Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Side One: Platted from 1912 to 1936, the Mango Promenade Historic District was one of West Palm Beach’s earliest upper-middle class suburbs. It is significant for its history and variety of architectural styles. The district features early accommodations for automobiles with garage outbuildings built contemporaneously, and in matching style, to the main houses. Unique to the district are two pedestrian walkways: Mango Promenade, which linked South Dixie Highway to South Olive Avenue, a brick-paved street in the district; and Orange Court, which linked South Dixie Highway to South Flagler Drive. Each served as entrance walkways for the houses on either side, while garage entrances were relegated to parallel alleys. South Dixie Highway contains commercial buildings making this a true mixed-use district. West of South Dixie Highway is the former African American cemetery operated 1902–1921 by the Lakeside Cemetery Association. The land was donated to the City of West Palm Beach in 1921, and converted to a park. Named Flamingo Park, the former cemetery is now memorialized with a marker. Mango Promenade became a local historic district in 1995 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Side Two: The Mango Promenade Historic District embraces a variety of architectural styles in residences dating from the 1910s and 1920s mixed with later development. It contains a homogeneous grouping of mostly wood vernacular bungalows and two-story hip-roof houses, known as American Foursquare. Many houses include sleeping porches, wide front porches, detailed rafter tails, shingle or clapboard siding and large double-hung windows. Several have strong Prairie-style overtones: broad eaves, horizontally grouped windows, high belt-lines, chunky three-quarter-height porch columns and strong horizontal emphasis. These houses, in the mold of Frank Lloyd Wright and the firm W.G. Purcell and G.G. Elmslie, would have been considered avant-garde in their day. Other residential styles: Craftsman Bungalow, Colonial Revival, Mediterranean Revival, Mission Revival, Monterey, Queen Anne, Shingle, Dutch Colonial and vernacular. In the commercial area along South Dixie Highway, the mercantile buildings date from the early 1920s and reflect the then-prevalent Mediterranean Revival style of the city generally. Commercial construction came to a halt due to the land bust in 1926, and hurricanes in 1926 and 1928.