Photo Archives

The Boca Raton Historical Society has approximately 18,000 images from ca. 1900 to the present depicting life in Boca Raton. Below is a selection of 200 photographs from our collection. To view more photographs or purchase high-resolution images, please contact research@bocahistory.org

Photo ID: #1
T.M. Rickards home on the FEC Canal (Intracoastal) south of Palmetto Park Road late 1890s

Photo ID: #2
Frank Chesebro’s pineapple far, ca. 1903

Photo ID: #3
Workers at Frank Chesebro’s farm about 1914, south of Camino Real and east of the FEC tracks

Photo ID: #4
Bridge over prong of the Hillsboro River (now the El Rio Canal) south of NW 20th ST) [east boundary of FAU] ca. 1907

Photo ID: #5
Raulerson House on Palmetto Park Road west of the FEC, built 1905-1913, restored and moved to 290 SW 2nd AV in 1987

Photo ID: #6
Seminole dugout on Intracoastal at Boca Raton 1910s

Photo ID: #7
First “school bus” outside the first FEC station, ca. 1914-1917

Photo ID: #8
Students and teacher outside the 1908 schoolhouse

Photo ID: #9
Fish camp/ dance hall/ etc a north side of Boca Inlet 1919-1920

Photo ID: #10
Harriette Gates and Mary Driscoll at the Cloister Inn about 1927

Photo ID: #11
Souvenir postcard from the Boca Raton Club (now The Boca Raton) 1930s

Photo ID: #12
Boca Raton Hotel late 1950s

Photo ID: #13
A1A looking north at Palmetto Park Road ca. 1925. Mizner Development Corporation office at right

Photo ID: #14
Mizner Development Corporation newspaper ad, 1925

Photo ID: #15
Mizner Development Corporation Administration Building (now The Addison) looking north on Dixie Highway, 1925

Photo ID: #16
Old Town Hall ca. 1927

Photo ID: #17
Dixie Highway looking north, north of Palmetto Park Road, 1928. The camel was erected to attract Shriners on their way to a convention in Miami.

Photo ID: #18
Por La Mar Park, 1928

Photo ID: #19
Second Palmetto Park Pavilion built 1930, show in the 1940s

Photo ID: #20
FEC Depot looking north 1950s

Photo ID: #21
Mayor Fred Aiken examines Boca Raton’s famous green bean crop, 1930s.

Photo ID: #22
Boca Raton Army Air Field main gate at West Palmetto Park and NW 4th AV, ca. 1942

Photo ID: #23
View looking north on Federal form about SE Third ST, about 1950

Photo ID: #24
Postcard from Africa U.S.A. attraction, present site of Camino Gardens, 1950

Photo ID: #25
Second Boca Raton Inlet Bridge, built 1930, shown shortly before demolition in the 1960s. Photo by Dick Kitchen

Photo ID: #26
1908 schoolhouse near present site of BR Police HQ on NW 2nd AV

Photo ID: #27
Early humorous Boca postcard, 1910s

Photo ID: #28
Bathing beauties at the Cabana Club, 1930s

Photo ID: #29
Women’s Army Nurses with ARC vehicle at Boca Raton Army Air Field, WWII

Photo ID: #30
Boca Raton Road looking east, about 1950

Photo ID: #31
Postcard from Ancient America attraction north of Federal Highway (present Boca Marina development), 1950s

Photo ID: #32
Downtown Boca Raton, located west of the FEC tracks and south of Palmetto Park Road, about 1915

Photo ID: #33
1900 map of Boca Raton by surveyor Thomas Moore Rickards

Photo ID: #34
Virginia and Perl Kinney at the dock by the Palmetto Park Road bridge 1915-1920

Photo ID: #35
Mizner Development Corporation ad for Boca Raton, 1925

Photo ID: #36
View of the cloister at the Cloister Inn (now the Boca Raton Resort & Club) 1926

Photo ID: #37
Mizner Development Corporation ad for Boca Raton 1927

Photo ID: #38
Boca Raton Fire Department poses with Old Betsy outside Town Hall 1927

