History of The Acreage / Loxahatchee

There is some interesting history on the Palm Beach Historical Society’s website. It leaves out the creation of Indian Trail Water Control District in 1957. In addition, I urge people to think about the whole area, rather than only a portion. The area known and referred to as the Acreage, does not include the areas west which have always been part of the Indian Trail boundaries and often referred to as Loxahatchee or by the unrecorded plat names such as Santa Rosa Groves or Royal Ascot Estates. While some of this area is included in the Acreage Neighborhood overlay and the Acreage designated census area, residents in this area will tell you they live in Loxahatchee and prefer that name. As most know, we have the municipality of Loxahatchee Groves to the East of this area.

There is a lot more history to the area than what is provided here. However, in 1956 all of the land was known as the Indian Trail Ranch and owned by the Friedland family.

“Western County: The Acreage

In 1956 Russian immigrant Samuel Nathan Friedland (1896-1985), founder of the Food Fair grocery chain, purchased the 100-square-mile Indian Trail Ranch in central Palm Beach County from Southern States Land and Timber Company. The Indian Trail Water Control District (present-day Indian Trail Improvement District) was established in 1957 to construct and maintain canals and roads on the land. Friedland planted 12,000 citrus trees on the property in the 1960s to supply fruit to his stores; he sold some of the groves to Callery-Judge Groves and other growers. Other parts of Friedland’s land became the J. W. Corbett National Wildlife Refuge and Pratt and Whitney Aircraft. Friedland sold 3,750 acres in 1959 to Lefcourt Corporation, which developed Royal Palm Beach. The remaining property—north of Royal Palm Beach and south of the Wildlife Refuge—is a roughly defined community known as The Acreage. Friedland’s Royal Palm Beach Colony, Ltd., heavily advertised lots of about an acre for $5,000—$95 down and $25 per month. Buyers arrived to find swampland, and Palm Beach County denied building permits, as no drainage plan had been approved by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). Variances were granted one by one until owners formed an association in 1978 to address their collective issues, especially drainage. Most of today’s 40,000-plus residents live in single-family homes on lots of one acre or larger where they can enjoy rural, equestrian, and agricultural ways of living. A contest in the 1980s suggested over 60 new names for the area, but residents voted to stay with The Acreage.”

© Historical Society of Palm Beach County http://www.pbchistoryonline.org/page/the-acreage?fbclid=IwAR2PwUsX_rMJq2NztLjMPjNvo2dvJRamKT5JUMiiUFajmgO1Ym2e8EdXbxE

Another bit of history, although the greater story was written about the “cancer cluster”

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/art…/20100718/news/812031395

“From citrus to retirees The Acreage was born when a supermarket baron changed plans. Sam Friedland, founder of the Food Fair grocery chain in Philadelphia, had an idea: vertical integration. He would grow oranges in Florida for his stores. In the 1950s, he gained control of more than 60,000 acres including Indian Trail Ranch, making him one of the county’s largest landholders east of the sugar fields. Friedland’s chain pioneered the use of scanners and cellophane to package meat. This time, his innovation stalled. Cold winters in the mid-1960s put a chill on the plan. But Palm Beach County’s population had nowhere to go except west. Friedland foresaw “with Florida’s tremendous growth in population, it is reasonable to believe that these lands may be utilized to their fullest extent shortly.” He died in 1985 at 88.

Royal Palm Beach Colony Inc., the development company created to sell Friedland’s land, peddled not only lots in the newly minted village of Royal Palm Beach, but also land for “future retirees” in a back-country portion that came to be known as The Acreage. Dirt roads and all, it became transformed into a vast grid of thousands of “ranchette” lots, about an acre and a quarter each. There was a reason for the “future retirees” angle. Palm Beach County’s growth rules, which began to assume their modern form in 1973, made it a slow process to get building permits. By one count, there were 78 homes in 17,000 potential lots in the mid-1970s.The idea was to make sure homes did not outstrip the services to support them. Scores of impatient owners and builders packed meetings. Construction boomed after the county agreed to ease restrictions for The Acreage in 1990.

…What looked like an attractive frontier to some was viewed by others as planning for trouble – or not planning.“

The easiest way to make money is straight roads, square blocks, no planning for where to have some commercial (businesses),” said Jess Santamaria, a Palm Beach County commissioner who represents The Acreage. A developer himself, he built thousands of homes mostly in Royal Palm Beach and Wellington, along with some individual homes in The Acreage, he said.“ …

“The Acreage remains a community of fiercely independent souls. Over the years, various initiatives to become a city, get municipal water or change the name have failed to achieve consensus. A homeowners group in the 1980s explored changing the name to Windy Pines, Whispering Meadow or 60-odd other suggestions, Bonde said. The old name won. Talk of incorporating as Acreage Pines in 2002 never came to be.” _{emphasis added}

The Palm Beach Post, July 18, 2010 https://www.palmbeachpost.com/article/20100718/news/812031395?fbclid=IwAR3TpstfQ-PWF2lNLWo_WlxCtVpC-oOq8xWix7ebct5fUEUK-hiI6bkBEIA

For a look at the history of Southern States Land and Timber Company, you can find it here http://www.ssltllc.com/AboutUs/history

Ella Montgomery is a name that has popped up tied to Loxahatchee Farms (_{the best I can make out from the Southern States Land and Timber history is this is what is now Loxahatchee Groves}) and allowed a group of seminole indians to settle on her property. I haven’t been able to find a lot of information on this yet but if anyone has information, please let me know.

“The Seminole village sites in the 1920s were mainly located on public land, but a few such as the Loxahatchee Farms camp, were allowed on private property with the consent of the landowners. According to the survey, Ella Montgomery enticed Charlie Cypress and his family to abandoned their home in the Big Cypress Swamp and move to Loxahatchee Farms with a gift of a Ford automobile.

Montgomery, related by marriage to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Edward Douglass White (1910-21), was one of many well-meaning citizens and organizations in Florida that sought to help the Seminole tribe. Charlie Cypress, age 55, was born in 1875 and head of the household that built their camp adjoining the Montgomery home just 10 miles west of West Palm Beach, according to the 1930 Census.”

https://www.southcentralfloridalife.com/stories/historians-document-seminole-tribe-of-floridas-legacy,14181

For a look at the history of Palm Beach County and some of the stats available, go here https://discover.pbcgov.org/pages/pbc_facts.aspx

Our Acreage Library was built by the County under an MSTU in March, 2012. It is located on Orange Blvd east of Seminole Pratt Whitney. It is 30,000 sq ft and is the first LEED Certified County facility. More info here http://www.pbclibrary.org/locations/acreage

For those who like maps, check out these maps.

This is a working draft of history of the area. If you have something to contribute, please feel free to send to me.

What ideas or suggestions do you have on a name for a proposed municipality? Please feel free to comment here or to email me at bargue@indiantrail.com