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Old Northwood Historic District

 

 

 

In the United States, historic districts are a designated, recognized group of buildings, properties or sites by one of several entities on a variety of levels, with historical or architectural significance. The districts vary in size, with some having hundreds of structures and others laying claim to just a few. These districts are designated via the United States Department of Interior, under the auspices of the National Park Service. The ones federally designated are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

Old Northwood was carved out in the early 1920s, an era during which Florida is reported to have experienced a boom. Architects laying claim to some prominence, the likes of John Volk and William King, were the designers of the homes and structures which cumulatively turned Old Northwood into one of the United State’s most exclusive communities on the side of Palm Beach. Volk designed the Palm Beach houses, and King was best known for his Palm Beach High School and the Armory Arts Center. Another architect storied to have given his bit in the historical development was Henry Steve Harvey, whose handiwork was the Seaboard Railroad Passenger Station on Tamarind Avenue - which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The neighborhood was christened West Palm historic district sometime in 1991 and got on the list in June 1994.

 

The vicinity grew from good Old Northwood to Old Northwood Historic District following a designation on April 14, 1994. Located on the west of Palm Beach, it is bounded on different angles by Broadway, North Dixie Highway, as well as the 26th and 35th Streets. Boasting of over 320 historic buildings which have been developed before its designation, it prides itself as one of the country’s must-see surroundings.

 

Other sources have made it more explicit as to the district’s development span, reporting it to be from 1920 to 1927. Old Northwood, which experienced a real estate boom during this period, had been planned and developed by the Pinewood Development Company and became a neighborhood of what was heralded as the extravagant Mediterranean revival, mission and frame vernacular houses at US$30,000 to US$36,000. Amongst the buyers of this city’s buildings were experts, businesspersons and tradespeople. Prominent of these purchasers was Dunkle, West Palm Beach mayor, and more.

Nonetheless, by the stroke of the 1970s, the fad-like glamour has been exhausted, and OId Northwoods, Renaissance-era thoroughly kicked in the mid-eighties. This was the period when residents established a body tailored for the revitalization and restoration of the essential condiment in the historic recipe of West Palm Beach. As a result of the strides made by the neighborhood to preserve itself, Old Northwood easily became the leader in older coastal neighborhoods in the West Palm Beach metropolis.

 

The city proved itself to be an essential tool used to preserve history, having been promising enough for the said association to write the first historic preservation ordinance for it to become the first nationally registered landmark city in the urbanity. Old Northwood is not just a city that ignites sparks in the mind of visitors, and the metropolis believed to have streets paved with gold and step-thrilling terrazzo. It is as well the fortress and homeland to several of the city’s Bed and Breakfast Inns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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