The Town of Hillsboro Beach is situated on a small peninsula north of Pompano Beach. It extends 3.2 miles from the Hillsboro Inlet on the south to Deerfield Beach on the north and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Intracoastal Waterway on the west. Its greatest width is about 900 feet. It has but one road, State Highway A1A. The Town was originally incorporated in 1939 and remained inactive until 1947 when it was incorporated by a special act of the Florida Legislature. The first meeting towards formal incorporation was arranged by Mrs. Marie McCollum and took place in February 1947, at the residence of Mrs. Ruth Markland. At a meeting held on March 4, 1947, Ernest Wooler was elected the first Mayor. At that time the Town had 17 voters, 9 private houses, 4 groups of rental cottages and apartments, and the Hillsboro Club. Highway A1A was an unpaved, sandy road. A narrow bridge, operated by hand connected the Town with Pompano Beach. The present Town Hall was dedicated in 1955.

The Town is governed by five elected Commissioners. The Town has a Police Department comprised of 16 men. The Town of Hillsboro Beach is serviced for fire by the Deerfield Beach Fire Department. Inland, off Sample Road and over the Biscayne Aquifer, is the Town's wellfield of twenty-two acres, with four wells, pumps and a water treatment plant. The sewers are connected to the Broward County Sewage Treatment Plant. In 1973 there were 747 voters in the Town, and the winter population was approximately 1,800. Today there are over 1,500 voters in the Town with a winter population of over 3,000.