Royal Poinciana Way Historic District
The Royal Poinciana Way Historic District is a historic commerce and residential district in Palm Beach, Florida. The district is bounded by the area from 207-283 Royal Poinciana Way, 95-118 North County Road, and 184-280 Sunset Avenue, with some exceptions. There are 36 buildings within the district, 26 of which are considered contributing properties. The Royal Poinciana Way Historic District became a listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on September 17, 2015. A post office located at 95 North County Road has also been listed in the NRHP since  1983. Further, the town of Palm Beach considers the post office, Bradley House Hotel, and the Biltmore Apartments as town landmarks. Formerly known as Main Street, the Royal Poinciana Way Historic District served as the primary location for commerce and civic activity in the early history of Palm Beach. This was because Royal Poinciana Way is the location of where a pedestrian and rail bridge would be constructed in 1901, providing a direct route (and the only bridge to Palm Beach until 1911) for travelers to Henry Flagler's hotels in Palm Beach, The Breakers and the Royal Poinciana Hotel . The contributing structures in the Royal Poinciana Way Historic District were constructed between 1915 and 1954, with 12 architects being involved in the designing and planning of the buildings, including noted architects Martin L. Hampton, William Manly King, and Gustav Maass. History. Standard Oil magnate Henry Flagler and his workers constructed the Royal Poinciana Hotel in 1894 and The Breakers in 1896, both located just south of where the Royal Poinciana Way Historic District stands today. Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway would reach West Palm Beach in 1894, and by the following year, a rail bridge spanning Lake Worth  was be completed, allowing tourists more direct access to his hotels in Palm Beach. The first rail bridge was located south of the Royal Poinciana Hotel. However, a second bridge with both train and pedestrian access replaced the original bridge in 1901 and would instead be located north of the Royal Poinciana Hotel. With this new bridge being the only direct route into Palm Beach until 1911, the area around it became the town's main street. Initially, much of the commercial and civic activity in Palm Beach occurred in the Royal Poinciana Way Historic District, while many of the  earliest estates in the town were built in that vicinity. While housing development slowed in Palm Beach during World War I, tourism to the area increased as travelers opted to visit domestic destinations. With additional commerce needed to accommodate the influx of tourists, several buildings were constructed along the main street between 1915 and 1919, which are now the oldest buildings in the Royal Poinciana Way Historic District. The earliest constructed building, now part Via Testa at 221A Royal Poinciana Way, likely served as a jail. Another structure of note built in the 1910s was Campbell Building, constructed in 1918  and located at 277-283 Royal Poinciana Way (the northeast corner of Royal Poinciana Way and Bradley Place). On the first floor of this building was originally Palm Beach’s post office, a grocery store, and other retails shops, while the second floor included a dance floor, casino, and a restaurant. The Royal Poinciana Way area remained an important section of Palm Beach in the 1920s and many other structures were built in its vicinity as a result of the Florida land boom. An article in "The Palm Beach Post" in 1924 described Royal Poinciana Way as "the heart of  Palm Beach from which all other activities radiate like veins and arteries, with the post office and bank and the purveyor and the stock broker and the tobacco merchant and the bookshop, all adding their bits to the composite street." During the Great Depression, the wealthiest in Palm Beach were not adversely affected by the state of the economy. However, many others canceled their winter vacations, which caused a decrease in business activity on Royal Poinciana Way. Later in the 1930s, the street finally transformed into a "gateway" for Palm Beach. In 1937, Main Street became Royal Poinciana Way. That  same year, as part of a Public Works Administration (PWA) project, the street was widened and a median added. The landscape median included a row on royal palm trees on the north and south sides of the medians, while shrubs were planted throughout the center. On July 1, 1938, construction workers completed the Flagler Memorial Bridge, also a PWA project. This bridge replaced the old rail and pedestrian bridge from 1901 and allowed direct vehicular access to Royal Poinciana Way. Prior to then, only the Royal Park Bridge had allowed automobile traffic (since 1911). Palm Beach mayor James M. Owens  served as master of ceremonies for opening of the bridge, while U.S. senator Charles O. Andrews and former U.S. senator Scott Loftin also gave speeches during the ceremony. After World War II, tourism and development rebounded. Following the death of Colonel Edward R. Bradley in 1946, Bradley's Beach Club and Casino, a gambling facility and restaurant, was demolished in accordance with his legal will. Land from the former site of the club, located along the Intracoastal Waterway between Royal Poinciana Way and the Biltmore Hotel, was donated to the town of Palm Beach. Bradley Park was then established on  the property. In the early 1950s, builders demolished many of the original cottages and instead constructed multi-family apartments and condominiums in their place. The decade also saw the addition of second floors to several structures. The newest contributing structure to the Royal Poinciana Way Historic District is a building at 244 Sunset Avenue, erected in 1952 and completed in 1954. On September 17, 2015, the Royal Poinciana Way Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Structures. Within the Royal Poinciana Way Historic District, there are a total of 36 structures, 26 of which are considered  contributing, while 10 others are considered noncontributing as they were either constructed after 1954 and were altered significantly. The following structures are listed as contributing: North County Road Royal Poinciana Way Sunset Avenue