Palm Beach Gardens 55+

Present-day Palm Beach Gardens was once Pine forests, swampland, and cattle ranches. In 1959, the seed for Palm Beach Gardens development was planted when John D. MacArthur purchased 4,000 acres to build homes for a population of 55,000. MacArthur, a self-made billionaire, made his fortune revolutionizing marketing strategies in the insurance industry. From humble beginnings, MacArthur dropped out of school at the age of sixteen and started selling insurance with his older brother in Chicago. By the time he was nineteen, he sold over one million dollars worth of insurance policies in one year, which of course was a tremendous amount of money in 1916. This early success allowed him to purchase Bankers Life and Casualty Company. Rather than using typical mass marketing strategies, MacArthur employed door-to-door salesmen and passed the savings on the marketing budget on to consumers. Making policies affordable to the average person made Bankers the largest health and life insurance company in the country by 1956.

Palm Beach Gardens underwent major development throughout the 1960s. With a serious knack for marketing, MacArthur spent $30,000 to relocate a Banyan tree from the neighboring city of Lake Park to his new community. He was looking to demonstrate the beautiful landscaping in the city that he appropriately named Palm Beach Gardens. He got even more publicity than he could have imagined when he relocated a second Banyan Tree via the Florida East Coast Railway . The gigantic tree shifted during transport and damaged the Western Union and telegraph lines that ran along the railway. This accident largely cut off communications to Miami until repairs could be made. While this may have been negative publicity, it was publicity nonetheless and helped spread the word about the newly formed community. The Banyan Trees are still thriving on MacArthur Blvd and are proudly displayed on the city shield .

Palm Beach Gardens really took off in the 1980s. With the opening of the PGA National in 1981, the city gained prominent placement as a Florida golfing destination. Hosting the 1983 Ryder Cup attracted professional golfers and led to Honda Classic Challenges in Palm Beach Gardens in the following years. The city also gained notoriety as the premier place to shop with the opening of the Gardens Mall in 1988. The following year, the Art in Public Places Ordinance was passed and the art district was born. These three major contributions to Palm Beach Gardens really laid the foundation for the artistic golf destination known for luxury shopping that the city is today.