History:

The meaning of the name Boca Raton has always aroused curiosity. Many people wrongly assume the name is simply Rat’s Mouth. The Spanish word boca (or mouth) often described an inlet, while raton (literally mouse) was used as a term for a cowardly thief. But the “Thieves Inlet,” Boca Ratones, appeared on eighteenth century maps associated with an inlet in the Biscayne Bay area of Miami. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the term was mistakenly applied to Lake Boca Raton, whose inlet was closed at the time. The “s” and later the “e” were dropped from this title by the 1920s, yet the correct pronunciation remains Rah-tone.

The earliest known inhabitants of the Boca Raton area were the Tequesta Indians, who lived in communities near the ocean as long ago as one thousand years until the eighteenth century. The construction of the Florida East Coast Canal (today’s Intracoastal) and the Florida East Coast Railway in the 1890s made the region accessible to a group of resourceful pioneers. By the early 1900s Boca Raton was a tiny agricultural community, many of the farmers specializing in pineapple cultivation. Amongst these were a group of Japanese immigrants under the leadership of Joseph Sakai, who formed a community along today’s Yomato Road in 1904.

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. His exclusive hotel, known as the Cloister Inn, was completed in 1926 and continues its reign as a city landmark as the Boca Raton Resort & Club. Although many of Mizner’s plans for the young community were squelched by the demise of the land boom in 1926, a few survive today—and his architectural style continues to influence the city.