Photo ID: #39
Yachts on the Intracoastal north of the Boca Raton Club, visible in right background, 1930

Photo ID: #40
Yacht basin for the Boca Raton Hotel and Club on the east side of the Intracoastal south of the Camino Real bridge, 1953

Photo ID: #41
Africa USA tourist attraction postcard, 1959

Photo ID: #42
Cub Scout Pack 327 in a skit entitled “Who Will Rule the Universe?” 1958

Photo ID: #43
Chamber of Commerce building located on Federal Highway opposite Town Hall 1953

Photo ID: #44
View of the Boca Raton inlet and bridge, 1950s

Photo ID: #45
Postcard of the Cabana Club (part of the Boca Raton Hotel and Club) 1950s

Photo ID: #46
Sign which marked the south entrance to Boca Raton, Federal Highway, 1960

Photo ID: #47
Northbound train at the Boca Raton Florida East Coast Railway station, 1965

Photo ID: #48
Aerial view of IBM under construction looking south 1969

Photo ID: #49
The tower of the Boca Raton Hotel and Club under construction 1969

Photo ID: #50
Glades Road looking east from the Turnpike, 1967

Photo ID: #51
Children play at the Boca Raton FEC Railway station, late 1940s.

Photo ID: #52
Operation Desert Storm vets on a float in the 1991 Christmas parade.

Photo ID: #53
A guest at Royal Palm Plaza’s Christmas party checks out Santa’s beard, 1987.

Photo ID: #54
Aerial view looking south from what is now Spanish River Boulevard, 1950s.

Photo ID: #55
Rendering of Royal Palm Plaza by architect Howard McCall, 1963.

Photo ID: #56
Yamato children pose on their schoolhouse steps with teacher Clementine Brown, ca. 1920.

Photo ID: #57
Pioneer Kate Rickards holding a puppy, ca. 1910s.

Photo ID: #58
Aerial view of the El Rio Canal looking north ca. late 1940s.

Photo ID: #59
Chief Hugh Brown checks out the scene at North Federal Highway at about 6th Street, 1950s.

Photo ID: #60
Servicemen from the Boca Raton Army Air Field catch a ride outside Brown’s Bar ca. WWII.

Photo ID: #61
Students from the Baptist Church’s summer bible school pose with a banner 1950s.

Photo ID: #62
Hand tinted photo of the Robbins House, south of Palmetto Park Road, ca. 1925.

Photo ID: #63
View looking north of the Robbins House, located south of Palmetto Park Road, ca. 1925.

Photo ID: #64
Pioneers in a boat on the Intracoastal near Palmetto Park Road, ca. 1914.

Photo ID: #65
A1A looking north and west ca. 1927; note the Cloister Inn at left.

Photo ID: #66
A1A looking north ca. 1927.

Photo ID: #67
Peg Young sits on the beach with the Myrick family, ca. 1914.

Photo ID: #68
Masa, Rokuo, and Mishi Kamiya post in front of their house at Yamato, ca. 1914.

Photo ID: #69
Pioneers pose on the beach ca. 1914 Left to right: Joe Myrick; Peg Young; Helen Long; Robert Myrick; Mamie Myrick; William Myrick.

Photo ID: #70
Federal Highway looking north from south of Palmetto Park Road, late 1940s.

Photo ID: #71
View of Federal Highway looking south from Palmetto Park Road, 1946.

Photo ID: #72
Mizner designed house at 130 NW 9th Avenue, 1928.

Photo ID: #73
View of the Cloister Garden at the Boca Raton Club, late 1930s.

Photo ID: #74
Boaters by the Palmetto Park Road bridge, mid 1920s.

Photo ID: #75
Members of the Aircraft Warning Service man the spotting tower in what is now Red Reef Park, ca. 1942.

Photo ID: #76
Hermansen’s restaurant on the beach south of Palmetto Park Road, ca. 1956.

