Several Area Parks Named For Prominent Politicians

Readers: Several parks in our area are named for politicians: Mary Brandon (Park, West Palm Beach): She was a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission in the 1960s.
Vernita M. Cox (Park, South Bay): Cox was mayor from 1974 to 1975 and in 1984.
George Graham Currie (Currie Park, West Palm Beach; Currie Commons Park, Delray Beach): Currie, a native of Quebec, arrived penniless, became a lawyer, made and lost a fortune in real estate, and was West Palm Beach mayor from 1901 to 1902. He wrote at least 18 books of poems, musical lyrics and essays and aspired to be Florida’s poet laureate. Currie died in 1926, soon after the Delray Beach park was dedicated; the West Palm Beach park was dedicated in 1949. Currie’s son, longtime county Judge Francis Angevine “Banzai” Currie, died in 1979.
Paul Knowles (Park, Delray Beach): Knowles was a city commissioner who pushed for the park.
Leroy “Buddy” Merritt (Park, Delray Beach): The city council member and mayoral candidate died in 1979 at 47.
John Prince (John Prince Park, Lake Worth): A county commissioner for 18 years, he got developers and the state to donate more than 1,000 acres in the 1930s and 1940s. The 726-acre park that bears his name is believed to be the second oldest county park in Florida.
Paul Rardin (Rardin Park, Canal Point): A Palm Beach County commissioner for two decades and publisher of the Everglades News, he was instrumental in establishing the west county satellite courthouse in Belle Glade. The park was dedicated in 1964.
Iris and Donald Tanner (Tanner Park, South Bay): Tanner served three terms as mayor from 1976 to 1985. Iris Tanner was a council member from 1991 to 1993.
Historical Society of Palm Beach County: 832-4164.
Read More: Our Century, by the staff of The Palm Beach Post

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