Alturas’ post office opened in 1913, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #153 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Alturas was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Its Register listing is the Surveyor's Lake Schoolhouse. Below: maps from 1955 on.
The Alturas post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lake Buffum (1893), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 4,084113 years
How historic is Alturas?
C
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Alturas post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Alturas’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alturas is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #153 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alturas’ overall grade.
Few Florida towns list much on the Register (a typical Florida town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Alturas’ 2.2 sits above most of its state (76% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.4 points). 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 Alturas’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Alturas’s post office has been open since 1913. Another post office, Lake Buffum, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Lake Buffum
1893–1910
Alturas
1913–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Green Acres Mobile Home ParkLake Wales Mobile Home ParkWest Lake Wales
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Alturas, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alturas yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Alturas is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Polk County, central Florida, United States. Its population was 4,084 as of the 2020 census. Alturas has a post office with ZIP code 33820. The main road that runs through Alturas is Polk County Road 665A. Florida State Road 60 runs just north of the community.
Its first post office opened in 1913. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 4,185 to 4,084 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Alturas, 1893 to 1955
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Alturas post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Alturas rank for history?
Alturas is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #153 of 638 in Florida. 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 Alturas?
One place: the Surveyor's Lake Schoolhouse (listed 2024).
How old are the homes in Alturas?
8% of Alturas’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
