History: What is Palm Beach County's oldest structure? How did Military Trail get its name?
The column title refers to the "Palm Beach Evening Times," sister publication of "The Palm Beach Post," which was founded in September 1922. "The Post" debuted in January 1916. They merged in May 1987, and the afternoon edition featured both mastheads.
Casino magnate E.R. Bradley bought the papers in February 1934 and the Sunday edition was called the "Palm Beach Post-Times."
More: How the Ashley gang, who robbed banks and killed law officers, met their bloody end
Here are some of the historical facts and trivia that Kleinberg learned over more than two decades of writing. We thought we'd share a few with you, with more coming in the future.
It really was a military trail. During the Second Seminole War, the longest and costliest of the Native American wars and one of the most unpopular in U.S. history, Maj. William Lauderdale was leading troops of Tennessee Volunteers. After the battles of Okeechobee in December 1837 and the battles of Lockahatchee (Loxahatchee), Jan. 15 and Jan. 24, 1838, soldiers went on to build Fort Jupiter. They carved the north-south trail to supply the fort.
It's accepted as gospel by many. But the evidence all but dismisses it. The shantytown known as the Styx sprang up in Palm Beach in the 1890s for more than 2,000 Black workers who built Henry Flagler's nearby hotels. The story is that Flagler was eager to oust the residents so he could develop the land. He hired a circus to set up across the Intracoastal Waterway in West Palm Beach, gave Black residents free passes, and while they enjoyed the show, burned their homes down.
But Flagler didn't own the land. The Bradley brothers, one of whom was the famous casino owner E.R., did, as a member of a pioneer family pointed out to The Post in 1994. The workers were squatters and could be evicted at any time. A former resident told Kleinberg before she died that she didn't remember any fire.
Post Time: Pioneer's photos give glimpse of Palm Beach's mysterious Styx
It originally was Boca de los Ratones — "mouth of the mice." In this case the translation referred to an inlet — a mouth — full of mice. The Boca Raton Historical Society says there was, in fact, an inlet with sharp rocks that gnawed the ropes of ships rocking at anchor along the shore. But the inlet was not in southern Palm Beach County. It was at Miami Beach. Map makers inadvertently placed it where it is now.
Technically, it's a brick oil house, finished in January 1860, that stands alongside the Jupiter Lighthouse. The lighthouse wasn't officially considered completed until the first lighting on July 10, 1860.
Here are some of Kleinberg's most memorable history stories:
Tiny Sowell, the beloved Palm Beach High graduate, Class of 1941, had died at 21 in a foxhole on the Japanese-held island of Saipan on July 7, 1944. His remains had laid there for years before authorities could return. When they couldn't make a positive identification, he was buried in a numbered grave in Hawaii for seven decades. In 2015, the military took a DNA swab from his nephew and made a match. And in 2017, he was returned to West Palm Beach and buried the day before Veterans Day, with full military honors. Jeff Garten, ride captain of the Patriot Guard, a veterans group that provides motorcycle escorts, saluted and told nephew Lewis Sowell Jr.: "Soldiers don't fear dying. They fear being forgotten."
For decades, people talking about what probably is West Palm Beach's oldest home repeated the story — that the original owner, British expatriate Richard Hone, was shot Oct. 20, 1902, by a mystery gunman on horseback who melted into the dark and got away with murder.
The Post had gone with that version, and since the paper hadn't started until 1916, there was no way to check archives. But there was another way to check the facts. We got into editions of the Weekly Lake Worth News and the Tropical Sun, both predecessors to The Post, which heavily covered the slaying. It turns out one of Hone's employees was caught within days, confessed to shooting him through a window — though not from horseback — and eventually was hanged. "Those articles, at least those in Palm Beach Post archives," we wrote at the time, "now will have to be accompanied by what likely will be the most belated correction in the newspaper's history: 116 years."
