For decades, the accepted story of Delray Beach's origins begins with Michigan U.S. Rep. William Linton and his friend David Swinton, who settled here in 1894. Today, major streets are named after them. Published timelines commemorating the city's history highlight their achievements.

But Durante and a group of others say there is much more to the story.

By the time Linton and Swinton stumbled upon the area, scores of African- and Bahamian-Americans were already living and farming here -- enough that Dade County established School No. 4, Colored in 1895. It was the second school in southeast Florida built for black students. Black settlers organized the area's first two churches: Mount Olive Baptist Church opened in 1896; and one year later, Mount Tabor, now the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, was established. Both congregations still exist, but worship in new buildings.