Our Past is Our Future

By Debi Murray
Dircetor of Research and Archives

In February 2003, the Palm Beach County Commission agreed to spend tax dollars in an attempt to save what has become known as the 1916 Courthouse. The historic building cannot be seen by the casual observer—it is encased in a wrap-around addition built in the 1970s. Many changes have been made to the original building but enough of it survives to make it worthwhile to restore it to its former grandeur. Such a building would enhance downtown West Palm Beach and would stand as a fitting symbol of Palm Beach County’s place in Florida’s history.

When it was built, the old courthouse held all county government offices, including the jail. When completely restored, the stately neo-classical 1916 courthouse will be nestled amongst some of the county’s newest, monumental governmental buildings. After restoration, part of the old courthouse will once again house county government offices. The rest will be transformed into a history museum. When compared to the new courthouse complex across the street and the county governmental center to its east, the old courthouse will act as testimony to the growth of the county and its governing bodies.

The official battle to create a separate county out of the northern portion of Dade County began on February 8, 1907 when a group of concerned citizens gathered in the hall over the Free Reading Room in West Palm Beach to discuss the pros and cons of division. With 4,424 square miles, Dade was the second largest county in the state and had an assessed valuation of $5,700,000 for the 1905 tax year. The group in favor of the county’s division wanted Dade County split just south of Fort Lauderdale so the new county would have approximately 2,500 square miles, or about sixty percent of the land.

The group’s biggest complaint was that the area between Fort Lauderdale on the New River and Stuart on the St. Lucie paid sixty percent of the taxes, but few of those dollars were spent in northern Dade County. The men wanted a more equitable distribution of tax dollars, especially in the matter of roads and schools. Many of the roads in the southern portion of the county had been paved and were seen as attractive to outside investors. Yet roads north of New River were either incomplete or only finished after levying additional taxes and with help from Henry Flagler who provided free shipment of road materials on the Florida East Coast Railroad. In addition, less than thirty-seven percent of the school budget, or about $15,000, was spent per year for both the white and colored schools in the northern section of the segregated county.

In view of these inequities and other injustices and after discussion of how the new county would be able to function on the tax monies available, the group passed a motion to establish the Executive Committee of the County Division Movement. The seven men chosen to serve on the committee were empowered to do anything necessary to see that a new county was created out of the northern half of Dade County. At yet another mass meeting the following week, the Committee resolved to take their petition for a new county to the appropriate officials in Tallahassee. At the time, the state legislature only met every other year and it was due to meet in April 1907, so time was of the essence.

Reactions to the petition for division were varied and many were acrimonious. The people in north Dade were seen as ungrateful agitators by those in and around Miami. Newspaper editorials reflected their readership’s geographic location; The Daily Tropical Sun and the Palm Beach Daily News, both north county papers, were pro division and The Daily Miami Metropolis was against.

Four Division Committee members, Mr. L. W. Burkhardt, Mr. M. E. Gruber, Mr. George Butler, and Mr. W. I. Metcalf traveled to Tallahassee to lobby for division. T. J. Campbell, later to be the tax collector for Palm Beach County, acted as a messenger for the legislature that year and kept the delegation apprised of the progress of the petition. On May 8, 1907, Campbell advised that the “Palm Beach county bill passed senate 20 to 11.” Unfortunately, it did not pass in the House of Representatives where it was defeated 39 to 21 on May 22nd, 1907.

The division committee members were not idle during the two years they had to wait for the next legislative session in order to resubmit their petition. They searched for and found a candidate for the House of Representatives who would support splitting Dade County. Consequently, when George O. Butler, the agreeable, successful candidate from Miami submitted the petition for division, it was quickly approved on April 30, 1909. When it became effective July 1, 1909, Palm Beach County became the forty-seventh county in Florida.

The first order of business for Palm Beach County was to locate a place to conduct county business. West Palm Beach was made the county seat because of its central location. The county’s organizers also hoped the town would donate the old school house at the southwest corner of Clematis Street and Poinsettia Avenue (now known as Dixie). The school had been built in 1894 on land donated by Henry M. Flagler. Since the new school house had opened up on the hill the year before, the old building had been standing empty.

In 1907, in an attempt to reassure those who worried about the expenses of separating from Dade County, the Division Committee had promised that the new county would not spend more than $5,000 for a courthouse, vaults, and jail and that it would last for at least ten years. They were nearly correct in their predictions. They did not get the building for free; they paid $8,000 for the old school building and lot on the corner of Clematis Street and Poinsettia Avenue.

In addition, their expectation to stay in the courthouse building for ten years was overly optimistic because by 1913, county government had outgrown its quarters. The county commission hired architect Wilber Burt Talley to design a new courthouse to be built on Poinsettia Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets. Wilber Talley, who was based in Lakeland, Florida, had designed the $250,000 Duval County Courthouse and had been the architect for several other government buildings in Florida.

