Civil engineer Thomas Moore Rickards in 1895 built the first of the Boca Raton FL homes near the coastline of southeast Florida.  Before Rickards’ modest home, the Calusa Indians utilized the land, never needing to purchase their real estate in Boca Raton Florida.  An abundant banquet of the natural resources of the Florida Everglades was theirs to conquer and enjoy.

The exclusive Boca Raton FL real estate that followed Henry Morrison Flagler and his Florida East Coast Railway trumped the first settlement.  In 1896, early pioneer families from Georgia and South Carolina could ride the train and begin a new life growing crops of oranges, pineapples, and vegetables to transport back to marketplaces in the North.

Seminole neighbors interacted with customers at Rickards Delray Beach general store where much trade took place and everyone could feast on deer, rabbit, fish, and native and farmed fruits.  Rickards mentors a group of immigrants from Japan, including Jo Sakai from Japan, who schooled at New York University’s School of Finance.  Sakai sent word back home telling of the budding settlement of truck farmers Yamato (large, peaceful country). 

Although that community was not particularly successful, George Morikami bought into it and at the age of 82 when he became a citizen he presented the community with 150 acres that became the Delray Beach Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens.  A decade of terrible hurricanes disrupted the heavenly lifestyle and Rickards picked up and left for North Carolina.

During the 1920s, three developments gave the community a boost.  First, it incorporated.  Then a group of investors headed by society architect Addison Mizner purchased oceanfront property and they announced plans for a giant beachfront hotel complex.  Mizner Development Corporation already had 40 local homes and the development of Palm Beach under its belt.  Its stockholders included the rich and famous.  With this loaded hand of cards, Mizner set about building 29 homes in Floresta, now a distinctive historic area next to the Boca Raton Museum of Art, 12 homes in Spanish Village north of Singing Pines and the Children’s Museum, the Spanish-style Cloister Inn, and the Boca Raton Resort & Club with its distinctive Mediterranean Revival style.

This development put the city on the map.  Unfortunately, the company eventually went bankrupt as banks and the real estate industry faltered.  World War II reconfigured the economic atmosphere as well as the guestbook.  Twenty thousand army personnel trained at what is now Florida Atlantic University.  On the lookout for German submarines, residents took 4-hour shifts at the 30-foot-high wooden observation tower on the beach.

During the 1960s, International Business Machines (IBM) set up the facility that led the way for other businesses and accompanying population growth until 1980.  The population today is over 180,000.

For more information about real estate in the southeast coastal area of the state, please contact The Herman Group.