Boca Raton Historical Society (BRHS) is incorporated. The formation of the Society was a project of the Junior Service League (later the Junior League of Boca Raton).

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At the urging of the Boca Raton Historical Society, the Boca Raton Bicentennial Committee sets a goal of creating a local history museum in the old City Hall.

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The City of Boca Raton passes an historic preservation ordinance that creates the Boca Raton Historic Preservation Board, a project spearheaded by the Boca Raton Historical Society. Six properties are singled out in the ordinance as historically significant so they would not be torn down, including the Cloister Inn (original part of the Boca Raton Resort & Club), Town Hall, the F.E.C. Railway Station, and the Mizner Administration Building.

The City of Boca Raton passes a resolution designating the Old City Hall (Town Hall) as the site for a future historical museum. The BRHS immediately moves its office to the second floor of the building and begins to raise funds for the restoration.

The Boca Raton Historical Society convinces the Florida Legislature to create a local office for the Division of Historical Resources in Boca Raton, named the Historic Boca Raton Preservation Board. Several members of the BRHS board are appointed to the board, assuming new powers with state backing.

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The Boca Raton Historical Society spearheads the saving of Singing Pines, a 1912 cracker-style cottage, headed for demolition. The BRHS persuades the City to donate land for the re-location and pays for and arranges the move, while an architect and a builder donate their services for the restoration. The Junior Service League raises $60,000 for the restoration, and in 1979, Singing Pines opens its doors as Boca Raton’s first children’s museum.

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The Old City Hall (Town Hall) and the F.E.C. Railway Station are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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The Cabana Club, which served as the hotel’s beach club since the 1930’s, is slated for demolition to make room for a new high-rise condominium. The Cabana Club, which also served as the social center for the community in the summer months, was made of wood except for the portico entrance. The Historical Society persuades the developer to save the portico (porte-cochere) and move it at his expense ($50,000) to a new Palm Beach County park at the Boca Raton Inlet. The porte-cochere now serves as an elegant structure at a beautiful site that the public can enjoy.

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The restoration of Town Hall begins at the same time that Sanborn Square across the street is being expanded. These two projects, using the same architect and working closely with the City, become the demonstration projects for downtown redevelopment. Design elements of architect Addison Mizner, who originally designed Town Hall, are incorporated into the Boca Raton Beautification Plan and later become part of the Downtown Redevelopment Plan. Boca Raton’s successful redevelopment efforts are now recognized throughout the country.

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In November, the $500,000 plus restoration of Town Hall is complete. The restoration was made possible through private and corporate donations and a $62,500 state grant. The project receives the prestigious Florida Trust Award for Historic Preservation.

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The Mizner Administration Building is named to the National Register of Historic Places.

The F.E.C. Railway Station is to be sold by the Florida East Coast Railway to a local restaurateur. Incensed BRHS members appeal to the City to intervene. The Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency negotiates and secures the purchase of the property and the BRHS Board of Trustees agrees to accept responsibility for organizing and leading a community-wide effort to raise funds for purchasing and restoring the Depot and landscaping the site. A coalition of ten local banks arranges for interim financing, and within two months the deal is consummated.

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The fundraising campaign for the Depot is underway. Local citizens, wearing engineer caps, blowing railroad whistles and “buying” stock in the Boca Scenic Railway Company, join in the campaign. With community donations, a $400,000 state grant, and a gift of $500,000 from Countess de Hoernle, the largest single gift to a preservation project at that time in the county, the necessary funds are raised.

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Members of the Historical Society board arrange for four rail cars to be delivered to the Depot site. A steam locomotive and a caboose from the 1930’s and two 1947 streamliner passenger cars are placed at either end of the Depot.

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The Boca Raton Historical Society receives the prestigious Florida Trust Award for Historic Preservation for the restoration of the F.E.C. Railway Station, Count de Hoernle Pavilion.

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The Old Floresta Historic District is created by the Boca Raton Historic Preservation Board and approved by the City Council.

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The exteriors of the four railway cars at the F.E.C. Railway Station, Count de Hoernle Pavilion are restored by the Historical Society with a designation of $40,000 by the Board of Trustees.

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At the request of the Boca Raton Historical Society, the Historic Preservation and Review Board of Palm Beach County designates Camino Real and the Camino Real Bridge as historic. This is an effort to save the roadway, designed by Addison Mizner, and the bridge built in the 1930’s from being changed due to high traffic.

The BRHS begins sponsoring Boca Raton’s Walk of Recognition, which annually recognizes local residents who have gone above and beyond their normal careers to improve the community. The honorees’ names are permanently inscribed in granite stars displayed at Royal Palm Plaza.

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The Boca Raton Historical Society announces that the Countess de Hoernle has made a $2 million endowment bequest to the Society; $1 million for the upkeep of Town Hall and $1 million for the upkeep of the F.E.C. Railway Station, Count de Hoernle Pavilion. This is the largest single endowment gift to an Historical Society in the State of Florida.

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The Boca Raton Historical Society begins working with the City and the Palm Beach County School Board to save the gymnatorium at Boca Raton Elementary School. The building, built by the WPA in the 1930’s, was the only combination gym and auditorium still in use in the county and was at the center of Boca Raton social life since WWII days. Ultimately, the gym was demolished to make room for a playground for the re-built Boca Raton Elementary School.

Boca Raton Historical Society entered into a community partnership with the Boca Raton Magazine, the Design Center of the Americas (DCOTA), and DuPont – O’Neill & Associates to completely restore the interiors of the two 1947 streamliner railway passenger cars located at the F.E.C. Railway Station, Count de Hoernle Pavilion. Everyone in the community was encouraged to get All Aboard the Boca Express. The cars were brought back to their original condition to serve as a museum. In August 2001, the BRHS received a Special Category Grant from the state of Florida for the train restoration in the amount of $120,200.

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The Boca Raton Historical Society nominates architect Addison Mizner to the Florida Artists’ Hall of Fame. Mizner is chosen as the first architect to receive this award, and the induction ceremony is slated to take place in April 2001 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.

The BRHS collaborates with local teacher, Deborah Rothberger, to write and publish a children’s book on the history of Boca Raton: A Stroll Through Boca Raton’s Early History from A – Z. The book is for sale in the Society’s gift shop and is donated to local schools through the program “Books for Boca.”

The two 1947 streamliner rail cars are named to the National Register of Historic Places.

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Pearl City is designated by the City as an historic neighborhood. The Palm Beach County office of the Division of Historical Resources, working with the Boca Raton Historical Society, completed the site survey of Pearl City, Boca Raton’s only African American neighborhood.

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The Boca Raton Pioneer Club donates $17,000 that was raised to save the gym to the BRHS to digitize and microfilm the Society’s collection of hometown newspapers. The papers are carefully unbound, ironed and sent for copying.

The BRHS undergoes the Community Assessment Program (CAP), sponsored by the IMLS, to assess the care given to archives and collections, including buildings and properties.

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The BRHS receives an award from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation for its exhibit, Mizner’s Dream: The Built and the Unbuilt.

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The BRHS collection of hometown newspapers, digitized in 2003, are put on the web for easy access by those interested in Boca’s history from 1938 – 1969. The funds for this were raised at the Boca Bacchanal Wine Auction 2005.

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