Knollwood Groves, which was located on Lawrence Road in Boynton for over 75 years, was the last of the old-time Florida attractions in Palm Beach County. I went there often as a child, and was lucky enough later to live adjacent to the groves during its last years of existence. If you never visited the place, it was a true classic Florida-style attraction - a gift shop, free orange samples, an alligator wrestling show, fruit shipping, and a wagon train ride through the groves and hammock.
Knollwood Groves Wagon Ride
Which brings us to the myth. When you took the wagon train ride, the story of the founders of Knollwood Groves was told, that the groves were founded in 1930 by the actors who played the “Amos and Andy” characters on radio, Charles Correll and Freeman Gosden. In the few articles still on the web about Knollwood Groves, there is always reference to the Amos and Andy founding tale.
I wanted to find out more about this tale, as it must have been big news at the time, that the most famous comedy team in the nation was going into the citrus business in Palm Beach County. So I researched the historic archives of the Palm Beach Post. Nothing about this was ever mentioned, which I found very strange. I then did a general search on farms in Boynton, and came across an interesting article (see below) and the myth began to unravel. The article mentioned that there was a farm in Boynton owned by Kenneth G. Smith, president of the Pepsodent Toothpaste Company (his father Douglas had invented the formula for Pepsodent). Pepsodent sponsored the Amos and Andy radio show, and Smith named his farm the “Amos and Andy farm” in their honor – could this be Knollwood Groves? The article only mentioned that the farm was located in northwest Boynton.
1939 Article from the Palm Beach Post
The only way to answer the question was to search the official records of Palm Beach County. I started online at the Clerk of Court website, but saw that records online are only available back to 1968. I did learn the legal description of the land, which is the holy grail in a land search – the section, township and range. Off to the courthouse I went and found the original handwritten registry books where all transactions were recorded. I was actually surprised that I was allowed to handle these original records. Each book weighed about 20 pounds. The original deed to the land was awarded to the Florida East Coast Railway company, so as I had written in an earlier post, this is land that Flagler got for free for building the railroad. The company sold the land to many individuals, and eventually Frederic Foster Carey and his wife Madeliene bought the land. Mr. Carey was a wealthy stock broker and the Careys had a mansion in Palm Beach (“Villa Vinca”).
The sheer number of land transactions recorded  in the 1920s land boom was staggering; the land was sometimes changing hands several times a year. But by 1930, the bust was in full swing. The Careys formed a corporation in 1930 called Papaya Groves, then changed that to Tranquillity Farms and the land was held in corporate name. A warranty deed sold the property to Smith May 4, 1933, the day before Mr. Carey died (probably some sort of inheritance move).  Smith either sold the farm in 1945 to Knollwood Groves, Inc., or moved the property from his name to the corporate name.  In 1937, sponsorship of the Amos ‘n Andy show moved from Pepsodent to Campbell Soup, so he would have to rename the farm. It is possible that he called it “Knollwood” for the famous golf course north of Chicago, his home town.
Registry Books where land transactions were recorded
I can understand how the story got a little twisted and people thought the Amos and Andy characters founded the groves. As time went by and Knollwood Groves changed hands many times, it was down to about 35 acres. The hurricanes in 2004 were the final blow, as the fruit trees and buildings were badly damaged. The land was sold to DR Horten for a housing development. Sadly, the beautiful hammock was not preserved and was bulldozed to make way for the houses. The development is known simply as Knollwood, and I doubt many of the residents know anything of the long and storied history of the land. The track of land adjacent to Knollwood (where the Lawrence Oaks and Fox Hollow developments are located) was also owned by the Florida East Coast Railway. The first purchaser was M.A. Lyman (the Lymans founded Lantana) and the deed was recorded September 1, 1910, almost exactly 100 years ago to the day! The price paid for almost the entire section – $500. The Lyman corporation sold tracts of land until it was dissolved in 1942.
Doing this kind of land search was actually much easier than I imagined. All you need to do this kind of search on your land is the section/township/range of your property (click here for a map) and a few hours at the Palm Beach County Courthouse, 4th. Floor. The staff there were very helpful. Sometimes the information in the registry books can give you enough information, but if you want the detail, you can note the book/page and type of document, and they can retrieve the original document from microfilm for $1.00 per page.
