Confusion About Correct Spelling Of Name May Lie In Brothers’ Choices

Q: Why is the pioneer Lainhart family also sometimes called Lanehart?
- Jane B. Smith, North Palm Beach
A: “Nobody knows why,” says Donald Christopher Lainhart, president of the Lainhart and Potter lumber company, believed to be the oldest continuously operating business in Palm Beach County. He says his great-grandfather, George W. Lainhart, and George’s brother, Will Lanehart, selected different spellings when both were still in upstate New York in the mid-1800s.
In 1873, there were just 10 white men living between Jupiter and Hypoluxo and no white settlers south of there. By 1893, when the railroad opened the tropical frontier, there were enough pioneers here to form a club called the Lake Worth Pioneers Association, which had 84 male members in 1893.
George W. Lainhart came to the region as a carpenter, surveyor and mail boat pilot, perhaps along with Will Lanehart and Ben Lainhart, their cousin. In 1878, when the brig Providencia went aground with 20,000 coconuts, Will Lanehart and fellow pioneer H.F. Hammon sold the nuts at salvage for 2 1/2 cents each, leading to a proliferation of palm trees that gave the island its name
In 1893, George W. Lainhart began supplying building materials to Henry Flagler and other early developers, joining with fellow pioneer George W. Potter to form what would become Lainhart and Potter. Potter sold his interest in 1921, three years before his death. George Lainhart also would serve as a commissioner for Dade County (Palm Beach County split off in 1909).
Historical Society of Palm Beach County: 832-4164