Palm Beach County, Florida

Palm Beach County Education, Geography, and History

Palm Beach County is a county located in the state of Florida. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 1,320,134, making it the third-most populous county in Florida. Palm Beach County was created on April 30, 1909 from Dade County. The largest city and county seat is West Palm Beach. This county is named for the county's large amounts of palm trees.

Etymology - Origin of Palm Beach County Name

This county is named for the county's large amounts of palm trees.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Palm Beach County History

Palm Beach County was created in 1909. The county is named for its first settled community, Palm Beach, in turn named for the palm trees and beaches in the area. The County was carved out of what was then the northern portion of Dade County, and stretched northward to Brevard county, comprising part of the areas now occupied by Okeechobee and Broward counties, and all of Martin and Palm Beach counties, initially including all of Lake Okeechobee, making it the largest county in Florida at the time. The southernmost part of Palm Beach County was separated to create the northern portion of Broward County in 1915, the northwestern portion of Palm Beach County became part of Okeechobee County 1917 and Martin County was created from northernmost Palm Beach County in 1925. About three-quarters of Lake Okeechobee was removed from Palm Beach County in 1963 and divided up among Glades, Hendry, Martin and Okeechobee counties.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,386 square miles (6,181 km²).1,974 square miles (5,113 km²) of it is land (making it the largest Florida county by area) and 412 square miles (1,068 km²) of it is water, much of it in the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Okeechobee. The total area is 17.27% water.

 Palm Beach county is located in southeast Florida. The county's modern-day boundaries were established in 1963. Palm Beach County is included in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida metropolitan area.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• North: Martin County
• East: North Atlantic Ocean
• South: Broward County
• West: Hendry County

Education

Primary and secondary schools

All of Palm Beach County is served by the School District of Palm Beach County. As of 2006, it was the 4th largest school district in Florida and the 11th largest school district in the United States. As of August 2006, the district operated 164 schools, including 25 high schools, and, as of July 22, 2006 had an additional 33 charter schools, with seven more scheduled to open in August 2006. Newsweek listed three Palm Beach County high schools in the top 50 schools in the list 1200 Top US Schools - Atlantic Community High School, Suncoast High School and the Alexander Dreyfoos School of the Arts, all public magnet schools. Private schools in the county include Cardinal Newman High School, Jupiter Christian School, The King's Academy, Oxbridge Academy, Pope John Paul II High School, St Andrew's School and Weinbaum Yeshiva High School.

Colleges and universities

• Florida Atlantic University
• Lynn University
• Northwood University
• Nova Southeastern University
• Palm Beach Atlantic University
• Palm Beach State College

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