Royal Palm Beach is a village in southeast Florida, located within Palm Beach County. The population was measured at 34,140 in the 2010 census. It is part of the Miami Metropolitan Area. Despite its name, the village is located approximately fifteen miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. Royal Palm Beach is known for its many parks and general mission to protect green space, as evidenced by the recent acquisition of to create a master central park and the development of preserved into a passive bird watching and nature park. The village offers a variety of activities for the outdoor and sports enthusiast including soccer, basketball, tennis, Pop Warner youth football and cheerleading, senior activities, and year-round golf programs. The public schools within the Village consist of "A"-rated elementary and middle schools and there are numerous private schools offering classes from pre-kindergarten through high school. History Incorporated on June 18, 1959, Royal Palm Beach has grown from a primarily uninhabited swamp and natural preserve and former Seminole hunting ground into a thriving village of an estimated 40,000 residents. It was not until the 1950s, when Philadelphia supermarket magnates Sam and Hattie Friedland purchased for approximately $1.25 million in what is now the Royal Palm Beach village and Acreage areas, that the natural wilderness landed on national fastest growing community lists (in its size category) in the 1980s. The Friedlands subsequently sold their land to Miami developer Arthur Desser, founder of Lefcourt Realty Group. About were earmarked for Desser's Royal Palm Beach development. It was Desser's vision that spurred the initial development of the Village of Royal Palm Beach. A massive drainage project ensued and in 1959, the state legislature granted a charter which named the development Royal Palm Beach. According to a former Lefcourt engineer now living in Wellington, Desser wanted the name "Palm Beach" to be included in the new community's name, so it was decided that since Desser also liked the stately royal palms of Palm Beach, he would dub his development "Royal Palm Beach." On June 30, 1959, with Seminole tribe officials on hand for the festivities (and to renounce all former claims to the land), a groundbreaking ceremony was held. Engineering began for the village's myriad waterways and a basic system of roads. A sales/recreational center was built with a motel facility in the area now occupied by the Royal Inn and two bedroom, one-bath model homes