More historic than 9% of U.S. towns · #385 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Bithlo was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1930.
The Bithlo post office opened in 1922, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Lockwood (1887) and Lake Pickett (1913), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 128 in 19302020 census: 9,848104 years
How historic is Bithlo?
D
More historic than 9% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Bithlo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Bithlo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bithlo is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #385 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bithlo’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 Bithlo’s 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size. 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 Bithlo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Bithlo had its own post office from 1922 to 1953. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Lockwood
1887–1890
Lake Pickett
1913–1918
Bithlo
1922–1953
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Big T Mobile Home ParkCarpenter Road Mobile Home ParkCedarhurst Mobile Home ParkCollege Mobile ParkDeharts Trailer ParkHoliday Acres Mobile Home ParkJ and C Mobile Home ParkLake PickettLockwoodPine Isle Mobile VillaWest Trailer Park Mobile Home ParkWilsons Trailer Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Bithlo’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bithlo’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Lost half of its people between 1930 and 1950, then grew more than tenfold.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bithlo’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Bithlo, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bithlo yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Bithlo is a census-designated place and an unincorporated community in Orange County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bithlo had a population of 9,848. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Bithlo Post Office opened in 1922. For 20 years in the early 20th century, Bithlo was an incorporated town, but in 1929 ceased to function as a town due to economic hardship. By 1941, the town council meetings had ended and in 1944 the Okeechobee Railroad Branch was abandoned. After the end of World War II, the town became known as a waste dump and pollution site. It was in 1970 when the residents of Bithlo petitioned the state legislature to revoke the tow…
Its first post office opened in 1922. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 8,268 to 9,848 (+19%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Bithlo, 1887 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Bithlo post office opened in 1922, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bithlo rank for history?
Bithlo is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #385 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.
How old are the homes in Bithlo?
2% of Bithlo’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 2003.
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 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.
