Mizner Industries / Mizner Style

Palm Beach society architect Addison Mizner created the "Palm Beach style" with his design for the Everglades Club on Worth Avenue in 1918. He quickly found that he was not able to purchase through local suppliers the tile and iron work he needed for his Spanish design. He took over a blacksmith shop to make lighting fixtures and ornamental grills and built his own kilns to make the roof tiles. As his commissions grew, he purchased various craft shops to supply the décor and materials for his projects. Mizner Industries grew into one of the largest manufacturing companies in Palm Beach in the 1920s. The company made tiles, hand made pottery, wrought iron and stamped metal fixtures, cast stone columns, windows, and door surrounds, indoor and outdoor furniture, and art glass. The furnishings and other details were often distressed to give them the appearance of antiquity. Mizner Industries also imported antique furniture, decorative tiles, and other accessories to supplement the locally made products. Together these items helped furnish homes through South Florida built in the "Mediterranean Revival" style.

By the 1950s, these furnishings and details were no longer in vogue; many were lost in the demolition of Palm Beach estates or the various renovations of the Boca Raton Club. Because of Boca Raton's close ties with the architect, "Mizner Industries" has been a focus of the Boca Raton Historical Society's collections since the 1970s. In this new exhibition at Town Hall we present a sampling of our current knowledge of both known Mizner Industries products (a rarity) and artifacts which represent the "Mizner style," popular once again.

Boomtime Boca: Boca Raton in the 1920s

Boca Raton, Florida was a tiny farming community on the southeastern coast of Florida when the Florida real estate boom of the 1920s grew into a national phenomenon.  Investors and new residents were drawn to the state from all over the country, a time Floridians will forever know as "The Boom." In April 1925, well known Palm Beach society architect Addison Mizner revealed his plans for an ambitious new development at Boca Raton.  The small town was to be "the world's premier resort" and "the dream city of the western world."  Mizner's projects stimulated other developments in the south county area like George Harvey's "Villa Rica," and Frank Croissant's "Croissantania."  The little town blossomed as well. Incorporated in 1925, town fathers established police and fire services and commissioned a new town hall from Delray architect William Alsmeyer in 1927. The population of the town grew from one hundred to several hundred residents. 

By the fall of 1926, however, the Boom was near its end.  Negative press and a rail embargo preceded two of the most destructive hurricanes in Florida's history, the 1926 and 1928 storms, both of which hit Boca Raton.  New residents left South Florida in droves.  The Boom was Bust. 

In the fall of 1927, Mizner Development Corporation investor Clarence Geist acquired the company's holdings. He immediately laid plans for the expansion of the Cloister Inn, hiring famed New York architects Schultze and Weaver to more than double the size of the original hostelry.  The new Boca Raton Club opened in 1930.  Boca Raton returned, for the most part, to its small-town agricultural heritage by the end of the decade.  With the outstanding exceptions of the Boca Raton Club and other boom-era construction, there were few signs of the glamorous resort community once envisioned by the great Addison Mizner. 

Boomtime Boca will feature artifacts, artwork, and photographs from this glamorous and exciting era in our community's past.

Boomtime Boca: Boca Raton in the 1920s is available in the Fire Bay Gift Shop or through giftshop online.

Parking is free.

Town Hall at 7:00 P.M.
71 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton
Free Parking

Admission: BRHS Members - Free / Non-members - $5.00
Please RSVP at 561.395.6766.101 or for more information.

December 9, 2010
Boca Knights and Boca Mourning
Steven M. Forman, author of Boca Knights and Boca Mournings will discuss his novels and the inspiration of Boca Raton.

January 13, 2011
Modern Architecture And Its Place In Historic Preservation
Modern is now old enough to now be historical. This presentation will address the origins of the Modern Movement, starting in the 1850s with the Arts and Crafts Movement. Four architectural projects, more than 50 years old at this time, are showcased with four modernists architects, Walter Gropius, Paul Rudolph, Hugh Stubbins and Leonard Currie. Using these buildings, Mr. Currie will identify the design logic behind each and speak of some of the behind scenes issues. He will also speak of his own experience as a local "modernist architect" when he came to Delray Beach in 1969. 

Robert G. Currie is the founding principal of Currie-Sowards-Aguila Architects located, since its 1969 inception, in Delray Beach. He received a master in Architecture from Harvard University, Graduate School of Design in 1965 and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Minnesota in 1962. Mr. Currie is certified as an architectural professional by NCARB and has been registered in nine states, including Florida. With over fifty design awards to his credit, Mr. Currie is responsible for all of his firm's projects through the design development phase. In 2008, he was elevated to Fellow by the American Institute of Architects.

                                      
February 17, 2011
The Sunshine Economy, The Economic History of Florida
Currently serving as Professor Emeritus of Economics at Florida Atlantic University, Dr. William B. Stronge has taught numerous classes in economics, and money and banking. His research concentration includes the fields of Statistics, Urban and Regional Economics, and Economic History. Dr. Stronge has also been involved in major local, regional, and national projects, including those for the U.S. Treasury, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Miami River Commission, and national Ocean Economics Program.

In his book The Sunshine Economy: An Economic History of Florida Since the Civil War, Dr. Stronge draws on the vast amount of statistical information available on Florida to tell the history of the remarkable transformation of the state's economy. The Sunshine Economy traces the development of the industries that spurred major growth in the state. It describes how Florida progressed from being one of the least populated states in the country, with an economy based on forestry products and open-range cattle farming, to the fourth most populated state, with an economy based on sunshine, tourism, retirement, citrus, and vegetables. His perspectives also enrich our understanding of Florida's experiences during the Great Depression and the rampant inflation of the 1970s as well as the current economic environment. 

Past popular exhibitions displayed in the History Museum are now available to the public as traveling exhibits. The exhibits consist of hanging panels that depict an historical event or topic in Boca Raton's rich history. 

Choose from a variety of titles including: 
           - Pearl City: A Black Community Remembers 
          - Nifty Fifties
          - Herstory
          - Mizner's Dream: the Built and Unbuilt

For more information, rental fees, and availability contact the
Collections Department at 561.395.6766 ext.104 or curator@bocahistory.org.                

The Boca Raton Historical Society conducts presentations as part of its Outreach programming for group meetings. Historic photographs, taken from the Boca Raton Historical Society’s archives collection, are reproduced and used to assist with the story of  Boca Raton’s rich history and architecture. The presentations are conducted by volunteers of the Boca Raton Historical Society and are available for a nominal fee. Currently, there are three topics:

Addison Mizner & Boca Raton	The Pioneer Era
Our First Fifty Years