The site for the new courthouse was just two blocks north of the old courthouse on Poinsettia Avenue. Some newspaper articles reveal that the county had purchased the half block of land, others report that the land had been given to the county by the Model Land Company, one of Henry M. Flagler’s companies. However the county acquired the property, it would remain very conveniently located in downtown West Palm Beach. On October 9, 1913, Evert P. Maule won the contract to build the new courthouse. He promised to complete the building in eight months for $160,000. An additional $23,800 would be necessary for some elements of the interior such as vaults and safes. Unfortunately, the construction was not going to be a quick and painless process. In fact, it would be more than three years before the county would be able to dedicate its new building.

The first of many problems arose the month after E.P. Maule had won the contract to build the courthouse. The Grand Jury, which convened every year to review official records and the general work of county government, issued a statement declaring it inappropriate to build a courthouse for more than $183,000 without going to the electorate for permission to spend that much money. The presentiment went on to complain about the poor roads in the county and the fact that only $65,000 of tax monies were allocated for roads in the next fiscal year. Since the current fiscal year was already $64,000 in debt for roads, there was not going to be any money for road improvement for the next year.

The issue did not go to the electorate but was presented to the Florida Supreme Court who ruled in June 1914, that the contract with Evert P. Maule was invalid because the county commission had not properly advertised for bids on part of the project. In September, the contract was advertised for bids and once again, Evert P. Maule was the lowest bidder. This time the total was $190,000 and the courthouse was projected to take twelve months to build.

In October, The Tropical Sun, a West Palm Beach newspaper, carried an editorial complaining about the cost of the new courthouse. As had been the case the previous year, poor roads in the county were the number one issue requiring attention. In addition, Stuart, then in Palm Beach County, needed a bridge over the St. Lucie as they were still using a barge towed by a gasoline launch to cross the river. The author of the editorial also pointed out that St. Lucie County had only spent $50,000 for a courthouse and used the rest of their money on roads.

Many other residents agreed with the Tropical Sun’s editorial and by November the county commission agreed to rescind the contract. That same month, the Grand Jury conducted its own investigation. They discovered that a Mr. Franz of the Franz Safe and Lock Company had met with the Board of County Commissioners and told them what they needed in the way of vaults and safes. He also specified the materials to be used. While there was no contract between the county and Franz, The Tropical Sun reported that there was “an agreement that said material would be furnished by the said company and accepted by the board, under the specifications on file in the office of the company.”

In other words the commission had pre-selected the vault and furniture and required all contractors bidding on the courthouse to use the Franz Safe and Lock Company. Since the county had not put this out for bid as required by law, it was considered an illegal act. The Grand Jury reported this activity to the governor and recommended that three of the county commissioners be suspended or forced to resign for neglect of duty and incompetence in office.

For the third time, the courthouse construction project was put out for bid and also for the third time the lowest bidder was Evert P. Maule who submitted a bid of $122,500 for the building. The vault and fixtures were to cost an additional $41,736. Once again, some opposed the courthouse project. This time it was not just roads and bridges that were needed but rather the fact that the southern part of Palm Beach County wanted to split off to form a new county to be known as Everglades. Consequently, the Pompano Board of Trade objected to building the courthouse because they did not want to be responsible for paying the tab.

The county commission quickly explained that the departing municipalities would not have to shoulder the burden of building a courthouse for Palm Beach County—their tax dollars would go to the new county which would soon be known as Broward County. The commission also had to hear protests from representatives from Stuart, Lake Worth, Delray, Boynton, and Deerfield who asserted that road building was more important than a new courthouse. They also thought a new courthouse should not cost more than $75,000.

In the meantime, as county government grew, the courthouse on Clematis continued to become ever more crowded. At the commission meeting on February 2, 1915, the commissioners “decided that a new building was an actual necessity for the county and further delay might cause irreparable loss.” They also wanted the new building to be “adequate for years to come.” By February 18, the new contract was signed. According to an undated newspaper clipping, the new courthouse was going to be finished by November 1, 1915, and it would be “the finest and best equipped courthouse in the state.”

Construction did not go as quickly as had been predicted. The county tax assessor, James M. Owens, was the first county officer to occupy the new courthouse and he did not move in until August 1916—eighteen months after the contract had been signed. He and his deputy, Miss Myrtle Miller, moved out of the old courthouse in order to escape the noise of construction going on near the old building. Sidney Maddock had purchased the old courthouse and lot for $35,000 and was in the process of erecting a new building close by and the noise had become unbearable.

