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B−History
History · Avon Park

Avon Park dates to 1884, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 51% of U.S. towns · #68 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Avon Park was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 13 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1920.

1884founded
2on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Avon Park’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Avon Park began

When was Avon Park founded?

1884

Avon Park dates its founding to 1884 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 890 in 19202020 census: 9,658142 years

How historic is Avon Park?

B−

More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1888.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Avon Park’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Avon Park is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #68 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Avon Park’s overall grade.
Founding era1884, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.6% of homes (±2.2) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register2 listings, 14 historic buildings, 13.9 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 51%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 89%

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 Avon Park’s 13.9 sits above most of its state (86% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 14 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% 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 (±2.2 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1884.

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 Avon Park’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages7 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Famous sons and daughtersBernice Mosby, Hal McRae and 7 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Avon Park’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota Cou…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Avon Park’s post office has been open since 1888.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Bonnie Brae Mobile Home EstatesBrentwood Mobile Home ParkLake Glenada Mobile Home ParkOrange Blossom Fellowship Community Mobile Home ParkSouthland Mobile Home ParkSunny Ridge Mobile Home ParkVilla del Sol Mobile Home Park
1cemetery inside Avon Park
Bougainvillea

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Famous people

9 famous people were born in Avon Park

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Bernice MosbyAmerican basketball player · b. 1984
Hal McRaeAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1945
Deanie ParishAmerican aviator · b. 1922
Nick GordonAmerican baseball player · b. 1995
D
Dee HartAmerican football player · b. 1992
D
Derrick CrawfordIndoor American football player · b. 1979
The story

How Avon Park came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Avon Park.

Read it all →

The first permanent white settler in Avon Park was Oliver Martin Crosby, a Connecticut native who moved to the area in 1884 to study the wildlife of the Everglades. By 1886, enough people had followed that the "Town of Lake Forest" was founded. As president of the Florida Development Company, he recruited settlers to the area, many of whom were from England, including many from the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, who gave the town its name.

Chapters1927–29 spring training ground of the St. Louis CardinalsGough v. StateOperation Drop Kick2006 Illegal Immigrant Relief Act

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Avon Park, 1884 to 1999

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884
    FoundingAvon Park is established
  3. 1888Post officeThe Avon Park post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1922Born hereDeanie Parish is born here
  6. 1940In the archiveFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
  7. 1945Born hereHal McRae is born here
  8. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1984Born hereBernice Mosby is born here
  10. 1995Born hereNick Gordon is born here
  11. 1999In the archiveAvon Park Executive Airport-FL-06Jan1999-USGS
By decade

Avon Park, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s2 items
Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]1940Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]1940Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
1950s–1980snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1990s1 item
Avon Park Executive Airport-FL-06Jan1999-USGS1999Avon Park Executive Airport-FL-06Jan1999-USGS
Today3 recent
Avon Park Evan-Cong Church sign012010Avon Park Evan-Cong Church sign01Avon Park Episcopal Church012010Avon Park Episcopal Church01FLMap-doton-AvonPark2004FLMap-doton-AvonPark
On the map

Avon Park on the map, 1953 to 1972

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

Avon Park on the 1953 USGS mapAvon Park on the 1972 USGS map1953Avon Park 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 Avon Park.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
Retake this viewFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)], 1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Avon Park’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 14 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
14
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Avon Park Historic District
Avon Park Historic DistrictPinecrest Hotel, Old
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Masonry Vernacular1
Neoclassical1
Art Deco1
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Mediterranean Revival1
Avon Park Historic DistrictMasonry Vernacular
Pinecrest Hotel, OldLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals

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

People over time

Avon Park, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,0001920194019601980200020209,658

Grew from 890 people in 1920 to 9,658 in 2020, more than tenfold.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Questions about Avon Park’s history

What year was Avon Park founded?

In 1884, according to Wikidata. Avon Park’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1920 counted 890 people here.

How does Avon Park rank for history?

Avon Park is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #68 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 Avon Park?

Two places: the Avon Park Historic District (listed 1990) and the Pinecrest Hotel, Old (2000).

How old are the homes in Avon Park?

6% of Avon Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1980.

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.