Editing Lake Worth Beach, Florida (section)

===Incorporation to the Great Depression===
Lake Worth Beach was incorporated as the "town of Lake Worth" on June&nbsp;14, 1913.<ref name=LaWoHistory/> Its first elected Mayor was James Love, a carpenter and member of the [[Socialist Party of America]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> The town grew rapidly enough that a new addition was platted in that inaugural year. The area along the [[Intracoastal Waterway]] from 5th Avenue South to 15th Avenue South still bears the name ''Addition 1.''<ref name="old town"/>{{rp|15}} An advertisement in the ''Lake Worth Herald'' in 1913 noted: "In the new addition, the Lake front has been divided into large lots covered with palm and tropical growth, where we expect to see charming villas and winter homes spring up as by enchantment. It will be the fashionable part of town, where the wealthy of the earth can display their artistic taste and make ideal homes. These lots are selling so fast that but very few are left."<ref name="eyes" /> Another section of the town was plotted in 1917, the Osborne Colored Addition, a small African American neighborhood along the south end of Lake Worth and west of the FEC. Some of the first African American families arrived in the addition in the early 1920s, when the [[Ku Klux Klan]] forced them out of western Lantana.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89065751/the-palm-beach-post/|title=Eliminating epithet from county records not easy, officials say|author=Angela Hornsby|date=September 11, 1994|newspaper=The Palm Beach Post|page=4B|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=November 18, 2021}}</ref>

Two years after the addition was platted, a wooden automobile traffic bridge over Lake Worth was completed in 1919,<ref name="old lucerne"/>{{rp|30}} the same year the Brelsford family of Palm Beach deeded a {{convert|1,000|ft|m|abbr=on}} parcel of land on the barrier island to the town.<ref name="old town"/>{{rp|18}} 
[[File:Lake_Worth_FL_Old_Lucerne_Res_HD_house03.jpg|thumb|left|A house (built in 1923) in the [[Old Lucerne Historic Residential District]]<ref name="old lucerne"/>{{rp|12}}]]
The town benefited with the rest of South Florida during the [[Florida land boom of the 1920s]], with Lake Worth's population more than quintupling from 1,106 in 1920 to nearly 6,000 in 1930.<ref name="old town"/>{{rp|15}} Following the approval of a $100,000 bond issue in 1920, the Mediterranean Revival-style Lake Worth Casino and Baths was constructed.<ref name="old town"/>{{rp|18}} Opening two years later, the casino drew many tourists to the area.<ref name="100th jewels1"/>

Moreover, the 1920s saw the completion of the [[Gulf Stream Hotel]], which is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] (NRHP),<ref name="old town">{{cite report|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/1bdba7d5-7a18-46c3-9275-4eb7c5091cd2|title=Historic Old Town Commercial District|publisher=National Register of Historic Places|date=2001|accessdate=November 4, 2021}}</ref>{{rp|18}} as well as the construction of [[Lake Worth Community High School]] in 1922 and many commercial and industrial buildings and neighborhoods, including College Park and Lake Worth Heights in 1924.<ref name="old town"/>{{rp|15}}<ref name="100th jewels2"/> Lake Worth reincorporated as a city in 1925, while boundaries of the municipality expanded several times throughout the land boom.<ref name="old town"/>{{rp|15}} One year later, the [[Seaboard Air Line Railroad|Seaboard Air Line Railway]] constructed a freight and passenger depot in Lake Worth on 4th Avenue North.<ref name="mustaine"/>{{rp|53}}

