Peanut Island—an enduring vestige of Old Florida charm—conceals an extensive maritime history within its sea grape-laden dunes, preserved for posterity in the United States Coast Guard Station and boathouse that has remained on the island since its construction in 1936. The Coast Guard Station served as a defensive asset for the U.S. government during WWII, and later a contiguous parcel of the station’s land was repurposed by the government and turned into a fallout shelter during the Cuban Missile Crisis. For history buffs, the island is heralded as the site of the famous Kennedy bunker, but the island’s history, from its conception to today, also represents the local history of the Lake Worth Inlet, the Port of Palm Beach, and the preservation of the surrounding environment.

Shadow ebbs between the wooden slabs of the exterior shiplap paneling as the South Florida heat radiates from the copper-red gabled roof, the two-story frame Colonial Revival station standing today as a monument of militaristic achievement, representing the height of American patriotism and prestige. The stately, commanding presence of the edifice emphasizes its strategic view of the port from the cupola watch house—a microcosm representing the large-scale expansion of the nation’s seaports at the beginning of the 20th century. 

The Lake Worth Inlet Coast Guard Station and boathouse were constructed on Peanut Island in 1936. According to the Florida Department of State’s Museum of Florida History, the station served as a base for beach patrols and search and rescue operations during WWII. The station maintained a strategic defense position as it was situated at the mouth of the Lake Worth Inlet and its cupola watch house provided a panoramic view of the Intracoastal waterway. As described in an archive of historic American buildings compiled by the Library of Congress, “The Lake Worth Inlet Station exemplifies the Coast Guard's new and upgraded lifeboat stations built throughout the United States from about 1931 until about 1941. The network of lifeboat stations was part of Admiral Waesche's transformation of the Coast Guard into today's modern force.” 

Cast against the shadow of the foreboding Cuban Missile Crisis of the 1960s, the apocalyptic, chilling Kennedy Bunker has endured the test of time, standing as a relic of Cold War-era hysteria amid the threat of nuclear escalations. During John F. Kennedy’s presidency, a contiguous parcel of property belonging to the Lake Worth Inlet Coast Guard Station was permitted to the United States in 1961, upon which a fallout shelter was constructed as a contingency plan to protect the leader of the free world. The Kennedy family owned a home on the island of Palm Beach, and the bunker was strategically situated on Peanut Island to provide nearby refuge in the event of a nuclear missile attack. The United States Naval Construction Battalions (a.k.a. the Navy Seabees) built the bunker to serve as a command center for the president, and so the bunker floor brandishes one of two presidential seals existing in Florida (the second presidential seal is located in Harry S. Truman’s Little White House in Key West). Fortunately, the bunker was never needed for this purpose, but President Kennedy visited the site during training operations. In 1971, ownership of the parcel reverted back to the Port of Palm Beach. After the Kennedy bunker was declassified and decommissioned, it eventually became open to the public for tours. 

You're probably wondering, “Is the bunker currently open for tours?” Unfortunately, the Kennedy Bunker closed in 2017. After several years of closure, Palm Beach County Commissioners voted in January 2022 to take over the facility and restore it before reopening to the public. The project is slated to take several years, and the bunker is currently closed in the interim. But in the near future, your visit to Peanut Island may include the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of President Kennedy. 

In 1918, Peanut Island was created by the dredging of the Lake Worth Inlet to build the Port of Palm Beach. It’s a little-known fact that the island was created by General George Washington Goethals, Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal. Originally coined Inlet Island, the spoil island was constructed from excavated material and became a byproduct of dredging the inlet. When the Port of Palm Beach received ownership of the island in 1923, the island continued to serve as a spoil site for the maintenance of the inlet. Yes, this paradise started out as a glorified landfill. The island was originally a mere 10 acres, and it has since expanded into a 79-acre oasis. 

A myth has been propagated about the naming of Peanut Island. I have heard from Peanut Island Shuttle Boat passengers who assumed that it was named Peanut Island because the island looks like a peanut from an aerial view. But this could be said of any oblong island, and while Peanut Island bears a passing resemblance to a peanut, is not strikingly peanut-shaped. So where does the name come from?

Peanut Island earned its endearing name after the state gave permission to use the island as a peanut oil refinery and shipping terminal to distribute peanut oil. The peanut oil operation failed in 1946, but the name Peanut Island stuck. 

In 1991, the Port of Palm Beach sold the northern part of the island to the Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND) as a spoil site for maintenance dredging. The island maintains its original purpose, as it was first created from dredging the Lake Worth Inlet in 1918. However, only the center of the island is reserved for maintenance dredging. In 1996, the Port Authority and FIND transformed the perimeter of the island into a public park in a long-term arrangement with Palm Beach County. The park expanded to include a hiking trail, observation deck, snorkeling area, picnic areas, campground, restrooms, boat dock, and fishing pier. 

In 2003, the US Army Corps of Engineers were contracted to carry out the Peanut Island Environmental Enhancement Project, which removed over 60 acres of invasive non-native vegetation and created over 30 acres of native wildlife habitat. The habitat enhancement project created the man-made reef system with rock ledges for fisheries, lagoon habitat, dune habitat, coastal strand habitat, maritime hammock, breakwaters and jetties, and tidal channels to maintain the mangrove system. These environmental enhancements were achieved in conjunction with the $13-million renovation of 2005, which oversaw the completion of landscaped campsites, man-made reef improvements, and the installation of a fishing pier. Over the span of a century, the 10-acre spoil island has become a 79-acre hidden paradise of the Palm Beaches.