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D−History
History · Cape Coral

Cape Coral dates to 1957

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #617 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Cape Coral was built recently: 0.1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1958 on, and the census since 1970.

1957founded
0on the National Register
0.1%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
11famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cape Coral’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cape Coral began

When was Cape Coral founded?

1957

Cape Coral dates its founding to 1957 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1970.

First census: 10,193 in 19702020 census: 194,01669 years

How historic is Cape Coral?

D−

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1893.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Cape Coral’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cape Coral is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #617 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 Cape Coral’s overall grade.
Founding era1957, from Wikidata: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.1% of homes (±0.0) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical FL town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 2%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 3%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Cape Coral ranks #391 on History.

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 Cape Coral’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.

Newer cities are common at Cape Coral’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.0 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1957.

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 Cape Coral’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.Famous sons and daughtersMike Zunino, Niko Price and 9 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cape Coral’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCape Coral water ski show: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people

11 famous people were born in Cape Coral

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

See all →
Mike ZuninoAmerican baseball catcher · b. 1991
N
Niko PriceAmerican mixed martial arts fighter · b. 1989
C
Curtis KitchenAmerican basketball player · b. 1964
Dane EagleFlorida State Representative · b. 1983
Aaron LynchAmerican football player · b. 1993
Demi Busatta CabreraAmerican politician · b. 1990
The story

How Cape Coral came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cape Coral.

Read it all →

At the time of first European contact, during the Spanish expedition led by Juan Ponce de León, the Cape Coral area was inhabited by the Calusa. They are believed to have constructed a canoe canal that crossed the Cape Coral peninsula from Matlacha Pass to Yellow Fever Creek, a tributary of the Caloosahatchee River. The development of Cape Coral since the 1950s has destroyed all evidence of the canal. After Florida became a state in 1845, multiple pioneers started selling and buying land in what is now Cape Coral under the Homestead Act. Cape Coral's modern history began in 1957 when two brothers from Baltimore, Maryland, Leonard and Jack Rosen, flew over the peninsula known as Redfish Point, across the Caloosahatchee River near present-day Fort Myers. The brothers, who were real estate developers, purchased a 103-square-mile (270 km2) tract with a small group of partners for $678,000 a…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cape Coral, 1893 to 1997

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1893Post officeThe Caloosa post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1914Post officeThe Caloosa post office closes
  5. 1957
    FoundingCape Coral is established
  6. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1964Born hereCurtis Kitchen is born here
  8. 1975In the archiveCape Coral water ski show
  9. 1980In the archiveSea Lion performance during a show at Aquarama
  10. 1983Born hereDane Eagle is born here
  11. 1989Born hereNiko Price is born here
  12. 1991Born hereMike Zunino is born here
  13. 1997In the archiveCape coral fort myers
By decade

Cape Coral, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1970s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s–1990s3 items
Cape Coral water ski showc. 1975Cape Coral water ski showSea Lion performance during a show at Aquaramac. 1980Sea Lion performance during a show at AquaramaCape coral fort myers1997Cape coral fort myers
Today3 recent
Arriving in Cape Coral with a crowd waiting2007Arriving in Cape Coral with a crowd waitingNorthcapecoral-RO2006Northcapecoral-ROFlorida Algae Bloom 022005Florida Algae Bloom 02
On the map

Cape Coral on the map, 1958 to 1987

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

Cape Coral on the 1958 USGS mapCape Coral on the 1972 USGS mapCape Coral on the 1987 USGS map1958Fort Myers SW 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 Cape Coral.

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.

Cape Coral water ski show
Retake this viewCape Coral water ski show, c. 1975

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Cape Coral, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,000140,000160,000180,000200,000198020002020194,016

Grew from 10,193 people in 1970 to 194,016 in 2020, more than tenfold.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Caloosa, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Caloosahatchee
1cemetery inside Cape Coral
Coral Ridge Gardens

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

North Fort MyersIts storyDMatlacha Isles-Matlacha ShoresIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFort Myers15 historic placesB−Burnt Store MarinaIts storyDLochmoor Waterway EstatesIts storyD

Questions about Cape Coral’s history

What year was Cape Coral founded?

In 1957, according to Wikidata. Cape Coral’s post office opened in 1893, and the census of 1970 counted 10,193 people here.

How does Cape Coral rank for history?

Cape Coral is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #617 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 Cape Coral?

0.1% of Cape Coral’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 2000.

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), 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.