Elisha Newton ‘Cap’ Dimick April 29, 1849 – Jan. 6, 1919

Cap Dimick, named for his favored white hats, never skippered a ship, but he did steer early Palm Beach.
His family came to the island in 1876 and soon had lush crops of sweet potatoes, pumpkins and pineapples. In 1880, Dimick added eight rooms to his home and opened the first hotel, the Cocoanut Grove House.
By 1899, Cap owned 136 acres of Palm Beach, then just a patch of jungle and swamp from lake to ocean.
He built a wooden bridge himself in 1911 and called it the Royal Park Bridge. He charged a quarter per car and a nickel per pedestrian. In 1919, Palm Beach County bought Dimick’s bridge for $40,000.
Cap became Palm Beach’s first mayor when the town incorporated in 1911. He also was a state representative in 1890 and state senator in 1896, and he helped start the region’s first bank, the Dade County State Bank.
His grandson, Claude Dimick Reese, served 56 years in Palm Beach government, 18 as mayor and 38 as a council member. He died at 87 in 1984.
Today, a statue of Cap Dimick, holding his cap, stands on Royal Palm Way and welcomes visitors to Palm Beach.
- ELIOT KLEINBERG