Designated Sites
Designated Boca Raton Sites
Maurice Fatio Designed House -1240 Cocoanut Road, built ca.1938
- Boca Raton Town Hall, 71 North Federal Highway
- FEC Railway Passenger Station, 747 South Dixie Highway
- Singing Pines (Children’s Museum), 498 Crawford Boulevard
- Raulerson House, 290 Southwest Third Street
- Administration Buildings, 2 East Camino Real
- House designed by Maurice Fatio, Estates Section, 1240 Cocoanut Road
- House designed by Maurice Fatio, Estates section, 1281 Cocoanut Road
- House designed by Robin Paul John; Estates section, 800 De Soto Road
- House designed by Maurice Fatio, 3500 Northwest Fifth Avenue
- Old Floresta Historic District (north of Palmetto Park Road between Paloma and Cardinal Avenues)
- Pearl City Historic District ( Northeast Tenth Street to north of Glades between Dixie and Federal Highways)
- Spanish Village House (Warren House), 200 Northwest Seventh Street
Designated County Landmark
- Camino Real from Dixie Highway to the east end of the Geist Bridge (over the Intracoastal)
National Register Properties in Boca Raton
Aiken House - 801 Hibiscus Street - built ca. 1926
- Administration Buildings ca. 1925
- Old Betsy, Boca Raton Fire Engine Number 1 ca. 1926
- Boca Raton Town Hall ca. 1927
- FEC Railway Passenger Station ca. 1930
- Seaboard Airline Dining Car #6113 ca. 1947 (FEC Depot)
- Seaboard Airline Lounge Car #6603 ca. 1947 (FEC Depot)
- 1240 Cocoanut Road ca. 1938 (Estates Section)
- Aiken House , 801 Hibiscus Street ca. 1926 (Floresta)
- Lavender House, 875 Alamanda Street ca. 1926 (Floresta)
Endangered Sites
T Buildings
During World War II, the small town of Boca Raton served as the Army Air Corps’ only radar training facility, serving a total of 50,000 plus servicemen until 1947. Today under twenty of the over 800 structures built on the base survive within the area of the former airfield which stretched form Palmetto Park to Yamato, Dixie Highway to I-95. A handful of these buildings comprise the “T” buildings in the northeast section of F.A.U.’s campus. They served as classrooms, quarters, and mechanical shop. As they are outside the city limits, the city has no powers regarding their preservation. A group of concerned citizens composed of town and gown are campaigning to preserve some of these structures and see them incorporated into F.A.U.’s expansion plans. In addition, a number of former school buildings and air base warehouses are still in use as apartments, day care, and as warehouses within the city limits. BRAAF Preservation Society members are talking with the city about the establishment of a World War II “heritage trail” in Boca Raton—to remind future generations of this pivotal era in our city’s past.
Boca Raton Road
After several tremendous decades of redevelopment, little of Boca’s historic downtown section remains today. One of the few survivors is a section of Boca Raton Road, located just east of Sanborn Square and a block south of Mizner Park. These modest commercial building were begun shortly after World War II and housed the post office, department stores, and a variety of businesses over the years. Today they are amongst the few examples of the “moderne” style popular in South Florida in the 1940s and 1950s. Currently still in use, targeted by the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) for redevelopment in the 1980s, this last bit of downtown is not protected by historic designation.
Houses on Palmetto Park Road
A few original homes remain on Palmetto Park Road from Boca’s earlier days. Although not under immediate threat, none are protected by designation at this point. House images below: Luff and Morada Bonita.
Spanish Village
Originally designed as modest working class cottages by the Mizner Development Corporation, eleven true Mizner-designed 1920s era homes survive in Spanish Village, a subdivision located north of City Hall off Boca Raton Boulevard on Northwest Seventh and Eight Streets. Despite efforts by some of the home owners, only one is protected by designation.
