Boca Raton Old City Hall - Boca Raton, Florida
N 26° 21.073 W 080° 05.195
17R E 591141 N 2914901
Today the restored Town Hall is the home of the Boca Raton Historical Society founded in 1972.
Waymark Code: WM7PHP
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 11/18/2009
Views: 9
The Boca Raton Old City Hall (labeled as "Town Hall" on signs) was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on October 16, 1980.
Town Hall, originally designed by Addison Mizner, is not completed as the architect went bankrupt. Instead, it is scaled down and finished in 1927 by Delray Beach architect, William Alsmeyer.
Old Town Hall at 71 North Federal Highway still bears the original footprint of the Addison Mizner design, and was constructed using ironwork, tile, and woodwork supplied by Mizner Industries. It housed the volunteer Fire Department and its first engine, “Old Betsy.”
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 describes an inlet, while raton means literally, mouse. The term Boca de Ratones or Boca Ratones, was a navigational referring to a rocky or jagged inlet, but the original location of Boca de Ratones was Biscayne Bay near present day Miami Beach, according to eighteenth century maps. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the term was mistakenly applied to the current Lake Boca Raton, whose inlet was closed throughout most of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The “s” and later the “e” were dropped from this title by the 1920s, yet the correct pronunciation remains Rah-tone.
Street address: 71 N. Federal Hwy Boca Raton, Florida United States 33432
County / Borough / Parish: West Palm Beach
Year listed: 1980
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering
Periods of significance: 1925-1949
Historic function: Government
Current function: Government
Privately owned?: no
Hours of operation: From: 10:00 AM To: 4:00 AM
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.