Photo ID: #77
Yacht landing on the east side of the Boca Raton Club ca. 1930.

Photo ID: #78
Horseback riders pose in front of the entrance to the Boca Raton Club, ca. 1930.

Photo ID: #79
Mizner designed house at 801 Hibiscus, ca. 1928.

Photo ID: #80
Aerial view looking south on the Intracoastal; Fifth Avenue on the right, ca. 1940s.

Photo ID: #81
Andrew Brennan gives the keys to the new city garbage truck to Bill Prendergast, 1955.

Photo ID: #82
Intersection of Federal Highway and Camino Real looking south, 1959.

Photo ID: #83
“Smitty” poses with his catch outside the gates of Casa Rosa, 1920s.

Photo ID: #84
Mr. Arnold holds his barracuda catch outside a house trailer, 1927.

Photo ID: #85
Harriet and Theodore Luff joke around with a fish head ca. 1920s.

Photo ID: #86
George Martin shows off his catch at Lake Boca Raton, ca. late 1910s.

Photo ID: #87
Water plant on the site of current City Hall, ca. late 1930s.

Photo ID: #88
Postcard view of the anchor which once sat in front of the Palmetto Park Pavilion, ca. 1960s.

Photo ID: #89
Harley Gates’ real estate office, ca. 1925.

Photo ID: #90
Bill Day III, Nate Fitch, Caroline Lennart, and Bill Day in Day’s real estate office, 1955.

Photo ID: #91
Miss Florida, Dorothy Steiner, poses at the Cabana Club 1957.

Photo ID: #92
Carl Douglas, Sam Pinchuk, Henry Warren, and Bill Day contemplate Douglas’ hole in one, 1953.

Photo ID: #93
Sherry Lou Kinch. Joyce Kuhman, and Sally Pool, contestants in the Miss Race Queen 1958 contest pose at the Cabana Club.

Photo ID: #94
Bill Schmitt, Bill Eddinger, and Jolene Mucci play pool with youngsters at Teen Town, ca. 1957. Bill Prendergast is adult at right.

Photo ID: #95
Contestants in the Summer Recreation Pet Show pose at Memorial Park, 1955.

Photo ID: #96
Boca Raton School cheerleaders pose outside the school, 1958. Front row, left to right: Joanna Brown; Dana Mucci; Judy Shryock; Back row: Janet Baker, co-captain; Sherry Owers, captain; Carolyn Baker, Sharon O’Neill.

Photo ID: #97
The volunteer fire department gather for a barbecue, ca. 1950s. Left to right: Fire Chief John Loughery (in chef’s hat); Bill Eubank; Bill Day; Louis Zimmerman; Isaac Green; Harold Turner; Charles Perreault; Buzz Pool.

Photo ID: #98
Domina Jalbert flies one of his experimental kites on NW 20th St, 1954.

Photo ID: #99
Boca Raton Town Hall (aka City Hall) ca. 1950s.

Photo ID: #100
Lucius Schlusemeyer and an unidentified woman outside the Chatham Hills sales office, 1956.

Photo ID: #101
Santa arrives by helicopter at the Community Center, 1969.

Photo ID: #102
Poster contest in the Boca El Gym, 1950s. First row left to right: Ray Borchardt; Larry Leturney; Tina Kelly; Norman Borchardt. Second row left to right: Linda Wright; Katherine Angel; Lyn LaMont. Third row left to right: Bill Mayer; Marilyn Quillen; Roy Urchota.

Photo ID: #103
PTA Halloween Festival costume contest at the Boca El Gym, 1950.

Photo ID: #104
Skier on Lake Boca Raton in front of the Boca Raton Hotel, ca. 1957.

Photo ID: #105
A family poses with a large marlin with the Boca Raton Hotel in the background, 1950s.

Photo ID: #106
Arthur Vining Davis’s helicopter lands at the Boca Raton Hotel, ca. 1958.

