In This Issue a Simple Conversation Tustenegee Post Office Pioneer
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
A periodical devoted to the history of Palm Beach County Vol. I No. 1 Published by the Historical Society of Palm Beach County April 2010 In This Issue A Simple Conversation Tustenegee Post Office Pioneer Hotels The County’s Oldest Buildings The George Potter Collection The Historical Society of Palm Beach County has a small collection of drawings and watercolor paintings by pioneer George Potter. Potter was a school-trained artist who came to Biscayne Bay first with his brother Dr. Richard Potter. They moved to south Florida because George had been sick and Richard thought it best to take his brother to a warmer climate. George drew vignettes for the book Camping and Cruising in Florida (pub. 1881). He also worked as a surveyor when the Potters moved to the Lake Worth area in the 1880s. In 1893 George surveyed and laid out the 48-block area of what is now downtown West Palm Beach for Henry M. Flagler. That same year, George and George Lainhart established Lainhart and Potter Lumber Company which is Palm Beach County‘s oldest business and is still operated by the descendants of the Lainharts. The Tustenegee Volume 1, Number 1 April 2010 Inaugural issue of The Tustenegee Page 5 From the Archives 6 From the Collections 7 From Education Page 8 8 A Simple Conversation: The Birth of a County by Debi Murray and Steven Erdmann 10 The Story behind Tustenegee: Palm Beach‘s First Post Office by Debi Murray Page 10 14 Three Early Hotels on Lake Worth, Part I by Richard A. Marconi 18 Gems from Our Past: Palm Beach County‘s Oldest Structures by Richard A. Marconi Page 14 24 Did You Know… 25 Hidden Treasures 26 Exhibits and Events Page 18 3 April 2010 From the Editors Dear Reader, The Tustenegee It is our pleasure to introduce the first issue of The Editor-in-Chief Debi Murray Tustenegee, a journal dedicated to the history of Palm Beach County. The articles featured in this inaugural Editor Richard A. Marconi issue were written by staff members of the Historical Graphics and Layout Society of Palm Beach County. But, the pages of this Historical Society of Palm Beach County journal are for you. We hope you will submit articles The Tustenegee is a journal about Palm Beach County for future issues. Inside you will read about history and is published online twice a year by the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. developments and updates about the Archives, The Historical Society of Palm Beach County is a non- Collections, and Education. Also included are articles profit organization whose mission is to collect, preserve, and share the history of Palm Beach County. about the creation of Palm Beach County (2009 was the county‘s centennial); the re-discovery of Palm Beach‘s Historical Society of Palm Beach County 300 North Dixie Highway first post office; Part I of a two-part series of the West Palm Beach, FL 33401 Phone: (561) 832-4164 pioneer hotels on Lake Worth; and the county‘s oldest Fax: (561) 832-7965 th www.historicalsocietypbc.org extant 19 century structures. www.pbchistory.org Mailing Address: Historical Society of Palm Beach County PO Box 4364 We hope you enjoy the first issue of The Tustenegee West Palm Beach, FL 33402-4364 and we welcome your comments and article The contents of The Tustenegee are copyrighted by the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. All rights submissions. are reserved. Reprint of material is encouraged, however; written permission from the Historical Society is required. The Historical Society disclaims any responsibility for errors in factual material or Sincerely, statements of opinion expressed by contributors. The contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the editors, board, or staff of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. The Editors of The Tustenegee Inquiries and Contributions Write to: Editor, The Tustenegee Historical Society of Palm Beach County Article submission: Please submit articles in Microsoft Word PO Box 4364 format to the following email: [email protected], with West Palm Beach, FL 33402-4364 author‘s full name, email, mailing address, and phone number, and if applicable, organization. Once the article has been reviewed, the author will be notified via email whether or not it has been accepted for publication. Additional instructions will be sent about images, author biography, and photograph. The Historical Society of Palm Beach County reserves the right to edit all articles. The editors follow the Chicago Manual of Style for writing. Authors submitting articles do so with the understanding that they will not receive compensation. The Tustenegee 4 From the Archives Archival Preservation at the Historical Society by Debi Murray Director of Research and Archives Although the Historical Society of Palm Beach County these materials, we has been collecting archival materials since its determine which should be founding in 1937, the collection has never been fully scanned. Each PastPerfect catalogued. For the most part, the material was record has the ability to organized by subject: agriculture, business, sports, etc. hold up to ninety-nine So, if you were looking for information or photographs images. While not every about fishing for example, we would be able to find it item can be scanned at this under Sports/Fishing. And while we had a listing of time, we choose represent- the categories and sub-categories, there has never been ative images to attach a comprehensive and systematic, full-blown description digitally to the records. At of the collections. As the first step in creating what is a the same time, we are slowly organizing, re-housing, detailed finding guide, the Historical Society purchased and preparing our older collections for cataloguing. a collection management software program called Over the next few years, we will be putting some of PastPerfect several years ago. these records online and such access is only useful with When a new archival accession is processed, we detailed records. examine it to determine the best storage first. Most This work can only be accomplished with the help materials have to be re-housed into acid-free, lignin- of trained, dedicated volunteers. Currently there are free protective sleeves, folders, and/or boxes. That is twelve archival volunteers working on various considered the first line of preservation. While this is collections. Each has a particular project they are being accomplished, we are learning as much as we working on so they can come in and get right to the job can about the collection, the who, what, where, when, without having to wait for direction, although and why that is buried in the material which will then sometimes we have to pull them off their major project be used to write a scope and abstract (S&A) which in to help with short-term projects (stuffing envelopes, for turn will help researchers decide whether to examine example). Re-housing and cataloguing is very four to the materials in detail. The S&A can be a few words, a six hours per week, projects can be extended for few paragraphs, or several pages generally describing months, if not years. For instance, we have been the collection‘s content as well as its context in the scope of history. The next step is to use the database to reference specific materials so that the records are keyword searchable. A number of factors go into deciding just how detailed the cataloguing will be. Some institutions catalogue each and every photograph and piece of paper. At the Historical Society we determine the level of description on the size of the collection. If it is massive, we describe at the box or folder level. For instance, a collection may contain a series of brochures, so we list the name, dates of publication, and volumes that are contained in a box. On the other hand, we would describe a series of letters or photographs at the folder level, with a description of the material, the subject(s), people, and creation dates. If an accession contains only a few items, they are described at the item level. As we are cataloguing Archival storage at HSPBC. Continued on page 27 5 April 2010 From the Collections Collections Management at the Historical Society of Palm Beach County by Steven Erdmann Curator of Collections and Exhibits The Society has a policy on have little or no relevance to Palm Beach County‘s Collections Management history, often times a more suitable institution for the approved by our Board of donation is discussed. When relevant material is Governors. This policy delivered (often personally) or picked up, the donor is includes statements on the issued a Temporary Custody Receipt. An important scope of the Society‘s function of the Society‘s collecting process is that the collecting activities and material is accurately tracked and that good title is acquisition methods: passed to the Society. Items that are relevant to the Society‘s collections are next accessioned. Accessioning is the act of The Historical Society of Palm Beach County seeks processing new additions to the permanent collections. to collect and preserve objects and archival material A single accession may include one item or thousands that document people, places, and events of Palm of items; the word itself describes the formal Beach County in its regional context: private, public, transaction, processing, and passage of ownership to and community life; social the Society. Accessioning and historical trends, themes, carries with it fiduciary and change; natural and responsibilities; as the item man-made events and (or items) are held in the phenomena. The Society public trust.