Boomtime Boca: Boca Raton in the 1920s

Boca Raton, Florida, was a tiny farming community on
the southeastern coast of Florida when the state's 1920s real estate boom grew into a national phenomenon. Investors and new residents were drawn to the state from all over the country, a time Floridians referred to as "the Boom." In April 1925, well-known Palm Beach society architect Addison Mizner revealed his plans for an ambitious new
development in Boca Raton. The plans included a gigantic oceanfront hotel, elegant mansions, golf and polo grounds, and palm-lined boulevards. The popularity of Mizner's projects stimulated many similar developments within the region, increasing the population of the town from 100 to several hundred residents. By the fall of 1926, however, the
Florida land boom came to an end. Boca Raton returned, for the most part, to its small-town agricultural heritage by 1930. By the end of the 20th century, boomtime dreams were fully realized and Boca Raton became one of Florida's most prestigious addresses.

Historian Susan Gillis has served as archivist at the Boca Raton Historical Society since 2002. She has drawn upon her knowledge of the city’s history and the historical society’s photographic and image collections in the creation of this unique look at Boca Raton’s most glamorous era.