CLEMATIS STREET COMMERCIAL HISTORIC DISTRICT

For over 100 years, Clematis Street(named after the Clematis flower has been the primary retail street in West Palm Beach. It was a shell-topped road in 1893, when Henry Flagler(1830-1913) began to develop West Palm Beach as the commercial district for his resort community of Palm Beach. The face of Clematis Street was changed in 1904 with the paving and the installation of sidewalks and streetlights. The Eastern end of Clematis Street developed first, but by 1916, as the population grew, the business district began to expand to the West. During the real estate boom of the 1920's, new buildings were erected to house a variety of retail establishments in the 500 block of Clematis Street. Among the contributing buildings in the district are the Hotel Clematis and Gruner's department store at 512-516 Clematis Street; James Rooming House at 518-20 Clematis Street; Sewell's Hardware store at 528-30 Clematis Street; and Sirkin Building at 533 Clematis Street(designed by local architect's Harvey and Clark)all built between 1920 and 1928. The 500 block of Clematis has the highest concentration of historic buildings in the downtown retail area. In 1998 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.