Narrated Bus Tours
of Historic Delray Beach, Florida
Conducted by the
Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History
Again VOTED Best Tour of The Town
Two Tour Dates offered in November & December 2008
Also Year 2009 Tour Dates are set
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| View of East Atlantic Avenue in old downtown Delray Beach, FL |
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| 1904 Historic Chapel at Trinity Lutheran Church built by German settlers to Delray Beach |
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| 1950s Priscilla Hotel located in the Frog Alley neighborhood. This hotel was built by Bahamian settlers to Delray Beach |
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| 1936 Sandoway House that was built as a private residence and designed by architect Samuel Ogren |
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Delray Beach, Florida ( Palm Beach County) – The Narrated Bus Tours of Historic Delray Beach have been voted, again, as the 2008 Best Tour of The Town by Gulfstream Media Group who are publishers of Boca Life Magazine, The Palm Beacher Magazine and Gold Coast Magazine. The Narrated Bus Tours of Historic Delray Beach are conduced by the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History. Again, the Museum’s bus tours have been designated as Best Tour of the Town by the Gulfstream Media Group. Their first recognition from the Gulfstream Media Group for the Museum’s bus tours as being the “Best” was in year 2006.
“Although
the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History is presently without a
permanent home, we still thrive to offer quality programs, such as the
bus tours, that continue to earn the distinct reputation as being the
‘best’ with the most comprehensive presentation of about the lifestyle
history of Delray Beach,” says Lori J. Durante, Executive Director of the Museum who also conducts the monthly bus tour program.
The Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that was established in year 1999. The Narrated Bus Tours of Historic Delray Beach began in year 2004 and is the only year round bus tour program of Delray Beach. The tours are conducted on the 4th Saturday of each month at 11am for the general public. Plus the tours are available any week day at specialized times by reservations for private groups and children school groups. The
tours are a one hour & 45 minutes excursion that also includes
history information about the Seminole Native American, African
American, Bahamian, Japanese and German and other White European
settlers to Delray Beach, Florida. All tours journey through five historic districts and neighborhoods such as Banker’s Row and Frog Alley. Also, there
are now a total of 10 historic buildings/sites that are alternately
visited on a rotating schedule as a part of the bus tour experience.
Some of the other prestigious national accolades that the Museum’s bus tour program has received include being rated the Best by the AAA Magazine Mid-America Home & Away edition (distributed from Ohio to Alaska); Guest Informant Magazine-Gold Coast edition; the Palm Beach Post, Sun-Sentinel, the Boca News and the Delray Forum, to name a few. The Museum’s bus tours also received an “A+” rating by the San Antonio Press newspaper of San Antonio, Texas in a December 24, 2007 travel column.
In order to guarantee a seat, pre-paid reservations made in advance of the tour date, are highly recommended. Payment is required for reservations. Seating is general. Reservations can be made with payment by phone or by mail. For information, call 561-243-2662 or send an e-mail: Tour@DelrayBeachBusTours.org. Also, visit the Museum’s website at www.DelrayBeachBusTours.org.
The check-in/boarding and parking location for the tours is at the new Downtown Delray Beach Public Library which is located at 100 W. Atlantic Avenue (do
NOT send bus tour payments to this address). The Delray Beach Public
Library began in 1913 by the Ladies Improvement Association and its
history is incorporated as a part of the tour experience.
The
Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History has received 2008 sponsorship
support, to date, for these tours from Palm Beach County Commissioners
Addie L. Greene & Mary McCarty, GL Homes, Nordstrom, the Office
Depot Foundation, Ola M. Vickers, Durante Realty, The Patricia Ann Ravo
Fund and Boris & Edith Rueger.
PLEASE NOTE: The CORRECT name for the tours is NARRATED BUS TOURS OF HISTORIC DELRAY BEACH conducted by the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History.
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Year 2009 Narrated Bus Tours of Historic Delray Beach.
Fourth Saturday Dates (please arrive no later than 10:45am)
Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 11am
Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 11am
Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 11am
Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 11am
Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 11am
Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 11am
Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 11am
Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 11am
Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 11am
Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 11am
Saturday, November 28, 2009 at 11am
Saturday, December 26, 2009 at 11am
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More about the bus tours.
