The Historic Old Town Commercial District (also known as downtown Lake Worth Beach) is a U.S. historic district located in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. The district is bounded by the Florida East Coast Railway, M Street, Lucerne Avenue (Florida State Road 802), and 1st Avenue South, according to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), while the city of Lake Worth Beach extends the eastern boundary to Federal Highway (Florida State Road 5). Overall, the district covers approximately of land.

It contains 46 historic buildings, each constructed between 1912 and 1949 and designed in several architectural styles, including Art Deco, Classical Revival, Mediterranean Revival, and Moorish Revival. Another 13 structures within the district are considered non-contributing due to being built after 1951. Notably, the district includes the historic Lake Worth Playhouse (opened in 1924 as the Oakley Theater) and City Hall, developed in the 1930s as a project of the Works Progress Administration. Due to restoration efforts beginning in the late 1990s, the district now features an array of antique stores, art galleries, historic buildings, sidewalk cafés, and night clubs. Since September 22, 2001, the Historic Old Town Commercial District has been listed on the NRHP.

Geography The Historic Old Town Commercial District is located in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. According to the National Register of Historic Places registration form, the district covers approximately of land, spanning westward to the Florida East Coast Railway, eastward to M Street, northward to Lucerne Avenue, and southward to 1st Avenue South. Dixie Highway (also known as U.S. Route 1) runs north-south through the western side of the district. Lucerne Avenue and Lake Avenue, which passes east-west between the former and 1st Avenue South, are both designated as Florida State Road 802. The city of Lake Worth Beach uses slightly different boundaries, with the east end located along Federal Highway (Florida State Road 5).

History Archaeological evidence from burial mounds indicates the presence of the Jaega in the nearby present-day cities of Boynton Beach, Palm Beach, and South Palm Beach between 750 and 1500 CE. In 1885, Fannie and Samuel James became among the first non-indigenous settlers in modern-day Lake Worth Beach. They owned hundreds of acres of land, including south of Lake Avenue (Florida State Road 802) between F and M Streets and south of College Park Historic District from Dixie to Federal highways (designated as U.S. Route 1 and Florida State Road 5, respectively). The Palm Beach Farm Company platted and paved residential plots and roads between 1911 and 1912, among them Lake Avenue. In 1913, this settlement would be incorporated as Lake Worth. Around this time, a business district was developed in the vicinity of Dixie Highway and Lake Avenue.

The oldest surviving building in the Historic Old Town Commercial District, located at 609 Lake Avenue, opened in 1912. A frame vernacular structure, the building housed a bicycle shop for several decades. The Carousel Antique Furniture Warehouse, built in 1915, is the only other remaining structure erected before 1920. During the 1920s Florida land boom, dozens of new buildings were constructed in Lake Worth, including the former Scottish Rite Temple at 1000 Lake Avenue in 1921 and the Oakley Theater (now known as the Lake Worth Playhouse) in 1924. Lake Worth's business district was severely impacted by the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, with approximately 50 businesses destroyed and 200 others damaged – roughly 75% of buildings. After the Great Depression began, construction activity continued due in part to New Deal programs. This included the Works Progress Administration building a municipal auditorium in the 1930s, which later became City Hall.

