This early history was compiled by the
Zion Study Circle in collaboration
with the Delray Beach Historical Society, the Spady Museum and
in
consultation with historian, Clemmer Mayhew.
and is from the Chamber of Commerce Website
Early History of Delrav Beach
• Prior to 1845, when Florida
became a state, Africans, Seminole Native Americans, and Black
Seminoles were already living in South Florida and continued to
do so along with white Europeans.
• In 1868 William and Sara
Gleason, Wisconsin natives, began purchasing thousands of acres
of land in various locations in Florida including in what is now
the City of Delray Beach. William Gleason was the
Lieutenant Governor of Florida from 1868 to 1870.
Two of their sons (W.H.H. and George) participated with
them in handling real estate transactions using the business
name of "Gleason Brothers, dealers in Real Estate." Many
early settlers in the area bought property from the
Gleasons.
• The military maps of the
peninsula of Florida dating from the 1850's time of the Seminole
Wars depict a haulover identified as Orange Grove Haulover along
the beach area of what is now the City of Delray Beach. The
name derived from an ancient orange grove found growing near the
beach. (A haulover is a place where people traveling by
boat could no longer navigate and had to haul their boats
out of the water and carry them on land for a distance.)
• In 1876 The
Orange Grove House of Refuge #3, a haven for the
shipwrecked, was constructed by the U.S. Lifesaving Service and
located just north of the ancient orange grove depicted on
earlier military maps. The first Refugee-keeper was Hannibal D.
Pierce.
• In 1885 Annie Andrews, wife
of Stephen N. Andrews who was the second and last keeper of
House of Refugee #3, established a post office address named
Zion, Florida for the area now known as the City of Delray
Beach.
• In 1885, Henry Flagler
purchased the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River
Railway in his efforts to build a railroad to connect the entire
east coast of Florida. Flagler was granted millions of acres of
land from the State of Florida to use in the construction of the
Florida East Coast Railway. Flagler also purchased many
thousands of acres of land under the name of Model Land Company
along the east coast of Florida including many hundreds of acres
in the area now known as Delray Beach. Many early settlers
bought land from Model Land Company. Many of the workers for
Henry Flagler in the construction of his railroad were African
Americans.
• In 1890 the Florida Coast
Line Canal (Intracoastal Waterway) was made navigable in parts
allowing for easier access to areas along the southeast coast.
•
By 1894 a number of people of African decent had settled here
from north Florida, other nearby southern states and the Bahamas. Their
population grew as they encouraged their relatives to relocate to the
area.
•
In 1894 William S. Linton arrived in the area from Michigan with
David Swinton and Major Nathan Boynton. At that time, William Linton was
a U. S. Congressman for the State of Michigan, serving from 3/1893 to
3/1897. Congressman Linton bought tracts of land from Henry Flagler's
Model Land Company, the Gleasons and others. The following
year Congressman Linton returned with a group of almost a dozen
people, including civil engineer E. Burslem Thompson and named the town
Linton.
• In 1894 the first school
was established in Linton. It was established by the African
American settlers. The African-American community was large
enough to petition Dade County for a school. {This area was then
a part of Dade County until 1909 when
Palm Beach County was established) That school, known
as "(Dade County) School #4, Colored)," was located in Linton on
Balckmer Street, currenly known as North West "Historic 5th
Avenue." As with many such pioneer schools, it is thought to
have been built with palmetto fronds.
• In 1895 the plat map of the
Town of Linton, including about a mile along the beach, was
drawn by E. Burlsem Thomson, a civil engineer in Congressman
Linton's group. Atlantic Avenue was platted next to a rock wall
partially surrounding the ancient orange grove.
Development of the Town of Linton began.
• In 1895 Adolf Hofman, a
German native of a prosperous farming family arrived in the
United States from Germany spending a few weeks in New York and
then on to Illinois for a few months. Later that year, he
traveled to Florida to purchase land for farming. He traveled to
this area on the same barge with Linton's group and first bought
land from Flagler's Model Land Company in 1896. That
land was located north of NE 4th Street (north of
Linton's property) and stretched westward from the "canal"
(Intracoastal) to Swinton Avenue and included land that is now
known as Del Ida Park Subdivision. The Hofman family homestead
was east of N.E. Seventh Avenue near NE 6th Street.
Shortly thereafter, Hofman bought land from Congressman
Linton and Gleason and later bought land from others.
• In 1896 the original plat
for the Town of Linton was officially recorded.
• In 1896 the first
church in Linton, Mt. Olive Baptist Church, was
established. It was established by African American settlers.
• In 1896 Henry Flagler's
Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway route was completed through the
Town of Linton. The railroad and the local depot were essential
for the farming economy and the growth of the town.
• By 1896 African descendant
Mary Cohen (aka "Auntie" Cohen and "Ma" Cohen), a trained
midwife, had settled in Linton and was the midwife for the
birthing of babies of all races.
• In
1897 the second church in Linton, St. Paul African Methodist
Episcopal (AME) Church, formerly named Mt. Tabor was
established. It was established by African American settlers.
• Between 1896 and 1898 a
school was established by white settlers for children of
European descent. This school was located at the site of what is
now Old School Square.
• By 1898 Susan
Williams, a trained midwife and general nurse
practitioner of African decent had arrived from the Bahamas and
handled medical needs of all races of people of Linton.
• In 1898 the name of the
Town of Linton was changed to "Delray" following hardship
brought on by crop-destroying freezes and William Linton's
default on his land payments. W.W. Blackmer, a town
leader suggested the name *Delray" which was derived from
the name of a town located near Detroit, Michigan. When the
railroad system built
by Henry Flagler expanded from West Palm Beach to Miami, farmers
began exporting their harvest of pineapples, tomatoes, peppers,
beans and other fruits and vegetables.
• In 1902 the Ladies
Improvement Association was established. This small group of
women spearheaded projects for many of the town's amenities that
were later achieved through the years such as a cemetery, the
public library, Atlantic Avenue improvements, and a town hall.
• In 1903 the church now
known as Cason United Methodist Church was established by and
attended by settlers of European decent.
• In 1903 hurricane winds
wrecked the British ship, SS Inchulva, near the south end of
Delray's municipal beach. Early settlers of African decent who
emigrated from the Bahamas initiated the rescue of the
survivors.
• In 1904
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (originally
called Evangelishe Lutherische Dreienigkeits Gemeinde by
German settlers) was established. Adolf Hofman and other
pioneer families of German descent were founding members.
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