A Love Note about Boca Raton

In Spanish "Boca" means "mouth" and "Ratón" means "mouse" (not "rat" as is it is commonly mistranslated.) However, in nautical terms the word "Boca" refers to an inlet. The original name

"Boca de Ratones" appeared on eighteenth century maps associated with an inlet in the Biscayne Bay area of Miami. The beginning of the nineteenth century, the term was mistakenly moved north to its current location on most maps and applied to the inland waterway from the closed inlet north for 8.5 miles, which was called the "Boca Ratones Lagoon". The word "ratones" appears in old Spanish maritime dictionaries referring to "rugged rocks or stony ground on the bottom of some ports and coastal outlets, where the cables rub against".

The first settler was T. M. Rickards in 1895 who resided in a house made of driftwood on the east side of the East Coast Canal south of what is now the Palmetto Park Road bridge. He surveyed and sold land from the canal to beyond the railroad north of what is now Palmetto Park Road.

In the early 1900’s Boca Raton was a tiny agricultural community, many of the farmers specializing in pineapple cultivation. In May of 1925, the Town of Boca Raton was incorporated at the height of the Florida land boom. The town council commissioned noted society architect Addison Mizner to plan a world-class resort community. The exclusive hotel, was known as the Cloister Inn and was completed in 1926. It continues its reign as a city landmark as the Boca Raton Resort and Club. Although many of Mizner’s plans for the young community were stopped by the end of the land boom in 1926, a few of his architectural triumphs remain today but his style continues to influence the city and South Florida landscape. The 1969 addition of its "Pink Tower" hotel building is visible from miles away as a towering monument on the Intercoastal Waterway.  

Japanese farmers of the Yamato Colony  converted the land west of the city into Pinapple Plantations  beginning in 1904. The Japanese heritage of the Yamato Colony survives in the name of Yamato Road (NW 51st Street) just north of the airport and at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Garden just                                                                                     North West of the City in Delray Beach.

During WWII, much of their land was confiscated and used as the site of the Boca Raton Army Air Force Base, a major training facility for B-29  bomber crews and radar operators. Much of the airbas was later donated to Palm Beach County and later become the grounds of Florida Atlantic University and Boca Raton Airport, many of whose parking lots are former runways of the airbase; when viewed from above, the site's layout for its previous use as an

In 1991, the new downtown outdoor shopping and dining center, Mizner Park, was completed over the site of the old Boca Raton Mall. It has since become a cultural center for the southern Palm Beach County. Featuring a landscaped central park between the two main roads (collectively called Plaza Real) with stores only on the outside of the roads, Mizner Park resembles a Mediterranean suburban "town center" with a more contemporary look. It features many fine restaurants an outdoor amphitheater where concerts are frequently held and it is also home to the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Mizner Park has significantly aided downtown revitalization.

Boca Raton is the second most populous and southernmost city in Palm Beach County. It is located on the east coast of Florida between Delray Beach to the north and Deerfield Beach, of Broward County, to its south. Boca Raton is the core of the south Palm Beach Country metropolitan community, offering beautiful parks, beaches a unique quality of life that is coveted by many, I recommend that you visit and get to know Boca Raton!