LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — In Lake Worth Beach, history isn't just remembered — it's painted into the landscape.
For longtime resident Retha Lowe, the story of the Osborne community is deeply personal.
"I've been with this city, knowing this area since I was 12 years old," Lowe said.
When asked her age today, she smiled.
"I'm 80. So I've seen it all," Lowe said.
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Lowe, the city's first Black commissioner and former vice mayor, has witnessed the neighborhood's transformation from a segregated enclave once known as "the quarters" into the diverse community it is today.
For decades, the Osborne neighborhood was a designated area where Black families were required to live under local zoning rules in the 1950s.
"Right now, you are in this area that was known as the quarters," Lowe explained.
She described the boundaries clearly — from the wall to 12th Avenue, from the old city dump to the railroad tracks — a tight footprint that defined daily life for Black residents.
"The whites on this side and the Blacks over here… so the Blacks had to stay over here," Lowe said. "You weren't allowed over there."
Built in 1954, the 1,100-foot cinder block wall along Wingfield Street became an unofficial dividing line between the Osborne Colored Addition and nearby white neighborhoods. While there is no definitive proof that the wall was built specifically to segregate residents, federal housing policies at the time often encouraged physical buffers between Black and white communities.
Despite the restrictions, Lowe said Osborne was self-sufficient.
"This area had everything we needed… stores, beauty shops, barber shops, grocery — we had everything right in these quarters," Lowe recalled.
Today, the same wall that once symbolized separation tells a broader story through a series of colorful historical panels.
"I said we're going to change that," Lowe said. "We're going to make it a unity wall."
Ted Brownstein with the Lake Worth Historical Society says the mural project was designed to preserve the community's history.
"There are about ten panels here that represent different aspects of life before desegregation… the leaders, the institutions, the schools and churches," Brownstein said.
The images reflect a time when the neighborhood lacked even basic infrastructure.
"The roads were unpaved… there were no street lights, no sanitary sewer — none of the parks you see today," he said.
One panel marks a pivotal moment in 1962, when two Black students quietly integrated Lake Worth High School.
"They went in very quietly… just went to classes and went home," Brownstein said.
Community leaders say the Osborne neighborhood — once intentionally isolated — is now defined by connection.
"This community was unfortunately designed to be off the grid," Brownstein said. "But the churches, the community center — everything is very welcoming to people."
For Lowe, the transformation is proof of progress.
"This is unity. This is together. This is family," Lowe said.
And even as the neighborhood grows more diverse, she says its foundation hasn't changed.
"This community has always been, and still is, a family community," Lowe said.
