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History · Branford

Branford’s post office opened in 1882

Most of Branford was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1968 on, and the census since 1890.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Branford’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Branford began

When was Branford founded?

1882

The Branford post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 335 in 18902020 census: 711144 years
Founding year: the first Branford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Branford’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1910, then grew more than tenfold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Branford’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBranfordMill1870s: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Branford, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020335 in 1890Low: 26

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1910, then grew more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Branford came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Branford.

Read it all →

The Town of Branford was officially incorporated as a municipality in 1961, although it's been settled since the late 1800s, and was expanded and renamed in 1886. The original name was "Rowland’s Bluff" in the late 19th century when the settlement consisted of a sawmill and a ferry crossing across the Suwannee River into Lafayette County. The Savannah, Florida and Western Railway, which became the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL), was extended by its president, Henry B. Plant, from Live Oak to Branford in 1886, and the community was named "New Branford" after Branford, Connecticut, Henry Plant's hometown. Later the "New" was dropped. Branford was largely destroyed by the 1896 Cedar Keys hurricane, but was rebuilt right afterwards.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Branford, 1870 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870In the archiveBranfordMill1870s
  3. 1882Post officeThe Branford post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 820
By decade

Branford, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s1 item
BranfordMill1870s1870sBranfordMill1870s
Today9 recent
SuwanneeRiverBranford2017SuwanneeRiverBranfordBranfordWatertowerFL2017BranfordWatertowerFLBranfordFLMon2017BranfordFLMonBranfordFLDowntown2017BranfordFLDowntownBranford FL Suwannee River south022011Branford FL Suwannee River south02Branford FL Suwannee River Greenway north012011Branford FL Suwannee River Greenway north01Branford FL plaque012009Branford FL plaque01Branford FL Suwannee River north012009Branford FL Suwannee River north01FLMap-doton-Branford2004FLMap-doton-Branford
On the map

Branford on the map in 1968

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Branford.

Branford on the 1968 USGS map1968Branford 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 Branford.

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.

BranfordMill1870s
Retake this viewBranfordMill1870s, 1870s

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Branford

Nobody well known was born in Branford itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Susie WilesChief of Staff to President of the United States · b. 1957
G
Grace ElizabethAmerican model · b. 1997
K
Kevarrius HayesCentral African Republic basketball player · b. 1997
Pat SummerallAmerican football player and television sportsc… · b. 1930
Gerard WarrenAmerican football player, defensive lineman · b. 1978
Michael KirkmanAmerican baseball player · b. 1986

Questions about Branford’s history

What year was Branford founded?

The Branford post office opened in 1882, 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.