Eliot Kleinberg is a noted historian and former reporter for The Palm Beach Post.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County history: Oldest structure, Military Trail's name
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Japan ‘bear attack' victim, 93, was actually murdered, son arrested in shocking twist
Japanese authorities arrested the son of an elderly man on murder charges after originally believing he was fatally mauled during a bear attack, according to reports and authorities. Fujiyosh Shindo, 93, was discovered collapsed and bleeding by his wife inside their home in the northern Akita prefecture on Monday — originally alarming police into thinking a bear had wounded him, BBC reported. Cops arrested Fujiyuki Shindo, 51, on Wednesday for allegedly murdering his father, after previously believing the elderly man had died from a bear attack. Getty Images Advertisement In a twist, cops arrested Fujiyuki Shindo, 51, on Wednesday for allegedly murdering his father, the outlet reported. The bear attack theory was withdrawn when authorities recognized Fujiyosh Shindo's wounds were more consistent with knife injuries, the outlet said. Cops had immediately sent out bear attack warning mail to residents in the northern Japan area, where shrinking farmland and an aging population have allowed bears to encroach into areas populated by humans, local outlets reported. Advertisement A whopping 219 people were attacked by bears in the year before March 2024, resulting in six deaths, according to Japan's Environment Ministry. Shindo initially told police that he did not notice anything unusual at the family home, where he also resided, during the time of the 'bear attack' on his father, Kyodo News reported. He is believed to have used a knife to slash his father's face and back, the outlet said. The nonagenarian was taken to a hospital and was later confirmed to be deceased. Advertisement Investigators seized multiple knives from the home as they tried to identify a murder weapon, local outlets said. No motive has been identified in the alleged murder, police added. The incident remains under investigation.
NBC News
an hour ago
- NBC News
Judge rules 'Alligator Alcatraz' can stay open for now but no further detainees, or construction, are allowed
MIAMI — A federal judge in Miami ruled Thursday that "Alligator Alcatraz," the contested migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades, can remain operational for now, but it cannot be expanded and no additional detainees can be brought in. U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams entered a preliminary injunction to prevent the installation of any additional industrial-style lighting and any site expansion. Her ruling further prevents 'bringing any additional persons… who were not already being detained at the site at the time of this order.' The ruling was filed late Thursday, allowing the injunction that was requested over National Environmental Policy Act violations. Within 60 days, the facility must also remove 'all generators, gas, sewage, and other waste and waste receptacles that were installed to support this project,' the 82-page ruling said. It's unclear how the facility will remain operational if those resources are removed. The government must also remove temporary fencing installed to allow Native American tribe members access to the site consistent with the access they had before the facility was erected. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The offices of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Division of Emergency Management also did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Williams' decision came down the same day a temporary construction freeze she previously issued expired, and after a four-day hearing over environmental concerns regarding the facility's location in the sensitive wetlands. Williams had issued a temporary restraining order earlier this month to temporarily halt operations over a lawsuit alleging the detention facility's construction skirted environmental laws. That ruling meant no filling, paving, or installation of additional infrastructure was allowed, but did not impact the center's immigration enforcement activity. Environmental groups sued in June to stop the facility, which opened in July on an airstrip in Ochopee's Big Cypress National Preserve. The suit stated that the center was built without ecological reviews required under the National Environmental Policy Act and without public notice or comment, and that the government failed to comply with other state and federal statutes, including the Endangered Species Act. The Trump administration argued that the facility was necessary because voters want the federal government to curb illegal immigration and downplayed the environmental concerns. Paul Schweip, an attorney representing the plaintiff, said in court on Aug. 13 that the "suggestion there is no environmental impact is absurd." "So why here? There are runways elsewhere … Why the jetport in this area?" Schweip asked. "Alligator Alcatraz. A name just meant to sound ominous. I would submit, judge, this is just a public relations stunt." Environmental groups and Native Americans had protested the construction of the site, which is part of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, because of the Everglades' delicate and unique ecosystem, which is home to endangered and threatened species. On Aug. 12, the court heard from Amy Castaneda, director of Water Resources for the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. Castaneda said she's worked with the tribe for 19 years, and the entrance to the jetport where the facility is built is a quarter-mile from the tribe's land. When asked what the Everglades land means to the Miccosukee tribe, she replied, 'It's written into the constitution to protect the Everglades because the Everglades protected them when they were hunted by the government.' Castaneda said that for nearly two decades, there's been 'minimal' activity at the jetport, but that changed after June with the construction of the detention facility. 'There's much more activity there, vehicles going in and out, cars usually isolated on the southside of Tamiami trail taking photos with the sign. Tankers, protesters, media, people setting up tents to sell merch for Alligator Alcatraz. Just different levels,' she said. Castaneda said no one from the federal government, state, or any governmental entity contacted the tribe regarding the construction. She said that water resources for the tribe have collected samples downstream from the facility to test and determine if there's been a nutrient shift or potential health concerns. Marcel Bozas, the director of Fish and Wildlife for the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, also testified Aug. 12, noting the airstrip is a couple of miles from the tribe's sites. While tribal members can't access the airstrip, some trails are no longer accessible. When asked about the impact of hunting on the land, Bozas said, 'Tribal members are concerned the wildlife they could be formerly hunting for are no longer in that area.' There's also concern that medicinal plants are impacted.