Photo ID: #107
Boca Raton residents appear on WPTV, 1957. Front row, left to right: Roberta MacSpadden; Dorothy O’Donnell; Mrs. James Kennedy. Second row left to right: Bud and Helen Hulick (hosts); H.W. Smith; Mayor John LeRoy Shores; James McGoldrick; John Flancher; Police Chief. W.H. Brown; Georgie Lapham; Harry Newman; Paul Bebout.

Photo ID: #108
Destruction at the Boca Raton Army Air Field after the September 1947 hurricane.

Photo ID: #109
Aerial view of the runways of the Boca Raton Army Air Field, ca. 1942.

Photo ID: #110
General Barton Kyle Yount in foreground, left, walks with base commander Narcissus Lily Cote and others at the Boca Raton Army Air Field, 1944.

Photo ID: #111
Soldiers make cornbread at the Boca Raton Army Air Field, WWII.

Photo ID: #112
An unidentified lieutenant raids the fridge at the Boca Raton Army Air Field, WWII.

Photo ID: #113
Gas mask training at the Boca Raton Army Air Field, WWII.

Photo ID: #114
Boca Raton Army Air Field officers’ wives practice bandaging techniques, WWII.

Photo ID: #115
Soldiers from the army and navy line up at Mess #9 at the Boca Raton Army Air Field, WWII.

Photo ID: #116
Soldiers’ mess at the Boca Raton Army Air Field, WWII.

Photo ID: #117
Women’s Army Corps (WAC) mess at the Boca Raton Army Air Field, WWII.

Photo ID: #118
Boca Raton Army Air Field cadets get R&R on the golf course at the Boca Raton Club, WWII.

Photo ID: #119
Firearms training at the Boca Raton Army Air Field, WWII.

Photo ID: #120
Members of Squadron F learn the parts of a machine gun at Boca Raton Army Air Field, WWII

Photo ID: #121
Coast Guard Base Auxiliary Flotilla 36 on Lake Boca Raton, 1974.

Photo ID: #122
Two women pose at the docks just north of the Boca Raton Hotel, ca. 1960s.

Photo ID: #123
East side of the Cloister Inn from Lake Boca Raton, 1926.

Photo ID: #124
Young Chip Douglas visits Santa Claus at Roadman’s Department Store, ca. 1950.

Photo ID: #125
Cartoon drawn by Zack Mosley for the soldiers at BRAAF, WWII.

Photo ID: #126
Officers at the Boca Raton Army Air Field visit their swanky new quarters at the Boca Raton Club, ca. 1942.

Photo ID: #127
Bibletown auditorium, ca. 1965.

Photo ID: #128
Motel at Bibletown, ca. 1960.

Photo ID: #151
First United Methodist Church, 1985.

Photo ID: #129
Thomas Moore Rickards (right) with his phosphate survey crew in Marion County ca. 1889.

Photo ID: #130
Youngster beside the “Tree of Knowledge” on what is now Glades Road, 1978.

Photo ID: #131
Sailboats in the ocean in front of San Remo Condos, ca. 1970s.

Photo ID: #132
Boca Raton Army Air Field Band, 1943.

Photo ID: #133
Jungle trail in Boca Raton ca.1890s.

Photo ID: #134
Red Cross swimming teachers at Smitty’s Driftwood, ca. 1950s. Left to right Trudy Borchardt; Red Cross representative; Chickie Wentworth; Mr. H. Smith (Smitty” ) owner of the Driftwood; Linnea Olsson.

Photo ID: #135
Willie Mae Fountain Jackson and Irene Demery Carswell pose in Pearl City, late 1940s.

Photo ID: #136
Archie and Irene Demery Carswell outside Ebenezer Baptist Church, ca. 1950s.

Photo ID: #137
Irene Demery poses in a Delray Studio, WWII.

Photo ID: #138
Marymount College, now Lynn University, ca. 1972.

Photo ID: #139
Archie Carswell poses in his Army Air Corps uniform, 1943.

Photo ID: #140
Evening dance at the Cabana Club, ca. 1950s.

Photo ID: #141
Policeman Ben Burgess, left, teaches fireman Harry Sully Sullivan scuba techniques, 1959.

