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History · Bell

Bell’s post office opened in 1897

Most of Bell was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1910.

1897first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Bell began

When was Bell founded?

1897

The Bell post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 243 in 19102020 census: 518129 years
Founding year: the first Bell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bell’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 Bell are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1910 and 1950, then grew 4-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bell’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bell’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
People over time

Bell, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020243 in 1910Low: 108

Lost half of its people between 1910 and 1950, then grew 4-fold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Bell came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bell.

Read it all →

The town was founded in the 1890s, named after a beauty contest winner, Bell Fletcher. In the early 1900s, a railway was built, passing through the town on its route between Starke and Wannee. A train depot was built circa 1905, and the restored depot building is now the town hall. The Town of Bell was officially incorporated as a municipality on August 18, 1902. It was reincorporated in 1903.

On September 18, 2014, a 51-year-old ex-convict, Don Charles Spirit, shot and murdered his daughter Sarah and her six children. He then committed suicide after police officers responded to the scene of the crime.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bell, 1897 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897Post officeThe Bell post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 21st century
  6. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 518
By decade

Bell, decade by decade

Today10 recent
Cannon Farm, Bell, Florida, US (4)2021Cannon Farm, Bell, Florida, US (4)Cannon Farm, Bell, Florida, US (3)2021Cannon Farm, Bell, Florida, US (3)Cannon Farm, Bell, Florida, US (2)2021Cannon Farm, Bell, Florida, US (2)Cannon Farm, Bell, Florida, US (1)2021Cannon Farm, Bell, Florida, US (1)Cannon Farm2014Cannon FarmBell Suwannee River south032010Bell Suwannee River south03Bell Suwannee River south022010Bell Suwannee River south02Bell Suwannee River south012010Bell Suwannee River south01Bell Suwannee River north012010Bell Suwannee River north01FLMap-doton-Bell2004FLMap-doton-Bell
On the map

Bell on the map, 1968 to 1988

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

Bell on the 1968 USGS mapBell on the 1988 USGS map1968Bell 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 Bell.

Questions about Bell’s history

What year was Bell founded?

The Bell post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (10), 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.