De Leon Springs’ post office opened in 1885, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #109 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of De Leon Springs was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Its Register listing is the DeLeon Springs Colored School. Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1964 on.
Founding year: the first De Leon Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives De Leon Springs’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, De Leon Springs is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #109 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of De Leon Springs’ 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 De Leon Springs’ 11.2 sits above most of its state (85% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about De Leon Springs’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
DeLeon Springs is named for Juan Ponce de León. It was originally called Spring Garden and the name was changed in the late 1800s to attract tourists. The region was developed in 1925 with a hotel/restaurant the DeLeon Spring Inn, later called the Ponce de Leon Springs Hotel, which was expanded into a larger tourist attraction in 1953.
The attraction and surrounding area were purchased by the State of Florida to become a state park in 1982.
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 De Leon Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1964De Land 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 De Leon Springs.
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 viewCar being loaded onto a train at De Leon Springs for a trip to Buffalo, New York, 1925
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on De Leon Springs’ page.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Questions about De Leon Springs’ history
What year was De Leon Springs founded?
The De Leon Springs post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does De Leon Springs rank for history?
De Leon Springs is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #109 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 De Leon Springs?
One place: the DeLeon Springs Colored School (listed 2003).
How old are the homes in De Leon Springs?
2% of De Leon Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1991.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
Date?
2019
2019
2014
