Island Landmarks

Historic and Architectural Marvels on Palm Beach Island

Part of the appeal of Palm Beach is its whimsy, eccentricity, and decades-long legacy. Below, find a few historic and architectural marvels that are must-see landmarks on the island.

Worth Avenue Clock Tower
At the easternmost end of Worth Avenue sits the Worth Avenue Clock Tower, one of the most iconic landmarks of the island. Flanked by swaying palm trees and with the wide blue Atlantic Ocean as its sparkling backdrop, this 25-foot tower was built in 2010 as a monument to the Palm Beach Pier that once stood in the same spot (before a series of storms ravaged it, beginning with the catastrophic 1928 Okeechobee hurricane).

Coral Cut Wall
The island of Palm Beach is flat, sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Intracoastal Waterway on the other, with one notable exception — the coral cut wall that seems to rise out of nowhere along North Lake Way. Bending around the southwest corner of the Palm Beach Country Club golf course, this mound of rock and coquina shell stretches up to 200 feet tall and is shrouded in many spooky local legends, earning it the nickname “Witch’s Wall.”

Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea
Built in 1889, the Episcopalian Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea has seen a range of parishioners over the centuries, from Palm Beach’s Founding Father, oil and railroad tycoon Henry Flagler, to former president Donald Trump, who married Melania there in 2005. (Michael Jordan also held a wedding there in 2013.) The tropical gardens and courtyard of the Gothic marvel are open to explore.

Grave of Johnnie Brown
A headstone may be just about the last thing you expect to see on Palm Beach, and in fact, the grave of Johnnie Brown is one of only two marked graves on the island (the other is next to it). That’s because Johnnie Brown wasn’t a human but a spider monkey — the beloved ever-present pet of eccentric architect Addison Mizner. Adding to the intrigue, the “human monkey” is interred in a most unexpected location: the palm-studded courtyard of Pizza al Fresco, the island’s favorite posh pizza place, just off Worth Avenue. Mizner’s former villa anchors the site.