Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Chiefland was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1930.
The Chiefland post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1929. Another post office, Hardeetown (1920), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chiefland is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Chiefland’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.
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 →
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 Chiefland’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Chiefland.
A village of the Timucua people was once located south of the present city and at Manatee Springs. The area's economy is traditionally based on agriculture, primarily farming (peanuts, watermelons, hay); ranching (cattle, hogs); dairy (milk); timber (pulpwood, lumber, turpentine) and aquaculture (fishing, oystering, crabbing).
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.
Born hereEarl Faircloth is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveBetts Truckstop sign, Route 19
Born hereAslyn is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chiefland. 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 Chiefland.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Chiefland’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 421 people in 1930 to 2,316 in 2020, 5 times over.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Chiefland’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Chiefland’s post office has been open since 1889. Another post office, Hardeetown, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Chiefland post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1929.
Chiefland is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns. 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.
6% of Chiefland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.6 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (11), 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.
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