GEERWORTH
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GEERWORTH |
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NAME: Geerworth COUNTY: Palm Beach ROADS: 2WD GRID: 4 CLIMATE: hot and humid in the summer, otherwise warm during the day, cool at night BEST TIME TO VISIT: anytime |
COMMENTS:
Best approximation puts it at the Nine Mile Bend area at the corner of 880 (East Canal St South) and Sam Senter Rd. Exact location unconfirmed. REMAINS: now part of a vast sugarcane field, no building or structure remains left |
| Geerworth began in 1921 when H.G. Geer and C.C. Chillingworth (lawyer and father of prominent judge Curtis Chillingworth) developed a 16,000 acre tract roughly 9 miles east of Belle Glade. Most of this land was sold in England and colonized by immigrants. Apparantly at one point a road led from the Geerworth settlement to the Belle Glade bridge (at Torry Island). This was Route 451, which no longer exists, and possibly never materialized beyond the planning stages. In 1922 the area flooded heavily, drowning the British colony there. The town was re-settled by 1924, and survived many smaller floods the following years. In 1928 Geerworth shared the same fate as Fruitcrest, Gardenia, and many other settlements south of Lake Okeechobee. The 1928 Hurricane flooded and destroyed the entire colony. The death toll of the huricane is estimated at 2300, although the exact figure is unknown. The storm casualties were buried in Pahokee and West Palm Beach, and a monument to their struggle and sacrifice is in Belle Glade. Today no trace exists of Geerworth, which is now part of the great expanse of sugarcane fields in the Glades. Submitted by: Jim Pike |
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