They built a paradise — just not for themselves
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Palm Beach was being transformed into a luxury playground for America’s wealthiest families. That transformation did not happen by magic. It was built—brick by brick—by Black labor.
Black workers constructed the island’s grand hotels, mansions, roads, docks, and infrastructure, including the legendary Royal Poinciana Hotel and The Breakers. They cooked the meals, cleaned the rooms, landscaped the grounds, and maintained the estates that defined elite Palm Beach society.
To support this workforce, a self-sufficient Black community formed on the island itself.
The Styx: a Black community on prime land
That community was known as Styx Community.
Home to 400–500 Black residents Included churches, small businesses, shops, and family homes Located on the barrier island, just steps from the mansions and hotels where residents worked
The Styx wasn’t temporary housing. It was a real neighborhood with culture, stability, and generational roots. Black workers lived close to their jobs because segregation laws and transportation limits left them few other options.
When Black labor was no longer “needed” nearby
By 1912, Palm Beach’s white elites and city leaders decided the Styx was a problem—not because it was unsafe or failing, but because it sat on extremely valuable land they wanted exclusively for wealthy white residents.
They labeled the Styx a “blight.”
That word became the justification.
Residents were forced to leave Homes were burned or dismantled No fair compensation was provided Families were given little notice and no real choice
This was an early form of what we now call racial cleansing through development.
Displacement and erasure
Former Styx residents were pushed across the water to West Palm Beach, where they helped form neighborhoods like Pleasant City.
The move reshaped Black life in the region:
Longer commutes to work Reduced access to jobs Economic opportunities concentrated away from them Generational wealth interrupted
Meanwhile, the land they were removed from became part of Palm Beach’s luxury real-estate empire—estates, clubs, and properties that remain among the most expensive in the country today.
No markers. No memorials. For decades, no acknowledgment.
Why this matters now
Palm Beach’s wealth did not simply “develop.”
It was built by Black hands, then secured by removing Black people from the very land they made valuable.
Organizations like the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach have since documented the history of the Styx, but public awareness is still limited—especially compared to how often Palm Beach’s luxury history is celebrated.
This story isn’t unique. It’s a blueprint used across America:
Build with Black labor Remove Black presence Preserve wealth for others
They didn’t just build a place for the wealthy.
They built it, then were erased from it.
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