1968 Dolph Map of Palm Beach, Florida

A detailed indexed folding map of Palm Beach, Florida, published c. 1968 by the Dolph. It catalogs the city's many hotels, motels, clubs, and other attractions, many of which were noted for their distinctive architecture.

A Closer Look

Displaying the entirety of Palm Beach in a strip format, the map is surrounded by a grid corresponding to a street index at left. The southernmost portion of Palm Beach is displayed in a continuation in a different orientation on the verso, along with an inset depicting roads leading to Palm Beach International Airport. Hotels, motels, golf courses, clubs, docks, and theaters are highlighted, along with museums, parks, churches, libraries, a casino, and other attractions or public institutions. Bridges and pathways through the Intracoastal Waterway are also indicated. Streets are labeled throughout, including recent additions - Sandpiper Dr. and Tradewinds Dr., just north of the Palm Beach Country Club - stamped in after printing.

Though not noted on this map, the Mar-a-Lago Club, most famous for being the residence of former President Donald Trump, is located between Woodbridge Rd. and Southern Blvd., near the Southern Blvd. Bridge. In the early 1960s, John F. Kennedy also used his family's residence, dubbed 'La Querida' (located at 1095 N. Ocean Blvd., between Monterey Rd. and Colonial Ln.), as a 'Winter White House'.

Palm Beach and the Florida Land Boom

At the turn of the 20th century, industrialist and founder of Standard Oil Henry Flagler (1830 - 1913) built his Florida East Coast Railway and extended it to the Miami region on the state's southeastern coast. Flagler built several hotels in Palm Beach, deeming the area a paradise that was sure to impress others as much as it had him. He liked the area so much that he built a stately mansion called Whitehall (here as the Flagler Museum) and encouraged other grandees to do the same, at least for seasonal residences. With the height of the Florida Land Boom in the 1920s, dozens of structures in the Mediterranean or Spanish Revival and Beaux Arts styles were constructed throughout the city, with Art Deco buildings being added somewhat later. As was the case elsewhere in South Florida, preservation efforts began in the 1970s and 1980s, and now more than 300 buildings and other sites in Palm Beach are protected.

Publication History and Census

This map was published by the Dolph Map Company as a promotional mailer for the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce. It is undated, but from the hotels, must date to the mid-late 1960s. It is recorded in the OCLC among the holdings of the Library of Congress, the State Library of Florida, and the University of California Santa Barbara.