I. A. Banks Memorial Park

Around 1914, African Americans and Bahamians settled this neighborhood in an unincorporated area between Lake Worth and Lantana. Then known as the “Quarters,” it provided multi-family housing and private residences for agricultural workers. In 1926, the Town of Lake Worth annexed the neighborhood as the “Osborne Colored Addition.” Because of Jim Crow segregation laws, it was the only section of the city where Black people were permitted to reside. Lake Worth’s first cemetery, Pine Crest, was also segregated. After its first burial in 1923, Pine Crest allowed only the interment of white residents, so Black burials had to take place in Boynton Beach to the south or West Palm Beach to the north. In 1960, Lake Worth established the 1.5-acre Osborne Municipal Cemetery for “colored” residents. Ten years later, Lake Worth desegregated Pine Crest Cemetery. In 1983, neighborhood residents successfully petitioned the city to rename Osborne Municipal Cemetery the “I. A. Banks Memorial Park” in honor of Reverend I. A. Banks, founder of nearby New Hope Missionary Baptist Church.

Lake Worth Beach, Florida · United States