Kreamer Island is a small island in the south-easternmost part of

Lake Okeechobee Lake Okeechobee ( ) is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the List of largest lakes of the United States by area, eighth-largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest ...

, located in Palm Beach County, Florida just north of Torry Island. Kreamer Island is accessible only by

airboat An airboat (also known as a planeboat, swamp boat, bayou boat, or fanboat) is a flat-bottomed watercraft propelled by an aircraft-type propeller and powered by either an aircraft or automotive engine. It is commonly used for fishing, hunting, r ...

during the wet season and by recreational vehicles during dry season/droughts. A small canal separates Kreamer Island and Torry Island. Kreamer Island was a settlement in

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The settlement was situated north-west of Belle Glade. The island was first settled in the 19th century as a fishing and agricultural settlement. Kreamer Island suffered numerous casualties over the years from hurricanes, including one in the 1920s, in which about 1000 people around the lake perished. The area became generally flooded after the dike around the lake was raised from 6 feet to 20 feet. Kreamer Island is now considered a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

.Ghost Towns and History of the American West
/ref> In the beginning of the 2007 winter the

Board of Commissioners started an archaeological dig on Kreamer Island after drought conditions revealed artifacts on the bottom of Lake Okeechobee.

References

Lake islands of Florida Islands of Palm Beach County, Florida Lake Okeechobee Ghost towns in Florida Former populated places in Palm Beach County, Florida Islands of Florida {{US-ghost-town-stub