The widening of Dixie Highway by in the 1970s led to the demolition of several historic buildings within the business district. Restoration efforts in downtown occurred in the late 1990s, with the Florida Department of Transportation spending $3.9 million to improve sidewalks and streets and the city of Lake Worth contributing over $670,000 for benches, landscaping, planters, trash cans, and new lights and sidewalk pavers. Consequently, downtown experienced a resurgence in economic activity, with the area now featuring an array of antique stores, art galleries, historic buildings, sidewalk cafés, and night clubs. On September 22, 2001, the Historic Old Town Commercial District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Architecture Several architectural building styles are presented in the Historic Old Town Commercial District, including Art Deco, Classical Revival, Craftsman, Frame Vernacular, Masonry Vernacular, Mediterranean Revival, and Moorish Revival. A majority of the structures feature Masonry Vernacular architecture. Most buildings within the district are also one or two stories in height and often abut each other. Contributing structures The Historic Old Town Commercial District has 46 structures listed as contributing, including: +AddressYear builtStyleStructure typeNotes501-503 Lake Avenue1935Masonry Vernacular Commercial509 Lake Avenue1930RanchCommercial511 Lake Avenue1945Masonry Vernacular Commercial515-517 Lake Avenue1945Masonry Vernacular Commercial601 Lake Avenue1939Art Deco Art Museum Lake Theater building. Later housed an art museum associated with Palm Beach Community College. Current headquarters of the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County609 Lake Avenue1912Frame Vernacular CommercialKerr's Bicycle Shop between 1929 and the 1970s611-613 Lake Avenue1945Masonry Vernacular Commercial615 Lake Avenue1935Masonry Vernacular Commercial617-619 Lake Avenue1923Masonry Vernacular Commercial621 Lake Avenue1935Masonry Vernacular Commercial705 Lake Avenue1925Masonry Vernacular CommercialTuesday Gallery 707 Lake Avenue1923Masonry Vernacular Commercial708-712 Lake Avenue1935Masonry Vernacular Commercial709 Lake Avenue1925Masonry Vernacular Commercial713 Lake Avenue1924Masonry Vernacular TheaterLake Worth Playhouse 716-718 Lake Avenue1935Masonry Vernacular Commercial717 Lake Avenue1930Masonry Vernacular Commercial720-722 Lake Avenue1935Masonry Vernacular Commercial728-730 Lake Avenue1930Masonry Vernacular HotelOriginally the Rose Apartments, later the Cleve Hotel and Fountain's Department Store800-802 Lake Avenue 1940Masonry Vernacular CommercialOriginally the Lake Worth National Bank801 Lake Avenue1920MissionCommercial803 Lake Avenue1919Classical Revival CommercialOriginally the Bank of Lake Worth804 Lake Avenue1940Masonry Vernacular Commercial805 Lake Avenue 1923Masonry Vernacular Commercial806 Lake Avenue 1915Masonry Vernacular CommercialCarousel Antique Furniture Warehouse811 Lake Avenue1923Masonry Vernacular CommercialRowe Building913 Lake Avenue1949Masonry Vernacular Commercial915-917 Lake Avenue 1925Masonry Vernacular Commercial920 Lake Avenue 1933Moorish Revival City HallLake Worth Beach City Hall921 Lake Avenue 1930Masonry Vernacular Commercial1000 Lake Avenue1921Mediterranean Revival Commercial/Social Originally the Scottish Rite Temple1014 Lake Avenue 1940Masonry Vernacular Commercial625 Lucerne Avenue 1945Masonry Vernacular Commercial631 Lucerne Avenue 1923Masonry Vernacular HotelOriginally the McCarthy Hotel701 Lucerne Avenue1923Masonry Vernacular Commercial807 Lucerne Avenue1945Masonry Vernacular Commercial1013 Lucerne Avenue1945Masonry Vernacular Commercial11 North J Street 1935Masonry Vernacular Commercial 9-15 North H Street 1946Masonry Vernacular Commercial17 North H Street 1924Masonry Vernacular Commercial8-12 South J Street 1925Masonry Vernacular Commercial11 South J Street 1924Masonry Vernacular Commercial17-25 South J Street 1923Masonry Vernacular ResidenceThurber Building32 South J Street 1935Masonry Vernacular Commercial32A South J Street 1935Masonry Vernacular Garage35 South J Street 1923Masonry Vernacular Commercial

Non-contributing and other buildings The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) registration form classifies 13 structures within the Historic Old Town Commercial District as non-contributing, including: 513, 519, 521-525, 603-605, 701, 702, 706, 807, 809, and 1030 on Lake Avenue; 13 North J Street; and 15 and 27-31 on South J Street. Each of the buildings at the aforementioned addresses are considered non-contributing due to being constructed after 1951.

Because the city of Lake Worth Beach defines the district's eastern boundary at Federal Highway (Florida State Road 5), the local government considers the Old Lake Worth City Hall (also known as the City Hall Annex) to be part of the district. At the federal level, this building has been listed on the NRHP since 1989. The city of Lake Worth Beach also considers the public library building to be a contributing structure, a Mediterranean Revival-style structure erected in 1941. However, the NRHP does not list its address, 15 North M Street, as either a contributing or non-contributing building.

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External links

Palm Beach County listings at National Register of Historic Places