Palm Beach Shores Turns 75, in the Places Its Founder Drew

"One look was enough," A.O. Edwards said of the day in 1947 when he crossed what he called a "rickety old wooden bridge" to the south end of Singer Island. He decided that afternoon to buy 240 acres for the development that became Palm Beach Shores. The town says its corporate existence began in 1951, and the Historical Society of Palm Beach County gives the same year for incorporation. That makes this fall and winter the town's 75th anniversary season.

If you live in Yacht Harbor Manor, the Riviera Beach canal neighborhood just north of the town line, this is the neighbor next door having its birthday. The parties are close enough to walk or boat to. What makes the calendar interesting is where the events take place. Almost every one of them happens somewhere Edwards put on paper before most of the houses were built.

A Prospectus That Still Reads Like a Map

The town's own history, a text revised in March 1998, says an early prospectus for Palm Beach Shores "shows it to be much the same as it is today." The prospectus described stone balustrades at street intersections, a fountain at the head of a parkway, a private beach for residents, and commercial buildings and apartments around the edges. Edwards laid out 631 lots priced between $1,800 and $4,000.

He knew how to build. Before Florida, Edwards had built railroads in England, India and South Africa. He rebuilt the Savoy Hotel in London and, in 1927, built the Grosvenor House there. His Florida plan used the water on three sides as its main selling point. The oceanfront was the first draw, and the lakefront came with a perk. Early sales brochures showed a yacht club for property owners, with a clubhouse that is now the Buccaneer Yacht Club and 60 slips. Thirty were at South dock, the original Sailfish Marina dock, and thirty were at North dock, now Cannonsport Marina.

Plans changed early. According to the town history, all three lakefront properties were sold before many homes went up, and North dock became Cannonsport in 1960. On the physical layout, the history is direct: "The physical property is almost the same now as it was in the early years."

That continuity is the thread running through this season. The 75th anniversary gathers at the original lakefront dock and at the town's Community Center, so the events retrace the 1947 plan.

November 7 Brings the Town Back to South Dock

The 75th Diamond Jubilee is scheduled for Saturday, November 7, 2026, from 5 to 9 p.m. at Sailfish Marina. In other words, the town is holding its biggest party in decades on the dock that appeared in Edwards' first brochures.

The marina's history follows a long chain of names. Sailfish Marina traces its late-1940s dock to "Roy's Dock," which later became Bill's Marina, named for longtime owner Bill Bachstedt. The marina says Alex Dreyfoos bought Bill's Marina in 1977, acquired the neighboring Bahia Mar/Sailfish Center, and combined the two as Sailfish Marina & Resort. The town's history dates the joining of the docks to "the 80s" and adds that a third dock was built to create the present complex. The two accounts differ on the year. Both say the marina you walk onto today grew from separate docks that were part of the town's founding plan.

As of early October, the town has not posted public ticket prices, RSVP instructions or a program for the Jubilee. Its celebration page says event details will follow, so check the Town of Palm Beach Shores celebration page for updates as the date gets closer. The sponsor roster is posted. It names Sailfish Marina, HAVN, NRH, Florida REPs, Buccaneer, Island Grill, Brink Surgical Vision Institute, FPL, Palm Beach Shores Resort, the Rotary Club of Singer Island, Seasiders, and several individual and family sponsors. John Nugent Group and Brian Rosenberger are on that list as well.

The Town Is Still Collecting Its Own Story

The anniversary is also an archive project, and you can contribute to it. The town is asking for 30-second to one-minute videos of favorite memories of "living, working, surfing, or just visiting" Palm Beach Shores. It also wants personal photos, with this request: "The older the photos, the better!" The material will be shown as a presentation during the celebration.

The deadline for video and photo submissions is Friday, December 4, 2026.

There is a second channel for physical items. The town is gathering memorabilia for a "Memory Lane Exhibit" at the Community Center and asks contributors to email [email protected].

The obvious candidate for that exhibit is a building that no longer exists. In 1948, Edwards built the Inlet Court Hotel, later renamed the Colonnades, under the slogan "where excellence is not extravagance." The estate sold the hotel to John MacArthur in 1963. According to the town history, MacArthur ran his financial holdings from a table in the Colonnades Coffee Shop. The hotel hosted the Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin, Paul Harvey broadcast from it at times, and Burt Reynolds later used its Tiki Bar for "B.L. Stryker." The hotel was demolished in 1990. Anyone with a Colonnades matchbook, menu or snapshot in a drawer now has a deadline and an address to send it to.

The story reaches into Yacht Harbor Manor too. The town history dates the first recorded settlement on Singer Island to Inlet City in 1906, a community of fishermen and squatters, many from Riviera Beach and the Bahamas. Its main streets were Fiddler's Green, Goose Hollow and Broadway. The old inlet it grew up around sat roughly opposite "the landfill area in Riviera Beach, now known as Yacht Harbor Manor." So the history on display this winter partly concerns the ground just north of the town line.

December Moves the Celebration Onto the Intracoastal

The water Edwards sold as an amenity hosts the next big date. Sailfish Marina's 2nd Annual Boat Parade of the Greater Palm Beaches is set for Saturday, December 12, 2026. The route runs along the Intracoastal Waterway from Singer Island to North Palm Beach, with decorated boats, a fireworks show, and Santa Claus aboard the Grand Marshal Boat. The parade partners with the Little Smiles Annual Holiday Toy Drive, which collects new, unwrapped toys for local children. The parade page does not yet list a start time.

The marina's regular schedule continues between the big dates. Its Sunset Celebration runs Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m., with more than 35 artists, live music, food, and $5 event parking. The marina also lists live music every night, from 5 to 9 p.m. on weekdays and in two weekend sets, 1 to 4 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. The restaurant is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and does not take reservations.

Peanut Island also dates to the inlet. The town history describes it as a spoil island created by dredging the inlet. It notes that a smaller second island, Little Peanut, existed to the north until the mid-1960s, and that over the years proposals for Peanut Island ranged from a cruise ship parking lot to an oil refinery. Today it is a county park. Sailfish Marina's shuttle currently lists departures at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. for $28 round trip. County listings show the JFK bunker closed until further notice. Both pages are undated live listings, so confirm before you plan a day around them.

The Season on One Page

The January 9 family celebration at the Community Center closes out the posted schedule. The town says more events may be added. The 1949 Blue Heron lift span has a similar footnote. It replaced the wooden bridges Edwards would have known, and the town history says its eastern half still stands as a fishing pier, next to the high-rise bridge built in 1976.

At John Nugent Group, we're proud to be among this year's Jubilee sponsors, and we're glad to talk about the history of the south end of the island, from the original docks to the Yacht Harbor Manor canals. If you have questions about the area or a waterfront property here, contact us.