Last updated: 12/20/2024
71 N. Federal Highway
Town Hall
Boca Raton, FL 33432
The Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum resides in Town Hall, Boca's original civic building, which is maintained as a local history museum. The Museum is open for visitors Monday - Friday, and sponsors heritage education programs for the entire community.
Monday - Friday
10 AM - 4 PM
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Mary Csar
phone: 561-395-6766 x106
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Susan Gillis
phone: 561-395-6766 x104
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Jean Scanlon
phone: 561-395-6766x101
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Kris Northrup
phone: 561-395-6766 x100
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Loren A. Mintz
phone:
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Shannon Patron
phone:
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Christian Robinson
phone:
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The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum located in the historic 1927 Boca Raton Town Hall is home to the Boca Raton Historical Society. Here visitors can enjoy five permanent exhibits dedicated to the history of one of Florida’s most desirable communities. Our galleries include: The Pioneer Era; Addison Mizner and the 1920s; World War II in Boca Raton; IBM Boca Raton; and a timeline of Boca history from prehistoric times to the present. In addition, the museum features a temporary exhibit gallery and is the principal resource for Boca Raton historical research. The Schmidt Museum offers educational programs for students, lecture series, community events, and tours of historic landmarks.
To collect, preserve and present information and artifacts relevant to the past and evolving history of Boca Raton and to maintain a visible role in education and advocacy of historic preservation in our community.
The Boca Raton Historical Society (BRHS) is a non-profit membership organization, founded in 1972. Since its inception, the BRHS has taken on ambitious restoration projects, provided first-rate cultural programming, and followed its mission: to collect, preserve, and present information and artifacts relevant to the past and evolving history of Boca Raton, and to maintain a visible role in education and advocacy of historic preservation in our community.
Photo collections: approximately 15,000 images from ca. 1900 to the present depicting a variety of subjects relevant to local history including images of: early agriculture; historic structures; transportation routes; and pioneers.
Subject Files: contain clippings, brochures, pamphlets and other materials relating to various subjects pertinent to area history. Highlights include the Army Air Field, Mizner Industries; IBM; and FAU.
Manuscript collections: the Historical Society is fortunate to own several important collections documenting many of the significant and everyday activities in the history of South Florida. The Chesebro Family Diaries document the lives of a family of pioneer farmers and landscape nurserymen. The Rickards Collection contains personal letters, early Florida survey books, and miscellaneous documents from 1895 through the 1920s and covers such interesting subjects as the development of Pearl City, the Yamato Colony, and the F.E.C. Railway. The Gates Collection contains many abstracts and documents from a pioneer family involved in local real estate. In addition, the archives contains Boca Raton city records from 1925 through 1930, which record the new city's survival of boom and bust.
Architectural drawings: a small but growing number of architectural drawings document some of the most historic structures in our community.
Maps: about 50 maps plus a small collection of aerial photos and Redi Maps are available to aid environmental auditors as well as historians in the documentation of land use.
Oral histories: approximately 120 oral histories have been collected from local pioneers and the Historical Society is fortunate to house copies of the Pearl City research project (Boca's historically black community) which formed the basis of the 1990 book Pearl City, Florida, a Black Community Remembers.
City directories: much used by house researchers and environmentalists,
Town Hall Talks is a lecture series hosted by the Historical Society. A variety of historical topics are presented to the community via guest speakers who are experts and/or authorities in their field. ($5.00/members free)
The Historical Society conducts tours of the
Boca Raton Resort & Club (12.00/$10.00 member)
Boca Express Train Museum ($3.00 adults/$1.00 6&up)
Town Hall ($5.00)
Trolley tours of historic & contemporary Boca Raton ($15.00/$12.00 member)
Tours for the Scouts include activities at Town Hall or the Boca Express Train Museum for those seeking the Local Lore and other history patches and badges or requirements. ($3.00/$2.00)
Ticket To Ride is the Historical Society's signature education program for schools. It is conducted at the Boca Express Train Museum and focuses on the importance of historic preservation as well as local and state history. The program supplements schools' social studies curriculum, aligns with the Sunshine State Standards, and contains FCAT practise skills.(Free)
Lesson plans detailing the local history of Boca Raton. The program augments the Florida history curriculum taught in local schools and is offered to area teachers on-line. (Free)
Historical Society offers slide presentations on local history to community groups and clubs. ($50.00)
A private, non-profit membership organization governed by a Board of Trustees.
Access: General Public
Appointment required: No
BRHS Newsletter - three times per year
Wheelchair Accessible
Parking
Restrooms
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