www.BobShermansPage.com - Parker Avenue History

History of Parker Avenue Area
in West Palm Beach, Florida
Last Updated: Friday April 15, 2011

My Family Moved into a new house at 924 Churchill Road, just West of
Parker Avenue, in-between Forest Hill and Southern Blvd's, in December 1951.

So .. Right behind our house lived Phillip and Maria Parker on about 5 acres
of land. His Father, James Norris Parker, was a early homesteader in
April 10, 1894 with 135.06 acres of land in the South West Palm Beach area.

There was not much around us, west of Parker avenue !

A Map of South West Palm Beach, Florida about 1951 and our Home Location

Click on the Picture above to Enlarge

Click Here to open a .pdf file of the map

So what is the history of this area that my Father had decided to
buy a new house? It was was built on fairly untouched property, full of
beautiful Florida Pine trees, Palmetto Palms, large cactus and full
of native Florida wildlife such as Black Bear, Panther, Bobcats, Deer,
Raccoons, Foxes, Large gopher turtles, alligators, and large rattlesnakes to
name a few, on a high ridge in South West Palm Beach.

OK, Lets take a short trip back in time in South Florida ... Back to 1839 !

1839 Florida Survey of Palm Beach County Township 44-S Range 43-E

Click on the Map above to open a pdf file for a Enlarged view

This is a Period of Time during which the Indian Wars with the United States
and Local Florida Indians were still taking place ! There were brave Land
Surveyors that were under contract of the US Government to map South
Florida in preparation before gaining Statehood on March 3rd, 1845.

Click on the Map above to open a pdf file for a Enlarged view !

So the Area I am interested in is Section 4, The Parker Homestead ...
So from the US Bureau of Land Management On-line records, I was able
to identify with this old map and available Homestead records, the actual
plots of the Parker Homestead and and his neighbors that settled in
Section 4 during 1885-1899.

James Norris Parker' Homestead Certificate dated April 10, 1894
for 135.06 acres of land!

To Build their Home, Building materials were bought down the Intercoastal
Waterway and they had to move it from barges about 1 mile uphill to a elevation
of 32ft, where they started building the first of many homestead structures.

This ridge running North and South for about a mile later became known as
Pine Ridge, for the large number of Florida Pine trees in the area. This is one of
highest elevation areas in West Palm Beach, and at that time had a great view to the Intercoastal waterway and Atlantic Ocean to East and West to the Everglades!

Being on high ground was recommended to survive coastal flooding during the
early years as there was no warning of approaching Hurricanes !
Parkers home structures in those days were built with 4X4's and 4X10 lumber
and withstood all storms without any major damage .. it was more like Fort
Parker, than a House ..

When the last of the Homestead was sold to the Hillcrest Cemetery and they
came to demolish the building with a large Bulldozer, the dozer bounced off
the structures and they took over 2 days, instead of the few hours they scheduled
to do the job ..... James and Phillip really knew how to build a strong homestead.

Ad in the Newspaper May 21, 1897

Phillip' Dad, James Norris first tried his hand at growing Pineapples on
parts of the land but in the mid to late 1890s there many devastating
freezes that killed the pineapples. Florida was a major Pineapple growing
state because it took too long to get pineapples from Hawaii which spoiled.

During 1909, in places in Palm Beach county it was also discovered that
new plants were yellowing and dying due to mealy worms and nematodes.

Enough with the pineapples, James than turned to more traditional tropical
crops and Oranges, Limes, Lemons, Grapefruit, Avocados, and Mangos.

His Father even worked the Barefoot Mailman routes occasionally.

The State Split Palm Beach County out of Dade County on July 1, 1909 !

This book takes you back to those days !

This Book is available from Amazon.com

Phillip had to take over running the Homestead at the early age of 19 when
his Father passed away in 1920 at the age of 70. After The Breakers,
The Colony, and Royal Poinciana Hotels opened in the 1920's, Phillip
started also growing watercress, mint, parsley, and other fine greens that
he sold to the resort hotels in Palm Beach.

Over the years many changes occurred to the property...around 1907
the Palm Beach Canal was constructed from Lake Okeechobee thru
Canal Point along what's now State Road 80, Southern Blvd, and then
south through Section 5 and the western edge of Parkers property
in Section 4 and then east at the Palm Beach & Lake Worth border,
finally passing thru locks at US1 and into the Intercoastal Waterway.
Western Swampy marsh areas on lot 8 were dried and large areas
of the once large lake area shown in the 1839 survey, were filled in
and redesigned. Some dried land added, some lost.

The Seaboard Railroad then passed through on the western property
edge on the east side of the canal... more land gone.

In 1938, Phillip' Mother, Annie passed away. Now he had the whole
homestead himself to manage till he got married in 1942.

Phillip was now busy and it would be another 4 years before
he would marry Maria Scheffold on Tuesday Dec 29, 1942.

Great Meals could be had a the Villas Restaurant on Worth Ave in
Palm Beach, Florida during New Years 1942, for only $1.50 per person.

Over the years Phillip sold off more land in lots 7 & 8 till he was
down to about 20 acres in 1950.

In 1950 he then sold about 15 acres on which the Pine Ridge Homes were
built, where my family moved to in 1951, leaving him with about 5 acres
around the original Homestead and the last of his farming area.

I got to be good friends with Phillip and his wife Maria, He told many
great stories about early Florida and had many pictures to show me.

As a young responsible teenage boy in the late 1950s, I was taught by
Phillip how to cultivate, irrigate and manage his farm, so He and Maria
could take some trips and vacations to Hendersonville, NC, where he had
an Apple Orchard, and to a Hotel he owned in Germany.

Click on the Map above to open a pdf file for a Enlarged view !

Well this is what Section 4 looks like in the year 2011

Click on the Map above to open a pdf file for a Enlarged view !

What the Parker Homestead and my Family home area looks like now in 2011

Parker's Family Plot

Woodlawn Cemetery in West Palm Beach, Florida

It is Located in Woodlawn Cemetery in West Palm Beach, Florida, South
side of US-1, about halfway between Belvedere Rd and Okeechobee Blvd.

Philip Parker's Parents

James Norris Parker - Born 1850 - Died 1920 - Age 70
Annie E. Parker - Born 1863 - Died 1938 - Age 75

Philip Parker - Born in WPB - Feb 26, 1901 - Died June 23, 1995 - Age 94
Maria S. Parker - Born in Austria- Feb 4, 1902 - Died Dec 22, 2001 - Age 99

Hermann L Scheffold , Maria Parkers brother - Born 1897 - Died 1965

Thank ...God, I grew up in the 50's and early 60's and got to live
and see a unspoiled part of South Florida and wonderful nature and
know such wonderful people such as the Parkers !

These are memories I will cherish forever !