Boynton Beach Map
Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 60,389 at the 2000 census. As of 2006, the city had a population of 66,714 according to the University of Florida, Bureau of Economic and Business Research. Boynton Beach is a principal city of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 5,463,857. Despite the city's name, it has no beachfront; rather, it is located across the Intracoastal Waterway from the oceanfront municipalities of Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes.
In 1894, two years before Henry Morrison Flagler built his railroad, a former American Civil War major named Nathan Smith Boynton first set eyes on the area that now bears his name. Boynton hailed from Port Huron, Michigan. He was so impressed by the natural beauty of the year-round sunshine and pristine beaches, he built the famous Boynton Hotel, where he also spent winters with his family. The first settlers, whom Boynton had brought along from Michigan, soon realized that many fruits and vegetables thrived in the fertile climate. Pineapples, tomatoes, mangoes, and citrus fruit were packed in crates and shipped by the ton on the newly-built Florida East Coast Railroad to satisfy the appetites of hungry Americans across the country. Major Boynton passed away on May 27, 1911 in Port Huron, but the hotel carried through until 1925.
Boynton Beach was originally incorporated in 1920 as the Town of Boynton. The name "Boynton Beach" actually was first used by a community that broke off from Boynton in 1931. In 1939 that first Boynton Beach changed its name to Ocean Ridge. The Town of Boynton itself took the name "Boynton Beach" in 1941.
Nearby cities include Ocean Ridge, Haverhill, Palm Beach, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach.