PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Worth Avenue Association is starting its seasonal "Historical Walking Tour" down Worth Avenue on Wednesday.
On the tour, people will learn first-hand the historical significance that architecture and fashion played in shaping Worth Avenue into what it is today.
"Worth Avenue has been a full-scale luxury retail district since 1923, at the latest," said Rick Rose, who leads the Historical Walking Tours. "So a lot of people didn't realize that Worth Avenue has several generations of history behind it so with each one of those generations there's a new group of personalities who have lived on the avenue, shopped on the avenue, worked on the avenue. Each one of those generations kind of shaped it into a new Worth Avenue for the next generation to kind of take on."
Rose is an active member of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, the Flagler Museum, and the Palm Beach Preservation Foundation.
Together with late Florida historian Jim Ponce, Rose and Ponce established the tour for visitors so they could learn about local history and see the most important points of interest.
"It's a lot of time on the tour, I take the time, I answer questions afterward. Generally speaking, the tours are fun. It's not just like going to a class in college or a school, the focus of the tours is the architecture of Worth Avenue, the fashion history of Worth Avenue, but a lot of the tour is talking about the fun anecdotes talking about the people who've lived there, worked there, shopped there over the course of the last hundred years or so. A lot of it is legend, some of its truths, but someone has to pass on those legendary tales and that's my job," said Rose.
The 75-minute tour begins at 256 Worth Avenue directly across from Tiffany & Co and proceeds the full length of Worth Avenue in both directions and is now limiting the number of participants to 50 people.
The tours were canceled because of the pandemic but organizers hope tourists, new residents, and locals alike can learn the history of how Palm Beach became America's first resort destination.
To go on the tour, you're asked to make a $25 donation where net proceeds from the tours benefit a charity.
Past charities have been ELS for Autism, Palm Beach Zoo, Tri-County Rescue, Garden Club of Palm Beach, Loggerhead Marinelife Center and more.
This year the Historical Society of Palm Beach County was selected.
The tours take place every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.
To sign up, click here.