Clearwater dates to 1891, and 8 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #85 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Clearwater was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. 8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 81 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1913 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1859.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clearwater’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clearwater is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #85 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clearwater’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Clearwater ranks #254 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 Clearwater’s 8.0 sits above most of its state (83% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 94 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Clearwater’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 C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1891.
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 Clearwater’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Present-day Clearwater was originally the home of the Tocobaga people. Around 1835, the United States Army began construction of Fort Harrison, named after William Henry Harrison, as an outpost during the Seminole Wars. The fort was located on a bluff overlooking Clearwater Harbor, which later became part of an early 20th-century residential development called Harbor Oaks. University of South Florida archaeologists excavated the site in 1962 after Mark Wyllie discovered an underground ammunition bunker while planting a tree in his yard.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clearwater. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1943Clearwater 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 Clearwater.
Every building
Clearwater, building by building, 1913–1923
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1891, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Clearwater’s post office opened in 1859, and the census of 1900 counted 383 people here.
How does Clearwater rank for history?
Clearwater is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #85 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.
What is on the National Register in Clearwater?
8 listings: 7 buildings, among them the South Ward School (listed 1979, the first), and 1 historic district, the Harbor Oaks Residential District, with 81 contributing buildings. 94 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Clearwater?
2% of Clearwater’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1908
1908
1908
