Palm Beach

Formed April 30, 1909 (47^th county)

Palm Beach County (1,492,198), West Palm Beach (117,315)                

A Modern style glass and concrete courthouse houses the Palm Beach County Courthouse.  It was built in 1994 after the county outgrew the 1916 structure.  It is located at the intersection of Dixie Highway and Banyan Street.  Dixie Highway is United States Highway 1.  Michael A. Shiff and Associates and Hansen and Myers are the architects.  West Palm Beach has been the only county seat.  The county is named for the palm trees and the beaches.  West Palm Beach was established west of the first settlement and thus named.  Dade County yielded Palm Beach County on April 30, 1909 as the 47^th county.  Broward County was later carved out. 

Palm Beach County government consists of a manager, sheriff, and appraiser (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-four Circuit Court Judges and Eighteen County Court Judges, clerk, and county attorney serve Palm Beach County (judicial.) The county is located in the southeast part of Florida on the Atlantic Ocean.  Fort Lauderdale, Florida is directly south.  The center of the county is 19.5 miles West-Southwest of West Palm Beach in Wellington.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Martin County and the Atlantic Ocean and Broward, Hendry, Glades, and Okeechobee counties. 

The area of the county is 2034 square miles.  It is 1 out of 67 counties in the state.  It ranks 3 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 733.6 persons per square mile making it 11 out of 67 in the state.  Palm Beach County has 56.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 95 crosses north to south through the county from Martin County to Broward County.  United States Highway 1 parallels Interstate Highway 95 from Martin County to Broward County.  United States Highway 27 comes from the northwest, Hendry County, and goes south, Broward County.  United States Highway 98 enters from Martin County and terminates.  United States Highway 441 enters joined with United States Highway 98, splits, and exits south into Broward County.  The county shape is an overall square.  West Palm Beach is in the northeast quarter of the county.  West Palm Beach is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 7.9% of the county population.  This county is in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area.