A passenger train slowly rocks to a stop in the heat of a lazy Florida afternoon. The train takes on water for its passengers, who have stepped down into a nearby field to stretch and gather pineapples growing beside the tracks. As the passengers refresh themselves, it is impossible to ignore the hum of life teaming around them. The air has the fragrant scent of sea mist and flowers. A short while later, the bell sounds on the train alerting passengers to their impending departure. Reluctantly, the travelers return to the train, glancing back at the peaceful and bountiful terrain. This scene was undoubtedly repeated many times in the early 1900′s as trains passed through the burgeoning settlement later to be named the City of Deerfield Beach.
The City’s history begins in 1877, when the first non-native glimpsed at the swamps, dense vines, saw palmetto, wild fig trees, cabbage palms, and pine groves along Hillsboro River which empties into the Atlantic. To the south, Key West and Miami were flourishing villages. To the north, Palm Beach was gaining renown as a fashionable winter resort. By 1890, a few houses appeared along the meandering Hillsboro River, which was named after the Earl of Hillsborough who was granted this land by King George III of England in the late eighteenth century. By the spring of 1896, Henry M. Flagler had extended his Florida East Coast Railroad down the coastline into Miami. The railroad opened up the tropical wilderness, pressing parallel against the Atlantic shore, which until then had been inhabited primarily by local fauna and Seminole Indians who lived inland.
Deerfield Beach
150 N.E. 2 Avenue
Deerfield Beach, Florida 33441
Phone: 954-480-4200 FAX: 954-480-4268
Office Hours 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
www.deerfield-beach.com
Mayor
Peggy Noland
150 NE 2nd Avenue
Deerfield Beach, FL 33441
Phone: 954-480-4263
Fax: 954-480-4268
web.commission@deerfield-beach.com
VICE MAYOR
Sylvia Poitier
COMMISSIONERS
Steve Gonot
Pam Militello
Sylvia Poitier
CITY MANAGER:
Michael Mahoney
Phone: 954-480-4263
Commission meets 1st and 3rd
Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.
Form of Government:
Commission/Manager
Elected officials serve 4-year terms
