[11] Prior to development, the land that became Palm Beach Gardens was primarily cattle ranches and pine forests, as well as swampland farther west.

[13] In 1959, wealthy landowner and insurance magnate John D. MacArthur announced plans to develop 4,000 acres (16 km2) and build homes for 55,000 people.

The 1960 Census recorded that the city officially had a population of one inhabitant: 71-year old Charles Cooper, who lived in a shack without running water or electricity.

[13] According to Cooper, MacArthur had made a deal with him that "If he set fire to the old shack, I would fix him... in a house that would have running water, a toilet, and septic tank to let him live decently."

While moving the first banyan tree over the Florida East Coast Railway, the massive tree shifted and disconnected the Western Union telephone and telegraph lines running adjacent to the railroad, cutting off most communications between Miami, 78 miles (126 km) to the south, and the outside world until the damage could be repaired.

[17] When questioned about the time and expense of moving the older trees instead of planting new ones, MacArthur responded "I can buy anything but age.

[19] Named after retired Navy warrant officer William A. Bonnette, the club attracted famous guests and members including King Hussein of Jordan, Bing Crosby, Peter Pulitzer, and others.

[21] The department had three air-conditioned patrol cars, and was connected to other South Florida cities by a then-advanced teletype network system.

[21] On April 26, 1965, a new exit interchange of the Sunshine State Parkway (later renamed the Florida Turnpike in 1968) was dedicated in the city at PGA Boulevard; MacArthur financed the project and was instrumental in lobbying for it.

[23] Pratt & Whitney, the aerospace technology corporation, would also build facilities along a 7,000 acre site located in the drained Everglades swamplands west of the Beeline Highway.

[26] Governmental and services structure continued to grow, with councils throughout the 1970s focusing on city facilities expansion.

[28] Garden Boulevard, the location of his transplanted banyan trees, was renamed MacArthur Boulevard in his honor on July 4, 1972, over MacArthur's temporary opposition (having stated in a letter to Mayor Walter Wiley just two days prior, "I had no interest in having a street named after me, or I would have done so when I named all the streets.").

[31] On July 3, 1976, the expansion of I-95 to connect Palm Beach Gardens with Miami was completed and opened to the public.

[23] In 1979, Sikorsky Aircraft opened a facility at the Pratt & Whitney site along the Beeline Highway, where it would make, improve, and test helicopters including the UH-60 Black Hawk, S-92, and the RAH-66 Comanche.

[25] In 1978 ground broke on the construction of the PGA National Resort Community, under developer E. Llwyd Ecclestone on 2340 acres of land acquired from MacArthur.

[32] The master-planned community was estimated to cost $500 million at the time, with a target of 6900 homes to construct over a 15-year period, as well as an office park, shopping center, light industrial zone, and golf courses.

[36] On January 1, 1995, the Palm Beach Gardens Fire Department became the provider of emergency medical services in the city.

[38] The city adopted an Art in Public Places ordinance in 1989 and has amassed an eclectic collection of works.

In 1993, the Palm Beach Gardens Police SWAT team was formed to execute high-risk warrants, barricaded suspects, and hostage situations.

Palm Beach Gardens has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with long, hot, and rainy summers and short, warm winters with mild nights.As of the 2020 United States census, there were 59,182 people, 24,359 households, and 15,515 families residing in the city.

[51] Its operational divisions include Road Patrol, Traffic, K-9, Detective and Crime Scene Investigation, SWAT and Hostage Negotiation.

[55] In 2016 a police officer was convicted for the killing of Corey Jones, an African American man awaiting a tow truck after his vehicle broke down in Palm Beach Gardens.

Its centerpiece is a steel section retrieved from the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York City.

[60] The city council consists of five Palm Beach Gardens residents elected to serve three-year terms.

[63] In December 1987, the last "missing link" of Interstate 95 (I-95) opened between PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens and State Road 714, west of Stuart,[64] paving the way for new development immediately to the north.

Public transit is available to the rest of Palm Beach County through the regional commuter bus system PalmTran.

The Honda Classic has been held at two Palm Beach Gardens locations: from 2003 to 2006 at the Country Club at Mirasol and since 2007 at the PGA National Resort and Spa.