By Bob Davidsson
In Palm Beach County's 107-year history, few elected officials serving on the County Commission contributed more to the future welfare of its citizens than Lake Worth pioneer John Prince.
Palm Beach State College, the Palm Beach County Air Park, the Club Managers of America Therapeutic Recreation complex, a Golf Learning Center, and the 726-acre park and campground dedicated in his honor, are all located on land obtained for the county by Commissioner Prince for the benefit of the public.
The John Prince Memorial Park, located west and north of Lake Osborne, is visited by thousands of county hikers, boaters, joggers, campers, fishermen and picnickers each year, but few residents know the life story of the political leader who made this future leisure and recreational center a reality.
Early Life and Military Service
John Prince was born in the year 1892 in Manhattan and raised in New York City. He moved to Lake Worth as a 19-year-old youth during the winter of 1912, the same year the town was formally incorporated.
In the summer of 1912, the town completed its first survey, with a master plan designed to accommodate 55 miles of streets and 7,000 housing units plated for future development. There was a need for skilled workers to build roads and housing throughout Palm Beach County.
Prince began his career as an employee of Greynold and Monroe, Inc., at that time one of the largest road construction companies in South Florida. In addition to contracts with Lake Worth, Greynold-Monroe paved sections of Old Dixie Highway (U.S. One), and developed Southland Park in West Palm Beach, Greynold Heights in Lantana and Monroe Heights in Riviera Beach.
The young engineer also was a member of the Florida National Guard. His Florida 2nd Infantry Regiment was federalized in 1916-17 as a reserve unit deployed during the Mexican Revolution border crisis.
Raids by Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa at Columbus, New Mexico, and Glenn Springs, Texas, resulted in the "Punitive Expedition" by the U.S. Army in northern Mexico, and the need for increased garrisons and military patrols along the U.S.-Mexico border.
At the peak of the conflict, more than 100,000 reservists were called upon to support regular army units. The 2nd Florida Infantry was mustered out of the campaign in March 1917, but was soon recalled following the declaration of war against Germany and the U.S. entry into World War I.
The 2nd Florida Infantry was re-federalized and entered the war as the 124th Infantry Regiment. Second Lieutenant John Prince joined his unit on Nov. 13, 1917, and was transported with his regiment 10 months later to the Western Front in France.
According to his U.S. Army service record, Prince was assigned to 131st Engineers Company of the 124th Infantry. He served overseas from Oct. 17, 1918 to July 15, 1919. Prince was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in July 1918, and received an honorable discharge with his regiment Aug. 2, 1919.
His military service did not end with World War I. Although nearing age 50, Prince volunteered as a civilian with Company E, 7th Battalion of the "Florida Defense Force" during World War II.
He flew as a "spotter" with the local Civil Air Patrol squadron, stationed at the new Lantana Airport as Coastal Patrol Base 3. The squadron patrolled coastal waters by air in search of German U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic.
Prince was a founding member and first commander of the local Carl Vogel Post 47 of the American Legion. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and became an advocate for veterans. Strong support from veterans would later help Prince in his political career and with future plans to create a county park.
Prince's Career in Local Government
After his discharge from the U.S. Army, Prince returned to Lake Worth to continue his career as an engineer. According to the 1920 Census, he temporarily lived as a boarder at the Frank Herald residence in Lake Worth.
He married Mary Elese Rouse, the daughter of early Lake Worth settlers Ira and Irene Rouse, in 1924. Their daughter and only child, Margaret Irene, was born in 1926.
He worked for several years as an assistant engineer for the Palm Beach County Engineering Department. One of his projects was assisting the Lake Worth Drainage District with its water control program for farmlands west of Lake Osborne.
Prince became familiar with the freshwater chain-of-lakes ecosystem extending from Lake Clarke south to Lake Ida in Delray Beach. He saw the potential of Lake Osborne as a future water shed and resource for Palm Beach County.
The engineer was active in the local Democratic Party. Prince became chairman of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party Executive Committee. He used his knowledge of county government, with the support of veterans groups, to win a seat on the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) in 1934.
There were no Commission term limits at that time, and Prince served on the board for the next 17 years. His district included his home town of Lake Worth and unincorporated areas west of the city.
Using the power of his office, Prince began lobbying his fellow commissioners, landowners and Florida Governor Fred Cone (1937-41), a fellow Democratic Party official, for the acquisition of land on the undeveloped western shore of Lake Osborne.
To his credit, through a combination of persuasion, political arm twisting and land donations the county eventually acquired nearly 1,000 acres for public use, and filed the titles of donated tracts with the Florida Internal Improvement Board, placing the lakefront property under county management.
The John Prince Memorial Park
The land acquired by Palm Beach County extended from Lantana Road north to Lake Worth Road, and west from Lake Osborne to Congress Avenue. This included the west and northernmost shores of Lake Osborne totaling more than 35,200 feet of lake frontage, and 336 acres of submerged land in the lake itself.
Prince and his fellow commissioners envisioned this property for a variety of public uses. The Lantana Airport (the future Palm Beach County Air Park) was built on 304 acres of land north of Lantana Road, between the lake and Congress Avenue.
The tract was donated to Palm Beach County under the condition that the site would "serve the public good." The county airport opened on Aug. 20, 1940, and was used as an auxiliary "reliever field" for the U.S. Army Air Corps base at Morrison Field (Palm Beach International Airport) during World War II.
The Civil Air Patrol began anti-submarine flights from the Lantana Airport in December 1941, and for 78 years the CAP has continued to fly search and rescue missions from the airfield. Today, the general aviation field is operated by the Palm Beach County Airports Department.
Another public use of the acquired county land in the 1940s was the establishment of campgrounds for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts along the west shore of Lake Osborne. The Girl Scouts Camp was named in honor of Mary Prince after her untimely death at age 44 in 1949.
A 48-acre public campground was founded in 1956. The site included "Camp Osborne" which was donated to the county by the Gulf Stream Council of Boy Scouts of America.
For many years after its founding, Palm Beach Junior College was known as the "Little Orphan College" without a permanent home. Some of its temporary sites were a former Morrison Field surplus airport building and the Lake Park Town Hall.
In 1956, Palm Beach County donated 114 acres of the land from the Lake Osborne tract acquired by Prince for the college's main campus. The junior college was renamed Palm Beach State College in 2010, with a campus extending from Lake Worth Road south to 6th Avenue South.
While serving his third year as the chairman of the County Commission in 1951, Commissioner Prince announced his resignation from the board due to poor health. In March 1951, he was struck by a car while crossing Dixie Highway in Lantana.
Prince died of a stroke in June 1952. He was age 62 at the time of his death, and was buried near his wife in Lake Worth's Pine Crest Cemetery.
His friends and fellow veterans petitioned the County Commission to establish and name a park in his honor. John Prince Memorial Park was dedicated on Veterans Day, 1952. A park marker is located near its north entrance.
Today, John Prince Memorial Park, the second oldest county public park established in Florida, continues to meet the recreational needs of the public. It is operated by the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department.
It seems only fitting that the administrative offices for the county park system are located on land acquired through the dedicated efforts of John Prince.
(c.) Davidsson. 2017.
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