A Short History of Boca Raton: From Mizner to Today

Boca Raton's pink Mediterranean architecture, strict building codes and manicured streets are not an accident. They are the legacy of a few big ambitions over a century of Florida history.

The name

"Boca Raton" comes from Spanish mapmakers' term *Boca de Ratones* — roughly "mouth of the rats" — a sailors' word for jagged inlets whose hidden rocks gnawed at ship cables. The name originally referred to an inlet near Miami and shifted north on later maps.

Before the boom

The area was home to the Tequesta and other indigenous peoples for centuries. American settlement began in the 1890s after Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway reached the area. Early settlers, including Japanese farmers of the nearby Yamato Colony, grew pineapples and winter vegetables. Boca Raton incorporated as a town in 1925 with only a few hundred residents.

Addison Mizner and the 1920s land boom

In 1925, architect Addison Mizner — already famous for designing Palm Beach mansions — announced plans to transform Boca into "the world's most architecturally beautiful playground." His vision: Venetian canals, a grand boulevard (today's Camino Real), and a luxury hotel.

The Florida land bust of 1926 and the hurricanes that followed ended the dream within two years. But Mizner completed several key buildings, including the Cloister Inn (now the core of the Boca Raton Resort & Club) and Old Town Hall's style influences. His Mediterranean Revival aesthetic became the city's permanent identity, later written into building codes.

The Boca Raton Resort and World War II

In 1927, utilities magnate Clarence Geist bought and expanded the Cloister Inn into an exclusive club. During World War II, the U.S. Army built the Boca Raton Army Airfield, a top-secret radar training base. After the war, much of that land became the campus of Florida Atlantic University and the Boca Raton Airport.

IBM and the personal computer

In 1967, IBM opened a major campus in Boca Raton. In 1981, a small team there developed the IBM Personal Computer, the machine that launched the PC era. The campus, designed by Marcel Breuer, still stands (today known as Boca Raton Innovation Campus).

The modern city

Boca grew rapidly from the 1970s, adding planned communities, Town Center mall, and in 1991 Mizner Park, a redevelopment of an old shopping center into the open-air plaza that anchors downtown. Strict sign, height and landscaping codes preserve its look. Today, Boca is home to roughly 100,000 residents and many corporate headquarters.

Where to see history today

• Boca Raton History Museum in Old Town Hall (1927).
• Boca Express Train Museum with restored 1940s rail cars at the historic FEC depot.
• Morikami Museum in Delray, honoring the Yamato Colony.
• Mizner-era homes in Old Floresta.

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