Find homes for sale by owner in Lake Worth, Florida
Search Lake Worth real estate listings in Florida to find for sale by owner homes in the Palm Beach County metro area. Access the largest selection of fsbo homes in your local area.
Sell home by owner in Lake Worth, Florida
Sell a home by owner in Lake Worth and save thousands in commission. Florida houses for sale by owner in Palm Beach County sell faster with our preferred real estate listing services.
Lake Worth, Florida For Sale By Owner - Local Information
Lake Worth is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, which takes its name from the body of water along its eastern border, originally called "Lake Worth", and now generally known as the Lake Worth Lagoon. The lake itself was named for General William J. Worth, who led U.S. forces during the last part of the Second Seminole War. As of 2006, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 36,342. The city is part of the South Florida metropolitan area, which is home to 5,463,857 people.
Map of Lake Worth, Florida FSBO Listings
Additional information about Lake Worth, Florida
Local folklore has it that the first post office in the Lake Worth area was founded in the 1880s by a married African American couple who were freed slaves. The initial name for the post office was Jewel. The post office was located in a small dry good shop which the couple operated to serve the lake traffic which connected the small pioneer homesteads located along the banks of the Lake Worth Lagoon.
After Henry Flagler extended his rail line south from West Palm Beach to Miami in 1896, a land development scheme was created to plant a townsite between the railroad and the lake. Purchasers of lots within the townsite would also receive a larger plot of land west of town for agricultural use. The initial name proposed for the new town was Lucerne; however, the U.S. Post Office refused to accept the name because there already was a Lake Lucerne post office north of Miami in Dade County. Therefore, the city fathers settled on the name Lake Worth, for the lake on which the fledgling town was sited. One of the main streets was named Lucerne Avenue instead. The city was officially incorporated in 1912. Many of the first residents were farmers from other parts of the American south and mid-west, looking to benefit from the growing winter vegetable market of the time. The city benefited with the rest of south Florida during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. A wooden automobile traffic bridge over Lake Worth was completed in 1919. The first casino and municipal beach complex was completed shortly thereafter. The 1920s also saw the completion of the Gulf Stream Hotel, which is presently be renovated and is on the National List of Historic Places.
The city was severely damaged in the 1928 hurricane, toppling the bell tower on the elementary school (today the City Hall Annex) and destroying the beachfront casino and automobile bridge over Lake Worth. This led to a severe economic decline within the community, during the Great Depression. Things were so dire in the city in the 1930s, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration built a striking, moorish-styled "City Gymnasium" on the corner of Lake Avenue and Dixie Highway. The building today serves as City Hall.
Development started again after World War II with many modest pensioners, especially from Quebec, Finland and eventually Germany, moving to the city and building cottages. These new immigrants brought their industrious nature with them as well as their native customs, restaurants, shops, and churches and for decades the town flourished. To this day, one can find an abundance of beer halls, chocolatiers, Bavarian delicatessens, and Lutheran churches, which stand out in the semitropical urban sprawl of south Florida.
After a short period of neglect and decline in the 1980s and 1990s, the downtown area has seen a huge resurgence in interest and development and once moribund property values have soared. The city's main street, Lake Avenue, contains some of the oldest commercial structures in south Florida, including the Lake Worth Play House. The rediscovery of this unique charm has spurred new interest in the city.
The city was hit especially hard by Hurricanes Frances, Jeanne, and Wilma in 2004 and 2005. The fishing pier was the most damaged and with the help of FEMA it is now being repaired; it was anticipated to reopen in the summer of 2008. The decaying Casino Building (no gambling) is in the process of being rebuilt in the style of the historic Casino Building of the 1920s. The city's public swimming pool has been restored and will host competitions as well as become a valuable resourse in teaching Palm Beach County residents to swim and exercise.
Popular FSBO cities in Florida
