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Agnes Ballard, Addison Meisner and the 1920s boom shaped West Palm Beach neighborhoods
Summary
Janet Naughton said Agnes Ballard was an early elected official and architect; Addison Meisner and the 1920s land boom shaped several historic West Palm Beach neighborhoods.
Janet Naughton described Agnes Ballard as an architect and the first elected woman official in Palm Beach County to hold the office of superintendent of the Board of Instruction. "She runs as superintendent of the Palm Beach County Board of Instruction, and she wins...she was the first elected official in Palm Beach County," Naughton said.
Naughton linked Ballard and others to the city's early architectural boom. She said architect Addison Meisner introduced Mediterranean Revival elements to larger houses built in the 1920s; neighborhoods such as Northwood, Flamingo Park, Grandview Heights and El Cid retain those historic homes. "He brings with this European influence," she said of Meisner.
According to the podcast, the 1920s land boom ended after an embargo on transportation, two damaging hurricanes and the 1929 stock-market crash, followed by the Depression and a later recovery tied to World War II. Naughton said construction slowed, many properties were sold for back taxes and the city only recovered decades later.