Photo ID: #142
Policeman Ben Burgess teaches the fire and police department scuba techniques, 1959. Left to right: Joe Jodrey; Bob Higgins; Ben Burgess; Harry Sullivan; John Loughery; John Lunger.

Photo ID: #143
New span of the Palmetto Park Road bridge beside the old bridge, 1986.

Photo ID: #144
Dining room at the Cloister Inn, 1926.

Photo ID: #145
View of the east side of the Cloister Inn, 1926.

Photo ID: #146
View of the west side of the Cloister Inn, 1926.

Photo ID: #147
Close-up of the main entrance, Cloister Inn, 1926.

Photo ID: #148
Boca Raton Club under construction, 1929.

Photo ID: #149
Two models pose on the beach at the Cabana Club, ca. 1960s.

Photo ID: #150
Yachts tied up at the Boca Raton Club, ca. 1930.

Photo ID: #152
Frank Wright, left, owner of the Milestone II charter boat at Royal Palm Yacht Club, ca. 1965.

Photo ID: #153
Women’s Army Nurses at the Boca Raton Army Air Field base hospital, 1943.

Photo ID: #154
Typical barracks at Boca Raton Army Air Field, 1943.

Photo ID: #155
A WAC technician works on a radio, 1943.

Photo ID: #156
Boca Raton Army Air Field HQ on Pine Circle, 1943.

Photo ID: #157
St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 1992

Photo ID: #158
Kitchen at the Adams Apartments at 1820 NW 15th Vista, a former WWII building, 1956.

Photo ID: #159
The Garden Apartments, formerly the Palmetto Park Project, 1956.

Photo ID: #160
Palmetto Park Housing Project under renovation to become the Garden Apartments, 1956.

Photo ID: #161
Federal Highway looking south from Town Hall (at right), 1958.

Photo ID: #162
NE 4th Way off 20th Street in Winfield Park, 1958.

Photo ID: #163
Youngsters pose in front of the Dixie Manor Housing Project, 1944.

Photo ID: #164
Business district on Boca Raton Road, ca. 1950s.

Photo ID: #165
Ballroom of the Cloister Inn, facing west, 1926.

Photo ID: #166
Ballroom of the Cloister Inn, facing south, 1926.

Photo ID: #167
East side of the Cloister Inn from Lake Boca Raton, 1926.

Photo ID: #168
The “Cloister Garden” before landscaping, 1926.

Photo ID: #169
Original lobby of the Cloister Inn, now known as the Mizner Lobby, 1926.

Photo ID: #170
The Cloister Garden after completion, 1930.

Photo ID: #171
View of the Cabana Club, ca. 1947.

Photo ID: #172
View of the Boca Raton Hotel and Club from across the Intracoastal, ca. 1950s.

Photo ID: #173
Tinted postcard of the Cabana Club, ca. late 1930s.

Photo ID: #174
Postcard of the Palmetto Park Pavilion with anchor, 1949.

Photo ID: #175
Postcard for the Africa U.S.A. tourist attraction, 1958.

Photo ID: #176
Postcard for the Africa U.S.A. tourist attraction, ca. 1960.

Photo ID: #177
Cathedral Dining Room at the Boca Raton Club, ca. 1930.

Photo ID: #178
Marquee at the new Mizner Park Theatres, 1990.

Photo ID: #179
Students escape on the last day at Roadman School, 1965.

Photo ID: #180
Boca Raton High School cheerleaders atop the school, ca. 1965. Left to right: Georgene Nobel; Kathy Whisman; Carol Hutchens; Karen Lorentzen; Kay Hardy; Lynn Krautwald; Diane Borchardt; Sandy Sorenson.

Photo ID: #181
Business and Professional Women’s Club meeting at the Sun Cove restaurant in Deerfield, 1956. Left to right: Bami Shuhi; District 8 Director; Eve Pence, President; Eleanor Bebout; Marge Jamison; and Margaret Olsson.