Lake Worth Pioneers' Association

 The Lake Worth Pioneers’ Association was formally organized in 1894 by 84 of the original pioneers who lived around the lake. It became legally chartered by the state of Florida in 1897. Membership was limited to pioneer families and their descendants who settled on the shores of Lake Worth on or before December 31, 1893. Later, when the state charter was applied for, an associate membership was created to include those coming here up to and including 1895 (recently extended to 1900), as well as pioneer families living on the east coast of Florida from Titusville southward prior to December 31, 1893.

The families of those early pioneers have met for many years at Pioneer Park. Originally a cemetery and park, established before 1900, it encompassed the verdant grounds forming the site of the Norton Gallery before the Gallery opened in 1941.
 

Descendents of the original pioneers still meet the first Saturday of May to continue the tradition of the Pioneer Picnic at The Norton Museum of Art.  And yes, some of the pioneers are still buried under The Norton!