The City of Boynton Beach Downtown Heritage Trail runs along Ocean Avenue between Seacrest Boulevard and the Intracoastal Waterway. The full trail is approximately 1.5 miles long and includes 30 sites that are associated with the history of the city. The trail can be started from either end and may be completed in stages.
Located along the route are nine information boards containing Quick Response (QR) codes and details of the most significant sites. When the QR codes are scanned with a QR code reader on your smart phone or tablet device, you will access pages on this website.
As the trail runs through the downtown area, there is ample parking and a number of rest areas. Visitors are encouraged to visit the City Library, which contains the city archives, and the Schoolhouse Children's Museum. At the east end of the trail in Mangrove Park is a short boardwalk through a natural mangrove hammock.
Please note that the residential structures included on the trail are in private ownership and under no circumstances should you enter either the property or the yard.
Boynton Beach Boulevard and Seacrest Boulevard
The junction of Boynton Beach Boulevard and Seacrest Boulevard is one of the most important intersections in the city as it provides access from Interstate 95 to the downtown area and to the many municipal, cultural, and religious buildings located there.
Seacrest Boulevard Architectural Styles
Located along Seacrest Boulevard between Ocean Avenue and 2nd Avenue are a number of residential structures which illustrate a variety of designs in the Frame Vernacular and Mission architectural styles.
The High School and the Elementary School
Boynton's first public school was established in 1896 or early in 1897 under the auspices of the Dade County School Board.
Boynton F.E.C. Railroad Station and Farming
As well as transporting tourists, the station was also used to ship agricultural produce such as tomatoes, beans, peppers, pineapples, and bananas to northern markets.
Town of Boynton Subdivision and Ocean Avenue
The Town of Boynton Subdivision was platted in 1898 by Byrd Spilman Dewey and her husband Fred Sidney Dewey.
Boynton Beach, Ocean Ridge, and the Intracoastal Bridge
In the mid-1920s, a series of unfortunate events befell the town of Boynton. Plans for a new hotel were abandoned by Addison Mizner and his brother Wilson.
Shipping and the Boynton Harbor Marina
By 1900, Boynton was supplying the north with a variety of agricultural products including pineapples and tomatoes. Goods transported by water were shipped from a packing shed which was located on the east side of the Intracoastal Waterway just south of the Ocean Avenue Bridge.
Mangrove Walk Pond and the Mangrove Walk
The boardwalk winds through an undisturbed section of Florida’s natural habitat illustrating the harsh conditions encountered by the first settlers.
Captain Janet Hall and the Sea Mist Fishing Fleet
Coming to Florida as a young child, Captain Janet Hall had an immense love for the ocean. Her first job was free diving for shells from a glass bottom boat. In the late 1930’s she and her first husband, Capt. Dan Garnsey, pioneered drift fishing in Pompano. In 1940, to help crew their boats, Janet became the first licensed ‘female’ ocean operator with the US Coast Guard. In the 1950’s Janet and her second husband, Capt. Wendall Hall, moved their blended family of 8 children to Boynton to start the Sea Mist Fishing Fleet.