Alva’s post office opened in 1884, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #99 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Alva was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the Alva Consolidated Schools. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 2000.
The Alva post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Owanita (1904), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,182 in 20002020 census: 2,725142 years
How historic is Alva?
C+
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Alva post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Alva’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alva is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #99 of 638 in Florida. 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 Alva’s 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 Alva’s 5.9 sits above most of its state (82% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±4.5 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 Alva’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alva yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Alva is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States, situated on the Caloosahatchee River. The population was 2,725 at the 2020 census, up from 2,596 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Its first post office opened in 1884. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,596 to 2,725 (+5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Alva, 1884 to 1992
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Alva post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Alva rank for history?
Alva is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #99 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 Alva?
One place: the Alva Consolidated Schools (listed 1999).
How old are the homes in Alva?
4% of Alva’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1988.
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), 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) 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.
