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BHistory
History · Archer

Archer dates to 1850, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Bethlehem Presbyterian Church. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1910.

1850founded
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Archer began

When was Archer founded?

1850

Archer dates its founding to 1850 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 468 in 19102020 census: 1,140176 years

How historic is Archer?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1859.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Archer’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Archer is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Archer’s overall grade.
Founding era1850, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.8% of homes (±7.6) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 10.4 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder

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 Archer’s 10.4 sits above most of its state (85% 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 B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.6 points). Two sources give 1850.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Archer’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Archer are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Archer’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Archer’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Archer came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Archer.

Read it all →

The City of Archer started in the 1840s as a settler community named both Deer Hammock or Darden's Hammock. Archer was officially incorporated as a municipality in 1850. The first trains stopped in Archer in 1859. The Florida Railroad reached the community in 1858, which shifted the site of the city eastward. At this point the city was renamed Archer, after James T. Archer, the first Florida Secretary of State.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Archer, 1850 to 1968

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850
    FoundingArcher is established
  3. 1859Post officeThe Archer post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Archer, decade by decade

Today16 recent
Phlox drummondii - Archer FL 022009Phlox drummondii - Archer FL 02Phlox drummondii - Archer FL 012009Phlox drummondii - Archer FL 01Archer FL water tower012009Archer FL water tower01Archer FL plaque012009Archer FL plaque01Archer FL flower yellow012009Archer FL flower yellow01Archer FL SR 24 west012009Archer FL SR 24 west01Archer FL SR 24 east012009Archer FL SR 24 east01Archer FL Neal House032009Archer FL Neal House03Archer FL Neal House022009Archer FL Neal House02Archer FL Neal House012009Archer FL Neal House01Archer FL Masonic Lodge022009Archer FL Masonic Lodge02Archer FL Masonic Lodge012009Archer FL Masonic Lodge01Archer FL Main Street012009Archer FL Main Street01Archer FL Maddox022009Archer FL Maddox02Archer FL Maddox012009Archer FL Maddox01FLMap-doton-Archer2004FLMap-doton-Archer
On the map

Archer on the map, 1968 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Archer. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Archer on the 1968 USGS mapArcher on the 1988 USGS mapArcher on the 1993 USGS map1968Archer 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 Archer.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Archer

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2018
Bethlehem Presbyterian Church
Bethlehem Presbyterian Church
Buildings
Bethlehem Presbyterian ChurchBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Archer, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,400192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,372

Between 420 and 1,372 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Archer’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Newberry2 historic placesB−

Questions about Archer’s history

What year was Archer founded?

In 1850, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Archer’s post office opened in 1859, and the census of 1910 counted 468 people here.

How does Archer rank for history?

Archer is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. 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 Archer?

One place: the Bethlehem Presbyterian Church (listed 2018).

How old are the homes in Archer?

17% of Archer’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1972.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (16), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.