At the dawn of the 20th century, Lake Worth was an unpolished jewel. In fact, that was its name – Jewel. The name Jewel was changed to the Town site of Lucerne and the platting began. In January, 1912, Lake Avenue became the first street to be graded and rocked, but because there was no train station nearby, developers had to haul the material 2? miles from Lantana. As the town site began to grow, residents saw the need to construct a dock at the foot of Lake Avenue that extended 1,000 feet into the Intra coastal Waterway. Next came Bryant Park, a park that is still beautifully active today, complete with a modern Band shell where people enjoy Concerts in the Park on Thursday nights.

As settlers came to the untamed wilderness that was South Florida of the early 1900's, they built their homes, a grocery store and a restaurant. They even had their own town pump where all the residents met to obtain their water and share in the events of the day as they formed Lake Worth.

During the summer of 1912, the newly-developing City experienced a thunderstorm and it flooded everything. As settlers fought to rescue their new City from the water that covered it, people in neighboring communities shook their heads predicting a very short life for Lucerne. By August, the water had dried, the City's survey was completed and it provided for 55 miles of streets, and nearly as many miles of alleys, as well as 7,000 lots.

In 1939, the Lake Theatre opened on Lake Avenue and the art deco building is now the home of the Palm Beach Community College Museum of Contemporary Art. In 1941, the Lake Worth Post Office and the fourth home of the Lake Worth Library were dedicated. The Casino pool was converted to a fresh water pool and in 1954 the Lake Worth Pier, one of the longest municipal piers on Florida's Atlantic coast, was opened to the public.