Aerial Photos: Murphy Construction Company. Dock Photo: Pat Truscello
Pre-construction (left), and construction in progress during September 2005 (right).
Ocean Ridge Natural Area today
In September 1997, the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners directed the Department of Environmental Resources Management staff to explore potential locations for a "boater island" to provide a recreational area for boaters within the southern portions of Lake Worth Lagoon. In August 1998 a team of stakeholders representing local, state, and federal government, businesses, and private citizens approved a final management plan to guide the restoration and enhancement of Lake Worth Lagoon. In June 2001 a lease agreement with the Town of Ocean Ridge was approved for Palm Beach County to restore mangrove wetlands, create recreational amenities, and provide for the long term management of 12.35 acres owned by the Town. This parcel, the Ocean Ridge Natural Area, is connected to a 12.5 acre mangrove mitigation project. Both parcels comprise a 25-acre nature preserve located just south of the Ocean Avenue bridge.
The Ocean Ridge Natural Area project consists of: enhancing 5 acres of existing mangroves; creating 4.5 acres of mangroves, open water habitat, and maritime hammock uplands; and building public facilities. The site has a concrete access path from Ocean Blvd (A1A) to a boardwalk through existing mangrove wetlands to the created upland hammock area where a concrete nature trail leads to a two story observation tower, a kiosk, and a boat docking facility.
The Lake Worth Lagoon area was first noted on an 1830s map as a freshwater lake with drainage from swampy areas along the western edge. The interior of Palm Beach County was described by the occasional explorer as a wilderness of water, forest, prairie, and marsh land. Prior to the late 1800s maps show the Ocean Ridge Natural Area to be part of an extensive freshwater sawgrass marsh system that extended from Lake Worth to Boca Raton. Over time these marshes, swamps, and waterways were filled or dredged for urban use. Channels and inlets connecting to the ocean were dredged, converting the fresh water lake and marsh system to a brackish water lagoon surrounded by sprawling urban development. Lake Worth is named after Brigadier General William Jenkins Worth, a United States Army commander during the second Seminole Indian War in 1842. The Seminole Indians who had settled in the Lake Worth area at that time called the lake "Hypoluxo", which means "water all around, no get out". The first permanent settlers came to the shores of Lake Worth in the early 1870s. The first stable, navigable ocean inlet was constructed in 1877. In the early 1900s the Florida East Coast Canal (FECC) was completed from the south end of Lake Worth Lagoon to Biscayne Bay. The canal drained the sawgrass marshes allowing farmers to grow crops in the natural area. For roughly 30 years the FECC was privately owned and canal users were required to pay tolls. In 1927 the State created the Florida Inland Navigation District, which took over the canal. The toll chains were removed, the canal was designated a federal project by Congress in 1929, and its name was changed to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). The ICW was dredged to 100 feet wide and 10 feet deep during the early 1930s. The dredged sandy soil was deposited in the natural area. The opening of the South Lake Worth Inlet (Boynton Inlet) in 1926 and the widening of the canal introduced saltwater into the lower elevation areas of the natural area. Over time, exotic vegetation, such as Australian pine and Brazilian pepper, invaded the upland areas while mangroves began appearing in the lower areas.
In 1920 the Town of Boynton, which included the present day Town of Ocean Ridge, was incorporated. In 1931 a new Town of Boynton Beach split off from the Town of Boynton. In 1937 the Town of Boynton Beach Commission met to discuss changing the name of the town. Due to similar appearances of the town names, mail addressed to Boynton Beach was being sent to Daytona Beach instead. In order to avoid future confusion the mayor declared a contest to rename the town. The mayor's daughter suggested the name of Ocean Ridge and won the $100 contest prize. The change took effect in 1939 after fourteen town residents voted to change the name.
Coastal Resources
