Florence’s post office opened in 1869, and 23 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #27 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Most of Florence was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. 23 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 115 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Florence post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Florence’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Florence is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #27 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Florence’s overall grade.
Few Arizona towns list much on the Register (a typical Arizona town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Florence’s 55.5 sits above most of its state (89% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 142 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Florence’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area where the town of Florence is located was once inhabited by the Hohokam, ancestors of the O'odham people. Prior to the establishment of the town, the Gila River served as a part of the border between the United States and Mexico. In 1853, the Gadsden Purchase extended American territory well south of the Gila.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Florence. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1965Florence sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Florence.
Every building
Florence, building by building, 1890–1915
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The Florence post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Florence rank for history?
Florence is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #27 of 140 in Arizona. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Florence?
23 listings: 22 buildings, among them the First Florence Courthouse (listed 1974, the first), and 1 historic district, the Florence Townsite Historic District, with 115 contributing buildings. 142 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Florence?
0.7% of Florence’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 2005.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (17), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (23), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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