John Prince Memorial Park

John Prince Memorial Park
Type Urban park
Location Lake Worth, Florida, United States
Coordinates 26°36′15.59″N 80°05′20.52″W / 26.6043306°N 80.0890333°W / 26.6043306; -80.0890333 (John Price Memorial Park)Coordinates: 26°36′15.59″N 80°05′20.52″W / 26.6043306°N 80.0890333°W / 26.6043306; -80.0890333 (John Price Memorial Park)
Area 726.36 acres (293.95 ha)
Created 1930s
Operated by Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department
Status Open all year

John Prince Memorial Park is a park located in Lake Worth, Florida. The park covers 726.36 acres (338 of which are acres of Lake Osborne) and is managed by the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department. Most of the park is on the western and northern shore of Lake Osborne. Some of the facilities at the park include: a new five section dog park called Lake Woof, pavilions, park ground structures, tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball courts, boat/canoe/kayak launch, outdoor fitness center, and a campground. The park is located adjacent to the Lantana Airport.

The park is named after former county commissioner John Prince who served for 18 years. Mr. Prince got developers and the state to donate more than 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land in the 1930s and 1940s which became the park, Palm Beach State College's Lake Worth campus and the Lantana Airport.

John Prince Park is believed to be the second oldest county park in Florida.

History

The land which later encompassed John Prince Memorial Park was originally an extensive wetland and lake system on the western periphery of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge.[1] John Prince – a Palm Beach County commissioner who served from 1934 to 1948 – began lobbying in the mid-1930s for acquisition of the undeveloped land on the western shore of Lake Osborne. Prince successfully persuaded his colleagues. After Governor Fred P. Cone told him that much of the land was in private ownership, Prince convinced each owner to sell their property.[2] The county then began working on converting the wetlands into a county park, de-mucking and filling the land by dredging around Lake Osborne. Only about 6 acres (0.024 km2) of wetlands remain at the park today.[1] A portion of the land was set aside for building the Palm Beach County Park Airport, which opened in 1941. Additional land was donated for the construction of a Boy Scout Camp and a Girl Scout Camp.[2] In its early days, the park was known as Lake Osborne Park, but was renamed John Prince Memorial Park after Prince died in June 1952.[3] The park was officially dedicated on November 11, 1952.[2] In the mid 1950s, the county donated 114 acres (0.46 km2) of land in the northwest corner of the park to Palm Beach Junior College (now known as Palm Beach State College) for construction of a permanent campus, which opened in 1956.[4]

Campground

The campground at John Prince Park covers 48 of the park's 726 acres (2.94 km2). The office hours are from 7:00 am – 9:00 pm. The campground has about 277 sites for tents or RVs.[5] The Campground was founded in 1956 after the Gulf Stream Council (the local Boy Scouts of America Council) donated Camp Osborne to Palm Beach County. To this day some scouting activities are still held at a small area in the campground called Scout Hill.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 History of John Prince Park (PDF) (Report). Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners Department of Environmental Resources Management. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Eliot Kleinberg (April 10, 2014). "John Prince Park named for WWI vet, former county commissioner". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  3. ↑ "County Votes To Designate 'John Prince Memorial Park'". The Palm Beach Post. July 15, 1952. Retrieved May 12, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "The Junior Colleges". Historical Society of Palm Beach County. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  5. ↑ http://www.co.palm-beach.fl.us/parks/camping/johnprincepark/
  6. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-08-06. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
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