Memorial for Mar-a-Lago builder Marjorie Merriweather Post returns to Southern Boulevard

Diego Diaz Lasa, Palm Beach Daily News
Updated ·2 min read

With work surrounding the Southern Boulevard Bridge nearing completion, workers on Thursday installed the road’s reconstructed memorial honoring Palm Beach icon, Marjorie Merriweather Post.

Composed of two tile and stone benches and a plaque on a stone base honoring Post, the memorial is actually an accompaniment to the roadway, which is officially the Marjorie Merriweather Post Memorial Causeway.

Contractors work Thursday to reinstall the Marjorie Post Causeway Memorial just west of Mar-a-Lago on Southern Boulevard. Herpel Cast Stones & Column, which installed the memorial in 1975, was in charge of the restoration project.
Contractors work Thursday to reinstall the Marjorie Post Causeway Memorial just west of Mar-a-Lago on Southern Boulevard. Herpel Cast Stones & Column, which installed the memorial in 1975, was in charge of the restoration project.

Post is known for building her palatial estate Mar-a-Lago from 1924 to 1927 and being a socialite, but she also was a trailblazing cereal heiress, businesswoman and philanthropist. She died Sept. 12, 1973 at age 86.

First installed in 1975, the reconstruction effort was handled by the original creator, Herpel Cast Stones & Column, a six-generation family business with deep ties to Post’s former home of Mar-a-Lago, explained owner Frederick Herpel.

The Marjorie Post Causeway Memorial restored Thursday after it was damaged by the passage of the time and construction of the Southern Boulevard Bridge. The memorial was first installed in 1975.
The Marjorie Post Causeway Memorial restored Thursday after it was damaged by the passage of the time and construction of the Southern Boulevard Bridge. The memorial was first installed in 1975.
On Oct. 19, contractors install a section of the Marjorie Post Causeway Memorial.
On Oct. 19, contractors install a section of the Marjorie Post Causeway Memorial.
Cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post at age 35. At the time she was married to financier Edward F. Hutton, with whom she built Mar-a-Lago.
Cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post at age 35. At the time she was married to financier Edward F. Hutton, with whom she built Mar-a-Lago.

“In 1974 the caretaker of Mar-a-Lago, a high school friend of my father, invited us to participate in the restoration of Mar-a-Lago,” Herpel said. “Then, when the town decided to create the monument, the caretaker picked out stones leftover from the original building, and we put together that original monument.”

Marjorie Merriweather Post's daughter Dina Merrill, from left; Lesly Smith (standing in for her husband, Mayor Earl E.T. Smith; and actor Cliff Robertson (Merrill's husband at the time) at the dedication of the memorial in 1975, when the roadway was renamed in Post's honor.
Marjorie Merriweather Post's daughter Dina Merrill, from left; Lesly Smith (standing in for her husband, Mayor Earl E.T. Smith; and actor Cliff Robertson (Merrill's husband at the time) at the dedication of the memorial in 1975, when the roadway was renamed in Post's honor.

More: Memory Lane: Marjorie Merriweather Post loved to dance

Herpel's family business would serve Mar-a-Lago for years to come, from its time as a federal government asset in the 1970s, to its ownership under future president Donald Trump prior to the estate's transformation into a private club in the 1990s.

"When I would go to do maintenance when it was under federal control, everything was preserved as it was (under Post) and it was absolutely incredible," Herpel said. "Once it was sold, I met Trump in '87, and we had a contract with him for quite a while."

Marjorie Merriweather Post, aboard the Sea Cloud, 1944,
Marjorie Merriweather Post, aboard the Sea Cloud, 1944,

When construction on the Southern Boulevard replacement bridge began in 2017, the combination of time and construction took a toll on the memorial, Herpel said.

“When they started working on the bridge, they backed over it with trucks and moved it and combined with time, it got all busted up,” said Herpel.

Tunisian tiles that were hand-painted to match the patterns in Mar-a-Lago were used on bench tops for the restored Marjorie Post Causeway Memorial.
Tunisian tiles that were hand-painted to match the patterns in Mar-a-Lago were used on bench tops for the restored Marjorie Post Causeway Memorial.

In 2022, the town once again called on Herpel Cast Stones & Column to help it honor Post’s legacy.

More: Historical novel about Marjorie Merriweather Post reflects a life well lived, says author

Wanting the refurbished memorial to reflect the Mediterranean stylings of Mar-a-Lago, Herpel said the stones were cast in the exact stylings of those used in Mar-a-Lago, and the company ordered Tunisian tiles that were hand-painted to match the patterns in Mar-a-Lago.

"We've copied the exact stones for this restoration, to continue that legacy," said Herpel.

A self-described fan of history, Herpel said he hoped the memorial would serve to keep an element of the town's history alive.

"There's a real story behind it, and it's so overlooked," he said. "It's becoming a forgotten history."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Memorial for Mar-a-Lago's Marjorie Post returns to Southern Boulevard