 The first non-Native American settlers in Palm Beach County resided around Lake Worth, – an enclosed freshwater lake at the time – named after Colonel William Jenkins Worth, who served in the Second Seminole War in 1842.Reverend Elbridge Gale and his son are believed to have constructed the first log cabin on the western shore of Lake Worth, located near where the intersection of 29th Street and Poinsettia Avenue stands today.Most settlers engaged in the growing of tropical fruits and vegetables for shipment to the north via Lake Worth and the Indian River.