West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Flamingo Park

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, August 3, 2016

1. Flamingo Park Marker

Inscription. This site was originally the southeast corner of an eighty-acre parcel purchased by George L. Marsteller of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1884 for $100. Two blocks to the north, between South Dixie Highway and South Olive Avenue, the Lakeside Cemetery Association had platted the Lakeside Cemetery in 1893. It operated as a racially integrated facility, unusual for the time. In 1902, the Association purchased these two acres from West Palm Beach to serve as a separate cemetery for African Americans. The Association platted 190 lots and interred approximately 100 people by 1913. The cemetery never had an official name: maps of the era simply called it “Colored Cemetery.” The City’s efforts to repossess and resell the cemetery in 1916 were blocked by the Florida Supreme Court. By 1921, unable to maintain the cemetery, the Association donated it to the City without restrictions. No further burials took place. The City converted the cemetery to a public park known as Dixie Playground and later renamed Flamingo Park. Citizens’ protests in 1966 and in 1991 thwarted subsequent attempts to sell the park for commercial

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

development.

Erected 1999 by The City of West Palm Beach and the Florida Department of State,. (Marker Number F-424.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Cemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical year for this entry is 1884.

Location. 26° 41.884′ N, 80° 3.251′ W. Marker is in West Palm Beach, Florida, in Palm Beach County. It is at the intersection of South Dixie Highway (U.S. 1) and Park Place, on the right when traveling south on South Dixie Highway. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: West Palm Beach FL 33401, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South Florida,

on the Gold Coast,

on the Treasure Coast,

and in Greater Miami.

It is also in the American South

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Flamingo Park Marker with banyan trees behind image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, August 3, 2016

2. Flamingo Park Marker with banyan trees behind

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Mango Promenade Historic District (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Pioneer Memorial Park (about 800 feet away); Grandview Heights Historic District (approx. 0.2 miles away); Flamingo Park Historic District (approx. ¼ mile away); Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens/Ann Weaver Norton (approx. 0.3 miles away); El Cid Neighborhood (approx. 0.6 miles away); Palm Beach High School (approx. 0.8 miles away); Palm Beach Junior College (approx. 0.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in West Palm Beach.

Credits. This page was last revised on August 11, 2016. It was originally submitted on August 10, 2016, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 969 times since then and 82 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 10, 2016, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.