2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 212 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1970 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1876.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Crescent City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Crescent City is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Crescent City’s overall grade.
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 Crescent City’s 1,096 sits above most of its state (100% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 213 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). Two sources give 1852.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Crescent City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Crescent City was first settled by non-indigenous people in 1852, and was then known as the "Old Oliver Plantation" until it was platted as "Crescent City" in 1876.
The City of Crescent City was officially incorporated as a municipality in 1883, and formally incorporated as a city two years later, in 1885.
A. Philip Randolph, the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, was born in Crescent City in 1889. Randolph would become a prominent civil rights leader, especially during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Randolph Street in Crescent City is named after this influential figure.
Crescent City has two listings on the National Register of Historic Places, Hubbard House and the Crescent City Historic District.
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 Crescent City. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1970Crescent City 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 Crescent City.
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.
Retake this viewFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)], 1940
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Crescent City’s page.
Crescent City’s post office has been open since 1876.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lake Crescent Mobile Home Park
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Crescent City
EdenGreenwood
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Crescent City’s history
What year was Crescent City founded?
In 1852, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Crescent City’s post office opened in 1876, and the census of 1890 counted 554 people here.
How does Crescent City rank for history?
Crescent City is more historic than 71% 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.
What is on the National Register in Crescent City?
Two places: the Hubbard House (listed 1973) and the Crescent City Historic District (1996).
How old are the homes in Crescent City?
12% of Crescent City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1972.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
![Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/2163/03b69fa7e903bfca3b1e-s.jpg)
1940
2024
2022
2015
2010
2010
2009
2009
2004
