The Tekesta Indians lived along the shores of what is now the Intracoastal Waterway. Spanish explorers and buccaneers sought refuge in the natural harbor of its lake. A young Japanese student from New York developed a Japanese farming community here. This is where Addison Mizner decided to build his dream city. And this was the birthplace of the Personal Computer.

That city is Boca Raton, long a playground for the rich and famous seeking to escape harsh northern winters. The first house was built here in 1895 by civil engineer Thomas Moore Rickards, one year before Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway came through. Eventually Rickards moved his family away, disheartened by a decade of hurricanes, crop failures, freezes and infestation.

The 1920s were important for Boca Raton: the town was incorporated, oceanfront property was purchased by a group of Palm Beach and Northern investors, and plans to build a giant beachfront hotel complex were announced. In all Mizner built 29 homes in the historic Floresta area, and at least 12 small ones in Spanish Village, north of Singing Pines. The distinctive Mediterranean Revival style architecture set the standard for local development. It wasn't long before Boca Raton became one of Florida's best-known cities, a distinction it still holds.