Most of the new courthouse was complete and ready for business but the county commission would not accept the building until every detail was as they desired. They did not like the copper doors and wanted them replaced. There were also leaks around windows and where the brick work needed “repointed.” Despite these delays and problems, the building was considered the “handsomest in the state” by a reporter at The Tropical Sun. The first floor office walls were painted above the chair rail and were paneled with oak below. The offices sported maple floors while the hallways had mosaic tile floors with marble on the lower portion of the walls. The exterior was of fire-proof brick and limestone with granite trim. The very latest John-Manville asbestos material covered the 8,250 square foot roof. The final decorations were completed and the old benches stained, varnished, and installed by April 13, 1917.

The dedication of the courthouse was planned for April 10, 1917 but may have been postponed until the sixteenth. Few local newspapers from the first few weeks of April 1917 survive. Clematis Street merchants envisioned dedication day as a grand event with a big parade that would disband at the courthouse. Once the dedication speeches were done the participants and audience were going to reconvene at the city park where they would be able to enjoy the picnic lunches they had brought with them and sip drinks supplied by the merchants. The organizers hoped the day would mark “a new era of prosperity and progress in the county.” Unfortunately, final descriptions of the dedication ceremony and events were not reported in the newspapers that survive. They may have been a great success but they may also have been tempered with sadness since the United States of America had declared war against Germany on April 6, 1917.

The boom of the 1920s caused county government to expand to meet the needs of all the newcomers. Consequently, by 1925 the courthouse was too small for efficient government. The county commission once again contacted architect Wilber Talley who had designed the 1916 building. He proposed a new annex that would mirror the original building and would be built east of the existing structure. The two buildings would be connected by hallways on each floor. He also suggested completely remodeling the 1916 courthouse to give various departments more space. The commissioners wanted to make the county officers happy and they wanted extra space for future growth needs.

The annex was expected to be completed by December 1, 1926 but the building boom had created such a demand for building materials across south Florida that railroad freight yards could not keep up with the massive amount of materials being shipped south. Some supplies sat at northern railheads for months waiting for space on a train.

Ready for occupancy in May 1927, the courthouse annex had been under construction for eighteen months. The tax assessor’s office was the first to move into its new quarters. The courthouse annex was described as a better building than the old courthouse. It also sported an elevator—a first for the courthouse. In almost every other respect the annex matched the main courthouse. Just over a year after it opened, the courthouse and its annex served as a hurricane shelter when the massive storm of September 16, 1928 struck Palm Beach County. Photographs show the courthouse standing tall among the rubble of some of the surrounding buildings.

Cornerstone Campaign for History Museum

Palm Beach philanthropist Pat Johnson named Chairman of the Cornerstone Campain

The Historical Society of Palm Beach County has embarked on the public phase of a capital campaign to raise $9 million for the first county-wide history museum. The Cornerstone Campaign will fund the design, construction and ongoing operation of the much-anticipated, 8,000 square-foot museum and the Society’s headquarters, scheduled to open in March 2008 inside the historic 1916 Courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach.

Pat Seaton Johnson, a Palm Beach County native whose family is among the pioneers of the area, will lead the campaign with a steering committee in development that includes Marshall Criser, Katharine Dickenson, Karl Watson, George Elmore, Ted Brown, David Goodlett, Kathy Bleznak, John Murphy, Doyle Rogers, Diana Ecclestone, F. Malcolm Cunningham, Jr., Emery Newell, William Caler, William Benjamin, Richard S. Johnson, Edward Rodgers and other notable business and philanthropic leaders from all parts of the county. The Cornerstone Campaign will raise the targeted amount in three phases of $3 million each. The majority of these funds have already been allocated to designing the museum and its exhibits, which are currently being created by Maryland-based design firm, Gallagher & Associates. Major donors to the Cornerstone Campaign will be prominently recognized through naming opportunities for their individual, family or corporate contributions. The opportunities range from the naming rights to the museum and the permanent galleries, to the audio theater, interactive timeline and fiber optic map of the county’s growth, among many others.

“Most major county history museums rely heavily on support from taxpayers to sustain museum operations,” said Mrs. Johnson. “We firmly believe that the generous philanthropists in this community can—and will—step forward to create a state-of-the-art cultural and educational institution that will serve many thousands of children annually. This is our opportunity to build a great resource to celebrate our history. It will be the first of its kind in Palm Beach County—an informative, entertaining place comparable in quality and scope to the area’s most prestigious cultural institutions. The history museum is the missing component in our thriving cultural landscape. Now is the time to close the gap.”