Excellent and impressive research. I grew up in Boynton Beach and visited Knollwood Groves many times. In 2004 I was visiting Boynton (I now live most of the time in California) and heard that Knollwood was selling off momentos and such. I bought some interesting items. One was a beautiful large hand carved wooden Seminole mortar and pestle used for crushing grain (the pestle is five feet long). Both now reside in the corner of the den in my Ocean Ridge home.
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What a great article! I first visited Knollwood Groves when we moved to Boynton in 1973, but really came to appreciate it when I had children of my own. We brightened many a day with rides in the wagon through the groves and the hammock, past the boars to the little zoo where Martin Two-Feathers handled the alligators. The ride wound around front to the pond where huge freshwater turtles were lured to us with bread. We finished the adventure with orange samples from the fruit barn and Bernice’s yummy fudge from the gift shop. Maybe we’d pick up a scrumptious apple pie to take home from the stand under the giant ficus. Remember the hand-made signs on the trees out front? One adorns the “Royal Palm” room at my house. Thanks for the memories.
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Yes. I too have several momentos from the closing of Knollwood. I have several tin signs from the trollies, as well as the “Beware gators” sign that was posted near the canal on the property and also a few more wooden signs, such as “Snack Bar”, etc.
Knollwood offered a nice diversion for visitors to South Florida. However, suring the trolly rides, Martin Two Feathers used to tell stories of the grove’s history (Ams & Andy) and also of the Seminole Indians. This was ALL pure bunk of course, and also, he was not a Seminole himself (as portrayed), but from Montana or somewhere similar…
However, if one is ignorant of true history, or if one is a child, the stories at least added local “flavor” to the excursion around the grove.
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I went there too brutha! You had fun wrasselin gators with Martin Two Feathers! Fun place it was!
Yes indeed I did.
After a short time out of state and a move to Broward County, I was saddened when I took an auld lang syne drive down Lawrence Road and discovered the groves were gone.
Thank you for this wonderful article giving the true history. It’s a shame that the charmingly old must make way for the new — but so it goes.
Does anyone know what happened to the bakery? Are those fabulous apple pies available anywhere?
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Great article. Mom took us to Knollwood Groves many times when i was a kid in the late sixties and 70s. My brother and I and friends loved riding the wagon train. We would run up to the back of the train and grab on then let it drag us through the trails…crazy and dangerous…but kids were a little crazier back then I think.
Does anyone know anything about Martin Two-featherd? I would like to buy another of his paintings.
My grandson’s loved his storytelling and teaching of the alligators. The pies were amazing
What ever happened to Martin Two Feather. At one time my sister said that she had heard that he was sick and moved down to the reservation to liveâ¤ï¸ My first visit to the grove was in 2002 when my husband and I visited my sister. Then when I moved to South Florida I visited frequently until my husband passed. If anyone knows anymore of Martin please post here or email me at bjslaughterbeck@hotmail.com. Thanks
Before my now-husband and I were married, we were lucky enough to have been renting the first floor of a wonderful home in CT from a Mr. Tom Sharkey for five years. Our landlord spent time between CT and Boynton Beach, FL. While we were his tenants, he faithfully sent us a generous gift of delicious fruits from Knollwood Groves every year. We absolutely loved receiving them from him. The oranges were so juicy they came with a bib! We married and eventually moved out in very early 2005. Only recently did we come across an old delivery slip stuck in a cookbook. We were going to try to order some more oranges to share with our children, but we see now from this article that the grove no longer exists. Sad news! As my husband said, it is nice to know we enjoyed a taste of history. God Bless Mr. Sharkey for sharing this special gift with us.
I too would like contact info on TwoFeathers. We became friends in the mid to late 90s-04.
I like his art work and the stories he tells of his colorful past and of our cousins.
Does anyone know what became of the cooling air conditioning device that was in the gift shop? Or have info on how to build one like it?
I miss FL, but have relocated to MO where it gets hotter in summers and can be more humid.
I used to live in Boynton Beach from 1986 to 1994. I used to go to the groves a lot with my kids. We loved the ride through the hammock. We walked around and loved all the trees. I remember they had an alligator and an alligator gar in a concrete pool that were buddies. It’s a shame they didn’t keep some of the hammock preserved. Too bad the town didn’t buy it. Loved your article. Thanks Beth
My Grandfather Frank Mathis, rmanaged Knollwood a couple
of times. Through the 60’s and 70’s. So my mom spent most of her childhood living on the grove grounds. His parents had owned Ridgewood groves.
Great article! I live in Knollwood Community and loved to know the roots of my place