Charles C. Haight, born in December of 1853 in Maine, came to the lake from Boston in 1887. He bought a homesite from Charles Moore for $735 on the east shore of Lake Worth and became a permanent resident.
He joined other Palm Beach Republicans in forming a Republican Party committee of three, with himself as chairman, and was an active Republican in the pioneer community.
Tn 1890 Haight married Ida M. from Vermont. They had no children but adopted a daughter, Ruth, who later married Guy McClaren.
The Haights lived close to the first school in the county, which had opened in 1886, and it became the meeting place of the Episcopal church. Haight built a small wooden church in 1889 for the Episcopal congregation and it was named Bethesda-by-the-Sea.
In February 1890, he signed a contract to build a courthouse in Juno. At that time, Dade County reached from Jupiter Inlet on the north to Biscayne Bay on the south. In a recent election, there were more voters at the northern end of the county than around Miami, and they voted to have the county seat changed to Juno. The courthouse site was just northeast of present-day Oakbrook Square Shopping Center, on U.S. 1 and P.G.A. Boulevard. The contract price was $1,495. Haight was paid an additional $230 to finish the second floor.
Haight was an architect, contractor and builder. He was not only an active Mason, he built the Masonic Temple on Clematis, west of Dixie Highway, the first brick veneer building in West Palm Beach, completed in 1895. Ida was a
member of Eastern Star.
In 1920, the Haights were living on Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach. Charles died 19 June 1922 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the city. Ida died 18 September 1931 and is buried beside her husband.
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