I am a fan of 1920's Mediterranean Revival architecture and love the El Cid neighborhood in West Palm Beach. There are 281 historic structures located in the boundaries of Flamingo Drive, South Flagler Drive, Dyer Road and South Dixie Highway.
El Cid was one of the few areas of Florida without any Native American history because the area was isolated from the rest of Florida by the Everglades. The first permanent resident to this western shore of Lake Worth was Benjamin Lainhart who built a cabin near Barcelona Road with the help of his cousin William. Lainhart started the first commercial pineapple farm and the land in this area was mainly pineapple farms. Disease ruined the pineapple industry in the early 1900's. Henry Flagler brought the railroad in 1894 and the town of West Palm Beach became incorporated causing a population explosion. In the 1920's, the Florida land boom resulted in population doubling again. Jay Phipps, the son of Andrew Carnegie's partner in U.S. Steel created the neighborhood with the old pineapple fields. He named it El Cid after Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar (1040-1099), a Spaniard who led Castilians and Iberian Moors to conquer Valencia in 1094. Cid is an Arabic term meaning lord. Between 1923 and 1926 upscale Mediterranean Revival and Mission style homes were sold on lots but the land boom bust after hurricanes and the Great Depression halted further building. WWII brought in new people and construction that filled in the empty lots. After a downturn in the 1960's, this neighborhoods beautiful homes and proximity to the water and downtown makes it highly sought after today. Historic homes range in the one million to three million range. The very first home built in El Cid in 1922 at 282 Barcelon Rd, is currently on the market for $2,695.000.
One of the most well known homes and the only one you can tour in this neighborhood, is the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens. This house turned museum once belonged to artist Ann and her husband Ralph Norton. Ralph founded the Norton Art Museum in West Palm Beach which is where he met his second wife Ann.
The El Cid District is listed on the local, State, and National Register of Historic Places. The neighborhood maintains and supports the landscaping with dues from it's El Cid neighborhood association. There is a marker along the Lake Worth Lagoon describing the historical importance of this neighborhood. read more