In
addition to local history and the origins of Palm Beach County, the
history of the State of Florida is also included in the narration
during the tour with information about the arrival of Spaniards in the
1500s as well as the migration of runaway African slaves and Creek
Native American slaves who came to Florida together from the late 1600s
to 1800s. The narrated local history is told as the bus travels through
historic areas such as Swinton Avenue which was named for one of Delray
Beach's early white settlers named David Swinton, from Saginaw,
Michigan who owned a book store in Saginaw. He came to this area in
1894 on a trip with his friend named William S. Linton, a Michigan
Congressman. In 1894, Mr. Linton purchased 160 acres of land and made
a down payment on 640 more acres in this area and he named the town
after himself and called it the Town of Linton which later was named
Delray Beach. Soon after his purchase, Mr. Linton began recruiting
others from Michigan who began the task of settling and laying out the
town. The tour information explains more about other tidbits of facts
about the people, places & lifestyles of Delray Beach in the early
years. The tour also highlights the Historic West Settlers District
which is the African American historic district in Delray Beach that
recognizes the early African American settlers of Delray Beach who were
already in Delray Beach before the white settlers arrived. African
Americans lived in the area West of what is now called Swinton Avenue.
Other historical facts that are featured as a part of the tour are
about the Japanese settlers who were recruited to Delray Beach in the
early 1900s by railroad tycoon Henry Flagler.
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Fees for Tour
The Narrated Bus Tours of Historic Delray Beach are held on the 4th Saturday of each month, year-round. The tours are now a 1 hour & 45 minutes excursion and include visits to historic districts, historic buildings and include information about the Seminole Native American, African American, Bahamian, German and other White European settlers to Delray Beach, FL. The fee for the history bus tour is $10.00 per person for adults and free for children and teens under age 18 when accompanying their family (maximum 5 children free per family). The tour departs at 11:00am. Please arrive by 10:45am for the 11am tour. Pre-paid advance reservations are highly recommended. For more information, visit the museum's new website address for the bus tours at http://www.DelrayBeachBusTours.org or e-mail: bustour@MLFHMUSEUM.org or call (561) 243-2662.
NEW Boarding & Parking Location of BUS TOURS,
effective March 2007
The Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History will be continuing its partnership with the Downtown Delray Beach Library Public Library with the use of their facility as the NEW Boarding and Parking location each 4th Saturday of the Month for the Museum’s Narrated Bus Tours of Historic Delray Beach, effective with the March 24th bus tour. The new Downtown Delray Beach Public Library is located at 100 W. Atlantic Avenue (do NOT send bus tour payments to this address). The Delray Beach Public Library began in 1913 by the Ladies Improvement Association and its history is incorporated as a part of the tour experience.
Accolades for Narrated Bus Tour of Historic Delray Beach
The Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History’s Narrated Bus Tours of Historic Delray Beach were selected for the 2nd consecutive year as one of the Best Bets in Palm Beach County in the 2006 Guest Informant Magazine for the Gold Coast Edition of Fort Lauderdale and the Palm Beaches. The Guest Informant is a hard-cover magazine distributed to hotel rooms in major hotels. When the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History tours began in 2004, they were the only tours of historic Delray Beach conducted on an on-going, year-round basis and they are still the only tour series conducted 12 months a-year. In 2006, the Museum’s tours were also selected as Best Tour of The Town in the June 2006 issue of The Palm Beacher & Gold Coast Magazines; in 2005 and 2006, these bus tours were selected as Best Bets in all of Palm Beach County in the Gold Coast Edition of the Guest Informant. The Narrated Bus Tours of Historic Delray Beach were also selected in 2006 as one of the “Unique Travel Gems” by AAA Home & Away Magazine Mid-America publication for the States from Ohio to Alaska and the tours were profiled in the January/February 2006 issue of Home & Away AAA Magazine of Mid-America. A certificate for this honor was sent to the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History for its bus tour program. These monthly bus tours are hugely popular.
Financial Sponsors
for Narrated Bus Tour of Historic Delray Beach
Some of the 2006 & 2007 financial sponsors of the tours are the American Express, City of Delray Beach, Palm Beach County Cultural Council, Palm Beach County Commissioner Addie L. Greene, GL Homes, Nordstrom, Ola M. Vickers, Durante Realty, Edith & Boris Rueger and the Patricia Ann Ravo Fund (for Children’s bus tour program).
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The
following locations are the historic sites for tour stops which are
visited on a rotating basis where the bus makes stops so that
passengers are allowed to get off the bus and go inside to view the
inside of that particular historic building and learn more about its
history and its important role in the history of the settlement of the
community of Delray:
(Year denotes the year their 1st building was erected)
1926 Colony Hotel
1936 Sandoway House
1950s Priscilla Hotel
1896 Greater Mt. Olive Baptist Church
1897 St. Paul AME Church
1903 Cason Methodist Church
1904 (July) Trinity Lutheran Church
1904 (August) St. Paul's Episcopal Church
1911 St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church (current building used was built in 1929)
1924 First Presbyterian Church
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