Mrs. Johnson and her husband, Richard, are members of one of Palm Beach County’s most prominent pioneer families. Mr. Johnson’s great grandfather moved to the area in the late 1800s and was among the first residents to live on the island of Palm Beach, while Mrs. Johnson’s family, the Seatons, moved to the area following the devastating hurricane of 1928. Each successive generation of the Johnson family has contributed to the growth and development of Palm Beach County, and they maintain a large archive of significant historical documents, journals and photographs that document their families’ lives in Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and the Glades. Mrs. Johnson also has a long history of supporting philanthropic causes in the Palm Beaches, and is particularly committed to education and health-related endeavors. She and her husband are strong supporters of the Rehabilitation Center for Children and Adults, the Palm Beach Membership of Hospice Foundation of Palm Beach County, Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins University, Duke University Medical Center, St. Mary’s Medical Center, the Junior League of the Palm Beaches and the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

The county-wide history museum will enrich the lives of children and adults alike by making local history accessible, interesting and meaningful. The Historical Society has already partnered with the School District of Palm Beach County to create and implement history programming for the area’s fourth and seventh grade students. The combined programs, which are delivered to classrooms at no cost to the taxpayers, reach approximately 25,000 local students annually. The history museum will provide a critical dimension to those studies, enhancing the educational experience by bringing classroom lessons vividly to life through state-of-the-art, interactive exhibits.
The Historical Society has entered into a 30-year lease agreement with Palm Beach County to house the museum and its headquarters on the first, second and fourth floors of the 1916 Courthouse, which is currently undergoing an $18.5 million restoration. As part of its agreement, the Historical Society will offer free museum admission to all Palm Beach County residents.

The design plans feature approximately 3,000 square feet of permanent exhibits and 700 square feet of temporary exhibits, each reflecting the influence of the many cultures in Palm Beach County’s diverse history, from the earliest Native American inhabitants to the present day. A central component to the museum experience will be a visit to the seat of the county’s judicial and legislative beginnings – the courthouse’s two-story, 2,897 square foot historic courtroom, located on the third and fourth floors in the center of the building. This unique venue will offer fascinating lectures and provide children with an opportunity to participate in mock trials.

The museum’s east wing will house permanent exhibits themed around “The People” who have been integral to the area’s development. The People Gallery will feature a large theatrical diorama projecting images of notable individuals from all walks of Palm Beach County life. Kiosks and exhibits with artifacts will also contribute to unfolding the stories behind these significant and colorful characters of the past, including Pre-Columbian inhabitants, Seminole Indians, early pioneers, the business and philanthropic community, educators, and influential leaders in arts, law, medicine and politics. The opportunity to learn about the lives of these individuals will further resonate when the audio theater is built. Fascinating, first-hand accounts will be accessible through “oral histories.”

The west wing will focus on “The Place,” exploring Palm Beach County’s natural environment and the many communities that have contributed to its distinct identity. Features of this gallery include an interactive fiber optic map that will demonstrate the dramatic changes in the county, decade by decade; touch-screen computers providing virtual tours of the county; and individually-themed exhibits that will take visitors back in time to experience pioneers conquering the Everglades’ “black gold” and the lives of Gilded Age robber barons and industrial magnates. The temporary exhibit hall/rotating gallery will be located adjacent to these two permanent galleries.

“This campaign is an opportunity of a lifetime—a chance for individuals to leave a legacy of history to the community,” said Harvey E. Oyer, III, chairman of the Historical Society. “The transformation of our county from an inhospitable tropical “jungle” to a prosperous “oasis” is the stuff of legends—full of rich, colorful and inspirational stories of struggles and successes that will be illuminated through this history museum. There is no doubt that history education is a key link to the future success of our children, instilling in them a sense of pride and respect for their communities, and giving them a bigger context for life as we know it today.”

About the 1916 Courthouse restoration

Click here to view a larger image

After many individual and collective efforts to save the historic courthouse from demolition, led by community preservationists and Historical Society leaders, the Board of County Commissioners voted in April 2002 to preserve and share the building with the public, committing to pay the estimated $18.5 million required to restore the building to its original, neoclassical grandeur. The opportunity paved the way for the Historical Society of Palm Beach County to request space for the county’s first history museum inside the restored courthouse. In February 2003, Palm Beach County’s Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to grant space to the organization to house its headquarters and the museum inside the building. Hedrick Brothers Construction of West Palm Beach, Fla., is the Construction Manager for the 1916 courthouse restoration project, working with REG Architects, also of West Palm Beach.

For more information about the Cornerstone Campaign, contact Historical Society of Palm Beach County president, Loren Mintz, (561) 832-4164, ext. 102.

For more information about the restoration of the 1916 county courthouse, contact Palm Beach County Public Affairs, (561) 355-2754.

CAPTION: Palm Beach philanthropist Pat Johnson named Chairman of the Cornerstone Campaign

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