Lantana

History

The first settlers came to the area after Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act of 1842, at the end of the Seminole Wars, during the administration of President John Tyler. The M.B. Lyman family is credited with founding the town. Lyman arrived with his family in 1888 and, within a year, started several enterprises, including a general store, an Indian trading post, and a post office. As postmaster, Lyman named the post office – Lantana Point – for the wild lantana plants that grew in abundance in the area. The word Point was later dropped.

One of the other Lyman businesses was the Lantana Fish Company. In the early 1900s, the gathering and marketing of oysters became the town's leading industry. The Town of Lantana was incorporated on July 20, 1921, and 22 residents voted in the first election. At the time of incorporation, the area of Lantana was one square mile with a population of 100 residents.

After World War II, Lantana, like the rest of South Florida, experienced a tremendous building boom. Interstate 95, which was completed through Lantana in the mid-1970s, brought a surge of commercial development to the town.

Since 1950, the town had been the site of the A.G. Holley Hospital, the last of the old, state-run sanitariums for patients with tuberculosis. The facility treated about 50 patients at a time, those with the most obdurate forms of the disease. The facility was demolished in November 2014.

From 1974 until 1988, Lantana hosted the tradition of displaying the world's largest decorated Christmas tree. Every year, a huge tree was shipped from the Pacific Northwest to Lantana by rail to the grounds of the National Enquirer, adjacent to the Florida East Coast Railway tracks. The event attracted many visitors each night and became one of the holiday events in South Florida. This ended in 1989 due to the sale of the National Enquirer following the death of its founder, Generoso Pope Jr., at the age of 61 in October 1988.

In 2025, the Florida Supreme Court let stand more than $100,000 in fines the town levied on a homeowner for having allowed cars to be parked on her property with two tires occasionally resting on the lawn.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.9 square miles (7.5 km2), of which 0.6 sq mi (1.6 km2) (21.31%) is covered by water.

Climate

Lantana has a tropical climate, more specifically a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification Af), as its driest month (February) averages 2.55 in (64.8 mm) of precipitation, meeting the minimum standard of 60 mm in the driest month needed to qualify for that designation. Much of the year is warm to hot in Lantana, and frost is extremely rare. As is typical in the Miami metropolitan area, two basic seasons occur in Lantana, a mild and dry winter (November through April), and a hot and wet summer (May through October). Daily thundershowers are common in the hot season, though they are brief. The town of Lantana is home to many varieties of tropical vegetation, which can be seen in its variety of plants, trees, and flowers all over South Florida and the town itself, including its namesake, the lantana flower.

Demographics

Lantana is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Lantana had a population of 11,504. The median age was 43.3 years. 18.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.1 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 4,649 households in Lantana, of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 34.4% were married-couple households, 24.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 32.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 36.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 5,659 housing units, of which 17.8% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 16.8%.

As of the 2020 census, 2,556 families resided in the town.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, 10,423 people, 4,164 households, and 2,128 families were residing in the town.

2000 census

In 2000, the age distribution included 6.1% under 5, 21.4% under 18, and 13.8% were 65 years or older. The median income for a household in the town was $41,624. About 17.4% of the population was below the poverty line.

As of 2000, English as a first language accounted for 73.24% of all residents, and Spanish was found to be the first language of 13.95%, French Creole made up 6.82%, and Finnish was spoken by 5.01% of the population (the highest percentage in Florida). Also, French was spoken by 0.62% of residents and German was spoken by 0.34% of the populace.

As of 2000, Lantana had the 111th-highest percentage of Finns in the US, which accounted for 5.4% of all residents (tied with two US areas in Michigan), and |Haitians had the 35th highest percentage, with 5.20% of the population.

Culture

Lantana was the publishing headquarters of the National Enquirer during the 1970s and much of the 1980s.

The Town of Lantana has a public library, with a collection of more than 24,000 volumes, as of 2020. The Lantana Road Library west of the city in unincorporated Palm Beach County is a branch of the public Palm Beach County Library System.

Education

Public

Lantana Elementary School

Starlight Cove Elementary School

Barton Elementary School

Lantana Community Middle School

Santaluces Community High School

Public Charter School

Palm Beach Maritime Academy (prekindergarten - grade 12)

Special Needs School

Royal Palm School (prekindergarten - grade 12)

Sister cities

Lapua, Finland

Notable people

Artine Artinian, literature scholar

Lori Berman, member of the Florida State Senate

James Anthony Frederick, serial killer

Clifford L. Linedecker, author

Kathleen Ridder, philanthropist, educator, writer, equality for women activist

Paul Shannon, radio announcer