The land which later encompassed John Prince Memorial Park was originally an extensive wetland and lake system on the western periphery of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge.

[1] John Prince – a Palm Beach County commissioner who served from 1934 to 1948 – began lobbying in the mid-1930s for acquisition of the undeveloped land on the western shore of Lake Osborne.

After Governor Fred P. Cone told him that much of the land was in private ownership, Prince convinced each owner to sell their property.

[6] A total of 101,891 people attended the event, then a record number for the annual fair and an increase of approximately 10% from the previous year.

[8] The campground was founded in 1956 after the Gulf Stream Council (the local council of Boy Scouts of America) donated Camp Osborne to Palm Beach County, one year before the establishment of Tanah Keeta Scout Reservation near Jonathan Dickinson State Park.