Recession, which hit the region particularly hard. Since the recovery, multiple new developments have been completed. The Palm Beach Mall, located at the Interstate 95/Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard interchange became abandoned as downtown revitalized - the very mall that initiated the original abandonment of the downtown. The mall was then redeveloped into the Palm Beach Fashion Outlets in February 2014. The West Palm Beach station for Brightline, a high speed passenger rail service serving Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, was opened in 2018. Timeline 1893 "Town platted on Lake Worth." Florida East Coast Railway begins operating. 1894 West Palm Beach incorporated. John S. Earman becomes mayor. 1896 – Fire. 1900 – Population: 564. 1903 – "City of West Palm Beach" established. 1905 – Population: 1,280. 1907 – Flagler Park established. 1908 – Palm Beach Post newspaper begins publication. 1909 – West Palm Beach designated seat of newly created Palm Beach County. 1912 – Palm Beach County Fair begins. 1916 – County courthouse constructed. 1917 – Beaux Arts Theatre in business. 1919 Office of city manager created. City Hall built. 1923 – Kettler Theatre in business. 1924 – Public Library building opens. 1925 – Seaboard Air Line Railway begins operating; West Palm Beach station opens. 1926 West Palm Beach Canal (to Lake Okeechobee) constructed. September: 1926 Miami hurricane occurs. 1928 – September: 1928 Okeechobee hurricane occurs. 1930 – Population: 26,610. 1933 – Palm Beach Junior College opens. 1936 Morrison Field (airport) begins operating. WJNO radio begins broadcasting. 1937 – Historical Society of Palm Beach County founded. 1941 – Norton Museum of Art established. 1942 April 17: City gets "8.35 inches of rain in just two hours." U.S. military Palm Beach Air Force Base begins operating near West Palm Beach. 1947 – WIRK radio begins broadcasting. 1948 Palm Beach International Airport active. WEAT radio begins broadcasting. 1951 – Beach Drive-In cinema in business. 1954 – WPTV (television) begins broadcasting. 1955 – WEAT-TV (television) begins broadcasting. 1961 – Cardinal Newman High School established. 1962 – West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium opens. 1964 – Palm Beach County Genealogical Society formed. 1967 – Palm Beach County Library System established. 1967 – Palm Beach Mall opens. 1967 – West Palm Beach Auditorium opens (capacity: 5,000). It would later be sold in 1998 to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc (Jehovah's Witnesses) It was renovated and renamed the West Palm Beach Christian Convention Center.