"west palm beach" Top 5 Page for this destination West Palm Beach by doug48

west palm beach is a city located near the ocean in southeast florida. west palm beach is the county seat of palm beach county. the town of west palm beach was incorporated in 1894. in the 1890's the railroad tycoon henry flagler built the florida east coast railway to the area and developed palm beach as a wealthy winter resort. flagler built the royal poinciana hotel on palm beach and bought land on the mainland to house resort workers and servants. this worker's settlement was the basis of the city of west palm beach today. the town of west palm beach grew significantly during the 1920's florida land boom and many of west palm beach's historic buidings were built during this decade. the city began to decline during the great depression and did not recover until the 1970's. in the 1970's the pratt & whitney aircraft company built a factory in the area which had a significant economic impact on the area. later in the decade IBM and RCA also built facilities in the area. in recent years the downtown area has been redeveloped into one of the nicest shopping and entertainment areas in southeast florida.

historic west palm beach railway station

west palm beach has much to offer the tourist when visiting southeast florida. the downtown clematis street historic district and the city place development has scores of shops, restaurants and bars. the beach towns of delray, manalapan, palm beach, and singer island are a short drive from west palm beach. west palm beach is home to the world class kravis performing arts center and several excellent museums. for those interested in architecture west palm beach has a number of 1920's florida land boom era buildings and homes. west palm beach has a good central location for visiting the natural attractions of southeast florida.

• Pros:good southeast florida vacation destination
• Cons:traffic and some high crime areas