Open house Palm Beach Gardens Historical Society

WELCOME BACK. THE MISSION OF THE PALM BEACH GARDENS HISTORICAL SOCIETY IS TO COLLECT, PRESERVE AND SHARE THE HISTORY OF THE CITY FOR EDUCATION AND ALSO FUTURE GENERATIONS. THE GARDENS GOT ITS START BY THE DRIVE OF THE JOHN D MACARTHUR AND A RAW PIECE OF LAND. JOINING ME NOW IS JOELLE ENGLEHART, A PALM BEACH GARDENS HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD MEMBER. THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE WITH US, JOEL. THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE WITH US. OKAY, SO PALM BEACH GARDENS, IT’S A RELATIVELY A YOUNG CITY, I GUESS, COMPARED TO OTHER CITIES HERE IN FLORIDA. SO KIND OF TELL US ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THAT. WELL, THE CITY STARTED IN 1959 WITH JOHN D MACARTHUR, WHO WAS A VERY RICH CHICAGOAN WHO CAME DOWN HERE AND BOUGHT SO MUCH LAND. HE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING WITH IT AND MAKE MONEY OFF IT. SO HE DECIDED TO FORM A CITY. AND HE HE SPELLED OUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY, STARTING THIS AREA RIGHT HERE WHERE WE’RE SITTING RIGHT NOW, THE RCA BUILDING. HE BROUGHT IN RCA IS A BIG EMPLOYER TO HELP BRING PEOPLE TO HIS CITY. WOW, LOOK AT THAT. AND THEN KIND OF HOW DID THIS HISTORICAL SOCIETY FORM BEING WITH THAT, WITH THAT, WITH THAT STORY THERE? HISTORICAL SOCIETY STARTED IN 2008 BY A FORMER CITY MAYOR NAMED DON KISELEWSKI, AND DON HAD A DRIVE TO PRESERVE THE CITY’S HISTORY BEFORE IT DISAPPEARED. BECAUSE, AS YOU KNOW, WE’RE YOUNG, BUT THERE WERE STILL PEOPLE WHO COULD HELP US GATHER AND COLLECT AND PRESERVE OUR HISTORY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. YEAH, FOR SURE. AS A BOARD MEMBER, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS? I GUESS ONE OF ONE OF THE MOST THINGS THAT YOU’VE DISCOVERED THAT YOU THOUGHT WAS JUST SO NEAT ABOUT PALM BEACH GARDENS? OH, PALM BEACH GARDENS HAS SO MANY GREAT STORIES. THANKS TO JOHN D MACARTHUR AND HIS AND HIS CREATIVITY. FOR ONE THING, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T KNOW THAT PALM BEACH GARDENS MEDICAL CENTER WAS BUILT IN 1966, BUT IT DIDN’T OPEN FOR THREE YEARS. OH, WOW. BECAUSE THE CITY HAD A FEUD WITH JOHN D MACARTHUR, WHO BUILT IT. INTERESTING. THEY WENT TO COURT AND THEY TRIED TO FIND PEOPLE TO TAKE IT OVER. AND IT WASN’T UNTIL LIKE 1968, 69 THAT THE HOSPITAL OPENED. WOW. LOOK AT THAT. WHO KNEW? RIGHT. OKAY, SO YOU GUYS HAVE AN OPEN HOUSE COMING UP ON APRIL 19TH. ON SUNDAY. IT’S SOMETHING YOU JUST DO ONCE A YEAR. WE ONLY HAVE THESE OPEN HOUSES ONCE A YEAR. SO WHAT CAN PEOPLE EXPECT? WE WILL LET YOU SEE OUR ARTIFACTS AND OUR COLLECTIONS. A LOT OF PEOPLE LIKE TO COME AND LOOK AT THE PICTURES. WE HAVE OLD YEARBOOKS. THIS IS A 1969 YEARBOOK, THE FIRST YEARBOOK OF PALM BEACH GARDENS HIGH SCHOOL, WHICH ALSO IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER HERE. WE HAVE A LOT OF ARTIFACTS FROM THE HIGH SCHOOL ERA, AND WE WE YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IT ON INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, OR PPBG. HISTORY.ORG ON THE WEB. ALL RIGHT. PERFECT. AND ALL THAT INFORMATION THAT JOEL JUST GAVE YOU THERE IS ON OUR WEBSITE AS WELL RIGHT NOW. WPBF.COM. SO JUST HEAD THERE AND GET ALL

The Palm Beach Gardens Historical Society aims to collect, preserve and share the history of Palm Beach Gardens. Stay up to date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25The historical society is holding its once-a-year open house on April 19 from 1 to 3 p.m. For more information, click here.Get the latest weather updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.

The Palm Beach Gardens Historical Society aims to collect, preserve and share the history of Palm Beach Gardens.

Stay up to date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25

The historical society is holding its once-a-year open house on April 19 from 1 to 3 p.m.

For more information, click here.

Get the latest weather updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.