, and North Dixie Highway and the Florida East Coast Railroad tracks. Though the two areas overlapped, they continued as separate communities and the Northwest Neighborhood remained the larger of the two.
By 1915, the Northwest Neighborhood was the center of the city's black community. Segregated from the white community, the black population established its own social institutions: churches, social clubs, schools, businesses, and residential areas. The fact that most of the homes and businesses in the Neighborhood were owned by blacks was a source of pride. In addition, majority of the buildings in the area were constructed by black builders: Simeon Mather, R.A. Smith, J. B. Woodside, Alfred Williams, and Samuel O. Major. The city's first black architect, Hazel Augustus, designed many of the Neighborhood's buildings between the late 1910s and his death in an automobile accident in 1925. Examples of his work include Payne Chapel at 801 Ninth Street, his home at 615 Division Street (demolished), 815 Sixth Street, and 701 Ninth Street.
During the economic prosperity of the Land Boom (c. 1924 – 1926), job opportunities attracted large numbers of blacks from all over the country to West Palm Beach. Jobs were plentiful, especially in construction and farm labor, and encouraged a stable economy. A number of businesses were started or expanded in the Neighborhood during this period: beauty parlors, laundries, funeral homes, grocery stores and tailor shops, among others. Many of these were initially operated out of private homes but later grew into large-scale commercial operations.
Northwest (Palm Beach) Historic District
Palm Beach County, FL
Listed: 01/22/1992
The Northwest Historic District is significant under Criterion A as the center of the segregated black community of West Palm Beach, Florida from 1915 to 1941. The District's history reflects the development of a black community in south Florida during the first half of the 20th century.
The person credited as the first black settler in present day Palm Beach County, Willie Melton, arrived in the Lake Worth area in 1885. More black pioneers followed soon after, most migrating from the Deep South and the Bahamas. Many toiled as field laborers on local pineapple and vegetable farms, while others worked in the fledgling tourist industry. The early black population lived in a small settlement called the Styx, which was located on the east side of Lake Worth in what is now Palm Beach.
When Henry Flagler announced his plans to extend the Florida East Coast Railroad through Palm Beach, blacks from all over the southeast moved to the area in search of work. In 1894, as Palm Beach was being transformed into an exclusive resort community, Flagler decided to move the Styx community across Lake Worth to West Palm Beach. The relocation of the Styx community to the newly platted town of West Palm Beach in 1894 was haphazard. As in other Florida cities, the black population congregated together in areas where land owners were willing to rent or sell property to them. The black settlement in West Palm Beach was located north of the town and west of the Florida East Coast Railroad tracks near what is now the intersection of Tamarind Avenue and First Street. Known as the Northwest Neighborhood, the settlement soon spread as far south as Evernia Street, and as far north as Fifth Avenue, (now Seventh Street), west of the F.E.C. railroad tracks. During the 1910s, it grew northward, joining with a smaller black settlement known as Pleasant City. Pleasant City was located between what are now Eighteenth and Twenty-third Streets, and North Dixie Highway and the Florida East Coast Railroad tracks. Though the two areas overlapped, they continued as separate communities and the Northwest Neighborhood remained the larger of the two.
By 1915, the Northwest Neighborhood was the center of the city's black community. Segregated from the white community, the black population established its own social institutions: churches, social clubs, schools, businesses, and residential areas. The fact that most of the homes and businesses in the Neighborhood were owned by blacks was a source of pride. In addition, majority of the buildings in the area were constructed by black builders: Simeon Mather, R.A. Smith, J. B. Woodside, Alfred Williams, and Samuel O. Major. The city's first black architect, Hazel Augustus, designed many of the Neighborhood's buildings between the late 1910s and his death in an automobile accident in 1925. Examples of his work include Payne Chapel at 801 Ninth Street, his home at 615 Division Street (demolished), 815 Sixth Street, and 701 Ninth Street.
During the economic prosperity of the Land Boom (c. 1924 – 1926), job opportunities attracted large numbers of blacks from all over the country to West Palm Beach. Jobs were plentiful, especially in construction and farm labor, and encouraged a stable economy. A number of businesses were started or expanded in the Neighborhood during this period: beauty parlors, laundries, funeral homes, grocery stores and tailor shops, among others. Many of these were initially operated out of private homes but later grew into large-scale commercial operations.