Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Christmas was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 2000.
The Christmas post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.
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, Christmas 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 Christmas’ 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 Christmas’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Christmas.
On December 25, 1837, a force of 2,000 U.S. Army soldiers and Alabama Volunteers arrived in the area to construct a fort, which they named Fort Christmas. The fort was one of over 200 forts built during the Second Seminole War. In 1892, a Post Office opened at Christmas.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2019Two Sandhill Cranes
2019Family of Whistling Ducks
20191-Snail Kite with Snail-TWMA-19 Apr 29-2
2015CR420 East - Christmas Cemetery Sign
2012Headstone on the grave of American Sculptor James Hug…
2012Christmas, Florida
2011Agelaius phoeniceus (Red-winged Blackbird) 01
2009Swampy gator
2009Christmas panoramaEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Christmas. 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 Christmas.
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 Christmas’ page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,162 people in 2000 to 2,439 in 2020.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Christmas’ Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Christmas itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Christmas’s post office has been open since 1892.
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 Christmas post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Christmas 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.
7% of Christmas’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 (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.
