1956, to decide on incorporation. Because the Florida Legislature did not meet in 1956, incorporation would have to be supported by two-thirds of voters. A total of 117 votes were cast, with 113 in favor and 4 in opposition to incorporating. Thus, the motion succeeded. William H. McLaughlin was unanimously selected to be the first mayor of Lake Clarke Shores, while Horace J. Cunningham, William M. Diemer, Robert G. Hillbert, Charles G. Platt, and Frank M. Seay served as the town’s first aldermen. Other elected officials included Betty Diemer as town clerk, William H. Blythe as town marshal, and John Farrell as town attorney. The Florida Legislature approved the citizens vote to incorporate on July 1, 1957, when the town was granted the State Charter. Development continued rapidly after Forest Hill Community High School opened just across the West Palm Beach Canal from Lake Clark Shores in 1958. The first census of the town occurred in 1960, which recorded a population of 1,297. In its early years, Lake Clarke Shores was almost entirely residential in nature. A 1962 description of the town in The Palm Beach Post noted that Forest Hill Baptist Church (now New Life Alliance Church) was the only non-residential building. However, the town council began passing ordinances later in the 1960s to allow commercial properties along Forest Hill Boulevard. The first commercial building, a gas station, opened at the corner of Forest Hill Boulevard and Florida Mango Road in June 1967. The town council, having long recognized the need for a town hall, finally authorized the construction of a town hall on Barbados Road in the 1970s, which opened in August 1974. The town hall would be dedicated on February 20, 1977. About 10 years later, in May 1987, a building headquartering the Lake Clarke Shores Police Department was completed. Geography Lake Clarke Shores is located adjacent to the cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth. Direct access to those cities is by Forest Hill Boulevard and Keller Road respectively. The Village of Palm Springs is located directly west of the town. The town is roughly bounded by Interstate 95 to the east, Florida Mango Road to the west, Summit Boulevard to the north, less the Lake Patrick neighborhood, and 10th Avenue North to the south, less the Waterside neighborhood. Lake Clarke Shores is located at (26.645644, −80.075379). According to the United States Census Bureau, the