By Bob Davidsson
Buried beneath 21st century condominiums and planned unit developments in the Palm Beaches are villages of yesteryear with rich histories mainly lost in time. One of the most interesting is the community of "Figulus".
Figulus was the dream of two brothers from Cincinnati, George Wells Potter and his older sibling, Dr. Richard Potter. The Potter family was originally from Groton, MA, and moved to Ohio when George was still a youth. George was an artistic prodigy and at the early age of 18 became the chief cartoonist for the daily "Cincinnati Enquirer" newspaper.
In an era of coal-burning stoves and factories, George developed a severe case of asthma. Dr. Potter decided the only way to improve his brother's health was to move to a warm climate with clean air found in the sparsely populated frontier communities of Dade County in 1873. At the time of their arrival in Lemon City (Miami), Dade County extended north and included modern Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties.
In the 1870's, Lemon City was a rough-and-tumble pioneering community and home to more than its share of smugglers, scalawags, carpetbaggers, and men and women of uncertain virtue. Dr. Potter established a medical practice and made his living in Dade County while his brother recovered his health and studied surveying and engineering.
By the year 1881, the Potter brothers decided it was time for a change of venue to improve their fortunes. George visited the island of Palm Beach and purchased a family homestead encompassing 160 acres of land south of current Palm Beach Bath and Tennis Club. The homestead featured 2,000 feet of waterfront property along the ocean and Lake Worth, and included the wooded islands south of Southern Boulevard today known as the Audubon Islands preserve.
The brothers named their fledgling community "Figulus" - the Latin word for their surname - Potter. Lake Worth pioneer George D. Lainhart was hired to clear the property for the Potters and build two houses. The homestead was built on a high dune ridge offering views of both the ocean and the lake to the west.
The Figulus homestead is noted as the first oceanfront residence built on the island of Palm Beach. Most early island settlers favored homes along the bayside of Lake Worth. Figulus was landscaped with citrus trees, guavas and sapodillas, with vegetable and pineapple row crops.
Dr. Potter joined his brother in Figulus, and became the first medical doctor to establish a practice serving the scattered residents living along the shores of Lake Worth. Figulus was the second U.S. postal office to open on the island of Palm Beach Jan. 7, 1886, with Dr. Potter listed as the postmaster of record.
Figulus first appears on the 1886 O.W. Gray and Son map of Dade County, and is included in subsequent historic maps through the year 1893. These dates correspond with the operation of the Figulus Post Office. It is not recorded on the 1894 Dade County map produced by Rand-McNally, published after the Figulus property was sold.
During its short history, the Figulus Post Office was often used as the starting point or final destination for the "Barefoot Mailmen," who carried mail by foot between Palm Beach and Miami before the two communities were connected by railroad.
After the completion of the Figulus homestead, the two Potter brothers were joined on the island of Palm Beach by their mother, sister and foster brother from Cincinnati. They would later move to West Palm Beach where they resided with Dr. Potter.
In 1884, George Potter used his artistic skills to illustrate and co-author a book entitled "Camping and Cruising in Florida" with Dr. James Henshall. The book is a rare guide to life along Lake Worth and Dade County in the pre-Flagler era.
Lake Worth Communities at the Time of Figulus
While living at Figulus, George Potter purchased a schooner to visit the scattered communities along the 20-mile Lake Worth waterway. He also built a dock extending from bayside shore of Figulus to his small islands in the lake.
Prior to the extension of Henry Flagler's East Coast Railroad to West Palm Beach in February 1894, Lake Worth served as a primary transportation and trade network. The village of Juno was at the northern terminus of Lake Worth, with the waterway extending south to near the future site of Boynton Beach Hotel in 1894.
Sailing south from Juno, Potter's schooner would have passed early settler homes in the future town of West Palm Beach, and community centers such as the "Lake Worth Post Office" in Palm Beach, Figulus, the village of Jewell (Lake Worth) Post Office established in 1889, the Lantana Point Post Office (1892), the Hypoluxo Post Office (1886) and Manalapan Cottage, located on the east shore of the lake.
In 1889, the residents of northern Dade County, dissatisfied with traveling to a distant county seat on Biscayne Bay, demanded a voter referendum to establish a more centralized center of county government. North county residents won the election, and the county seat was temporarily moved from Lemon City-Miami to the village of Juno.
The same year, the narrow-gauge "Jupiter & Lake Worth (Celestial) Railroad" connected the Jupiter Inlet with Lake Worth with stops in the communities of Jupiter, Venus, Mars and the new county seat of Juno. Less than six years later, Henry Flagler's standard-gauge railroad would connect the Palm Beaches with the rest of the country, marking the end of pioneer era along Lake Worth.
A visit to the Palm Beaches by Flagler's wealthy Cleveland neighbor, Charles W. Bingham, also was the end of Potter's community of Figulus. With Flagler's blessing and encouragement, the Bingham family purchased the Figulus property in 1893.
George Potter earlier acquired land on the west shore of Lake Worth in 1891, and moved with his family to the future city of West Palm Beach. During the same year he sold Figulus to the Bingham's, Potter married Ella Dimick, and with George Lainhart's assistance built a new home just west of the current site of the Trump Plaza Towers.
George Potter's distinguished career continued after the sale of Figulus. He became the first county surveyor for Dade County in 1888, and in 1893 surveyed the original 48-block plat for what became downtown West Palm Beach for Henry Flagler.
Lainhart and Potter Lumber Company was formed as the city's first business. Potter also served on the first Board of Aldermen following the city's incorporation, and became mayor of West Palm Beach in 1910. He died in 1924 at age 73.
The Bingham Family: Figulus Mansion and Casa Apava
Charles W. and Mary Payne Bingham were a wealthy power couple in Cleveland, residing near their neighbor, Henry Flagler, in the exclusive Euclid section of the city. The Bingham and Payne families were active in oil refineries, manufacturing, Ohio politics and philantrophy. They also were major investors in the Standard Oil Company.
As was the case with George Potter, it was a family illness that motivated the Bingham's to relocate to the island of Palm Beach. The Figulus property was purchased by Charles and Mary Bingham for the purpose of building a winter retreat to improve the health of their ailing son, Oliver Perry Bingham, who died in 1900.
Construction began in 1893 on a rectangular-shaped "Shingle-Style" mansion with two projecting wings. Building supplies were literally shipped down Lake Worth to the site. As with the earlier Potter homestead, a high island ridge was the site chosen for the residence, providing views of both the Atlantic and Lake Worth.
According to the November 1894 "Tropical Sun" newspaper, Cleveland architect Forrest A. Coburn arrived in Palm Beach to consult with the design and construction of the Figulus mansion. Builder George Lainhart returned to Figulus as the construction contractor. Noted botanist Dr. David Fairchild was hired to landscape the property.
Mary Bingham died at Figulus in 1898. In 1919, Charles Bingham conveyed the Figulus (Bingham-Blossum) mansion, along with 17 acres of adjacent land to his daughter, Elizabeth Payne Bingham Blossum, as part of her share of the $70 million Bingham estate. The estate included the small islands in the Lake Worth Lagoon, known collectively as Bingham Island.
Daughter Frances Bingham Bolton was deeded a parcel south of Figulus along South Ocean Boulevard. With her husband, Chester Bolton, a Mediterranean-style mansion which they named "Casa Apava" was built at the site in 1919. Cleveland architect J. Abram Garfield, youngest son of President James Garfield, designed the mansion.
The Figulus mansion was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on Dec. 5, 1972. Unfortunately, the unique residence was badly damaged by fire and demolished a few years later. Today, Casa Apava remains a local landmark.
(c.) 2016
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