Pioneers in Paradise

Little more than 100 years ago, West Palm Beach was a nameless stretch of scrub and swamp dotted by a few settlements. Then Henry Flagler arrived. In a matter of months, the Standard Oil tycoon turned Palm Beach into a world-renowned resort. And across Lake Worth from his fancy paradise, he fashioned a service city - West Palm Beach. This is the story of the unique mix of high society and endless summer that has developed there.

Jan Tuckwood is presentation editor for The Palm Beach Post. She grew up in Lake Worth and returned home in 1986 after several years as a writer and editor at The Denver Post. She lives in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Eliot Kleinberg, a native Floridian, has spent four decades in both broadcast and print news, including 30 years at the Palm Beach Post. He lives in Boca Raton, Florida.