Lake Clarke Shores is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located in the east-central portion of the county, the town is situated just west of the south end of West Palm Beach, north and west of the north end of Lake Worth Beach, and east of Palm Springs. The 2010 census recorded a population of 3,376, while the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that Lake Clarke Shores had a population of 3,627 in 2019. The town was named after John Newton Clarke, who first filed a homestead claim in the area in 1897. Clarke intended to capitalize on the business of growing pineapples, but his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. Very few people lived in the area until local attorney Walter Travers created a plan to develop a community around Lake Clarke and purchased of land for $10,000 in the late 1940s. The completion of a bridge across the West Palm Beach Canal in 1953 spurred a further growth in population. With rumors spreading that West Palm Beach intended to annex the community, residents voted by a wide margin to support the incorporation of Lake Clarke Shores as a town on April 10, 1956, which the Florida Legislature officially approved in 1957. Today, Lake Clarke Shores maintains a small population. The town is primarily a bedroom community, with most of its businesses and other commercial buildings located along Forest Hill Boulevard (State Road 882). History The town of Lake Clarke Shores was named after John Newton Clarke, a general store grocer, postmaster in Lake Worth (now known as Lake Worth Beach), and Royal Poinciana Hotel employee who filed a homestead claim in 1897 for a 139 acre (56 hectare) area of land on the eastern shore of a lake situated just west of West Palm Beach. Clarke would later name the lake after himself. He also purchased of land in West Palm Beach near where Hillcrest Cemetery and Parker Avenue stand today. Attempting to capitalize on the promising pineapple growing business, Clarke used the property for growing pineapples and operating a packinghouse. However, the thriving pineapple business in South Florida suffered extensive losses in 1910, and the completion Henry Flagler's railway to Key West in 1912 allowed pineapples from Cuba to be shipped to the northern United States more cost-effectively than from Florida. Clarke and many others in South Florida abandoned the pineapple industry by 1915. Thereafter, Clarke used