William A. Boutwell arrived in the area in the 1920s. He established Boutwell Dairy in 1927 and managed the company until retiring in 1956. Boutwell is credited with inventing [[Half and half#Dairy product|half & half creamer]]; the dairy later merged with Alfar Creamery and then T.G. Lee, who distributed the product more widely until it became an American diner staple.<ref name="mustaine">{{cite book |author=Beverly Mustaine|date=1999 |title=The Images of America: On Lake Worth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YEczDwAAQBAJ&q=%22boutwell%22+half+and+half+%22lake+worth%22&pg=PA55 |location=Charleston, South Carolina |publisher=Arcadia Books|isbn=978-0-7385-0055-3 }}</ref>{{rp|55}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pbchistoryonline.org/uploads/file/Alfar%20Creamery.pdf |title=Alfar Creamery|publisher=Historical Society of Palm Beach County|work=[[The Palm Beach Post]]|accessdate=November 4, 2021}}</ref><ref name="kleinberg">{{cite news |url=http://historicpalmbeach.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2001/12/05/lake-worths-boutwell-road-named-after-area-dairyman/|author=Eliot Kleinberg|date=December 5, 2001|title=Lake Worth's Boutwell Road Named After Area Dairyman |newspaper=The Palm Beach Post, Historic Palm Beach Blog|access-date=November 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515124042/http://historicpalmbeach.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2001/12/05/lake-worths-boutwell-road-named-after-area-dairyman/ |archive-date=May 15, 2015|url-status=dead }}</ref> Boutwell also owned a grocery store and masonry supply store. Furthermore, he served as a Lake Worth city commissioner from 1924 to 1927 and briefly as vice mayor.<ref name="kleinberg"/> During his tenure, the city constructed approximately {{convert|36|mi|km|abbr=on}} of roads and two elementary schools,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89136168/the-palm-beach-post/|page=2B|title=LW Dairy Pioneer Buried|date=July 3, 1982|newspaper=The Palm Beach Post|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=November 18, 2021}}</ref> including the still active South Grade Elementary School.<ref name="100th jewels2"/>
[[File:1928 Okeechobee Aftermath 12.jpg|thumb|right|Scenes of devastation from the 1928 hurricane in Lake Worth]]
The [[1928 Okeechobee hurricane]] devastated Lake Worth. A survey indicated that the storm demolished about 600&nbsp;homes and damaged 1,500&nbsp;others, leaving about 700&nbsp;people homeless.<ref name="uf">{{cite web|url=http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00001306/00001/1j|title=Palm Beach Hurricane—92 Views|date=1928|publisher=American Autochrome Company|accessdate=June 27, 2015|location=Chicago, Illinois}}</ref>{{rp|5}} Fewer than 10% of homes escaped damage.<ref name="property loss here">{{cite news|url=http://archive.boyntonlibrary.org/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=de29bdcb-c0d8-44da-aa34-4213f7cd747c/boyntonb/20180612/00000206|title=Property Loss Here Placed at $3,000,000|date=September 21, 1928|newspaper=Lake Worth Herald|page=1|accessdate=November 5, 2021}}</ref> Approximately 50&nbsp;businesses were wrecked and 200&nbsp;others received damage – roughly 75% of buildings in the business district.<ref name="uf"/> The storm demolished or severely damaged many buildings, including First Presbyterian Church, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, the Oakley Theater, the Gulf Stream Hotel, the Scottish Rites Cathedral, the Masonic Temple, the Florida Hotel, a car dealership, a sporting goods store, an investment company, the [[Old Lake Worth City Hall]],<ref name="property loss here"/> and an auditorium at [[Lake Worth Community High School]].<ref name="lwcharges">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5720888/the_palm_beach_post/|title=1500 Homeless Are Lake Worth Charges|date=September 20, 1928|newspaper=The Palm Beach Post|page=1|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=June 29, 2016}}</ref> Additionally, the bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway was virtually destroyed.<ref name="boyd">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19679401/the_palm_beach_post/|title=County's Storm Loss Will Total $350,000 According To Boyd|date=September 28, 1928|page=2|newspaper=The Palm Beach Post|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=April 30, 2018}}</ref> The hurricane caused approximately $4&nbsp;million worth of damages in Lake Worth,<ref name="uf"/>{{rp|5}} as well as three deaths.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9097876/the_palm_beach_post/|title=John Joy Dies After Exposure From Storm|date=September 21, 1928|newspaper=The Palm Beach Post|page=6|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=February 22, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9098316/the_palm_beach_post/|title=Storm Exposure Is Blamed For Death|date=September 25, 1928|newspaper=The Palm Beach Post|page=6|accessdate=February 22, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9098040/the_palm_beach_post/|title=Aged Lake Worth Man Second Storm Fatality|date=September 22, 1928|newspaper=The Palm Beach Post|page=3|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=February 22, 2017}}</ref>

In the immediate aftermath of the storm, the Gulf Stream Hotel was converted to a makeshift hospital.<ref name="uf"/>{{rp|5}} The devastation left Lake Worth without a functional center for city government, although records were mostly unscathed. Consequently, a temporary [[city hall]] was established at the Lauriston building.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9098148/the_palm_beach_post/|title=Important Lake Worth Records Found Intact|date=September 22, 1928|newspaper=The Palm Beach Post|page=3|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=February 22, 2017}}</ref> The storm, combined with the [[Great Depression]] led to a severe economic decline within the community. Construction projects primarily shifted to repairing damaged buildings. However, there were a few conservation, construction, and [[New Deal]] projects during the 1930s.<ref name="old town"/>{{rp|16}} This included when President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s [[Works Progress Administration]] built the striking,<ref name="old town"/>{{rp|18}} Moorish-styled "city gymnasium" on the corner of Lake Avenue and Dixie Highway. The building today serves as the Lake Worth Beach City Hall.<ref name="old town"/>{{rp|8}}