Palm Beach Country Club

Palm Beach Country Club is a place born out of anti-Semitic prejudice. The resort was built in 1916 by the Florida East Coast Co. on the site of a former gun club. It quickly became one of the most popular venues in Palm Beach. In 1952, a group of investors purchased the club for a reported $1 million. Even by the princely standards of this barrier island resort, the reported $300,000 initiation fee at the Palm Beach Country Club is phenomenal. To get accepted as a member at the Palm Beach Country Club - founded by Jews during the 1950s when other clubs in the exclusive resort town were restricted - you have to be more than rich. You have to be a real mensch, a person of character. And the way to prove that is to show that you contribute a fortune every year to charity.