Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 7% of U.S. towns · #444 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Bay Harbor Islands was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1950.
Bay Harbor Islands dates its founding to 1947 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1950.
More historic than 7% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bay Harbor Islands is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns, #444 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Bay Harbor Islands’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (33% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bay Harbor Islands’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bay Harbor Islands.
Bay Harbor Islands was founded by Shepard Broad in 1947. Broad, an immigrant from Pinsk, Russia, acquired two undeveloped mangrove swamp islands and filled in the islands using his own funds and with down payments on the sale of lots. He was joined in the venture by businessman Benjamin N. Kane.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bay Harbor Islands. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bay Harbor Islands.
Grew from 296 people in 1950 to 5,922 in 2020, more than tenfold.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bay Harbor Islands’ Wikipedia page.
In 1947, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1950 counted 296 people here.
Bay Harbor Islands is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns, #444 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.
2% of Bay Harbor Islands’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1970.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
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