New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Ex-Adams advisor Winnie Greco's cash in a chip-bag gift to reporter may seem ‘unusual' — ‘but not if you know' her: lawyer
Don't sour on Herr's. Handing a reporter $300 in cash hidden inside a crumpled bag of sour cream and onion potato chips may seem 'very unusual' — 'but not if you know Winnie' Greco, a lawyer for the disgraced City Hall advisor told The Post Thursday. Steve Brill, an attorney for Greco, claimed that the former Mayor Eric Adams advisor and campaign volunteer had the 'best intentions' when she handed a reporter from THE CITY a bag of chips stuffed with a cash-filled red envelope on Wednesday. Advertisement 3 Photo of the bag of chips containing a red envelope stuffed with $300 in cash handed to The City reporter Katie Honan. Katie Honan/THE CITY 'She has the best of intentions. Her heart is in the right place,' Brill said. 'In retrospect, she understood it was bad judgment. Her intentions were purely innocent.' Hizzoner's political rivals seized on the greasy incident Thursday, claiming it showed his re-election campaign was 'not viable.' Advertisement Greco resigned in October from her post as the mayor's director of Asian community affairs — after she was targeted in multiple investigation — and has long been under scrutiny for ties to Chinese nationals. Neither Adams nor his campaign are implicated in the chip saga. Greco's volunteer status with the mayor's re-election bid has been suspended, said campaign spokesman Todd Shapiro. Greco, her attorney claimed, considers THE CITY's City Hall reporter Katie Honan a friend and simply wanted to put some money in her pocket when she handed over the Herr's Sour Cream & Onion ripple potato chips — with no conception of receiving a favor in return. 'Winnie is fond of her. She looked to her as a friend,' Brill said. 'To Winnie, she was giving money to a friend.' Advertisement 3 Honan initially rejected what she thought was an offer of a light snack, but Greco insisted she take the Herr's bag. Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY Brill called accusations of a proposed quid pro quo 'absolutely ridiculous' and further revealed that neither federal investigators nor the city Department of Investigation had contacted him or his client about the greasy-fingered handoff. A DOI spokesperson confirmed it had received reports of the incident and sources said an investigation was underway. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo took a potluck pot-shot at Adams Thursday before stating candidly that he believed the mayor's candidacy is 'not viable.' Advertisement He handed out bags of potato chips to reporters at a press conference Thursday — opening his remarks at a press conference by saying, 'Sometimes a bag of potato chips is just a bag of potato chips.' 'Look, frankly, it is embarrassing for the city of New York, sad for the city,' Cuomo told reporters. 3 Greco served as an Asian affairs advisor to Adams' City Hall and was recently a reelection campaign volunteer. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images When asked if Adams should drop out of the race, Cuomo said 'That is his decision. I don't believe he is viable. 'It has been the same pattern, just the names change and these constant series of corrupt activities. If you want to call it pay for play, you want to call it cronyism, it's access to government for donors,' Cuomo expounded. Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa also got his hand in the bag. The beret-wearing pol posted an AI-generated comic-style meme on X depicting Adams offering a resistant Sliwa a cash-stuffed bag of Herr's. Advertisement 'Winnie Greco tells me if I give this to you, I'll go from 6% in polls to 7%,' the comic posted by Team Sliwa stated. — Additional reporting by Joe Marino and Larry Celona
