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DHistory
History · DeBary

DeBary’s post office opened in 1949, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #319 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of DeBary was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Its Register listing is the DeBary Hall. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1960.

1949first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From DeBary’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How DeBary began

When was DeBary founded?

1949

The DeBary post office opened in 1949, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1993. Another post office, Benson Junction (1930), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 2,362 in 19602020 census: 22,26077 years

How historic is DeBary?

D

More historic than 12% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first DeBary post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1993.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives DeBary’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, DeBary is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #319 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of DeBary’s overall grade.
Founding era1949, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.3) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%D−National Register1 listing, 0.4 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 12%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 50%

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 DeBary’s 0.4 sits above most of its state (69% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1993 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 DeBary’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s DeBary, and 5 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start DeBary’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how DeBary’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSteamer Frederick: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Another post office, Benson Junction, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Benson Junction
1930–1956
De Bary
1949–today
19301980today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Benson JunctionFort FloridaKings Lake Mobile Home CommunityLake Villa Estates Mobile Home ParkValdez

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How DeBary came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of DeBary.

Read it all →

The Timucuan Indians once lived in the vicinity of Lake Monroe, where the domain of Chief Utina extended to just north of Lake George. They hunted, fished, and gathered plants and berries from the forest. By 1760, however, the Timucua had disappeared and been replaced by the Seminole tribe from Alabama and Georgia. Florida was acquired from Spain in 1821, but the Seminole Wars delayed settlement. In 1866, Elijah Watson of Enterprise sold land to Oliver and Amanda Arnett on the northern shore of the St. Johns River at Lake Monroe, where they built a house.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

DeBary, 1910 to 2001

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1910In the archiveSteamer Frederick
  3. 1930Post officeThe Benson Junction post office opens
  4. 1949Post officeThe De Bary post office opens
  5. 1956Post officeThe Benson Junction post office closes
  6. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 21st century
  8. 2001Born hereJalyx Hunt is born here
By decade

DeBary, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s2 items
Steamer Frederick1910Steamer FrederickLowlands Along the St. Johns Riverc. 1915Lowlands Along the St. Johns River
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Pair of Spoonbills at DeBary, FL - Flickr - Andrea Westmoreland2011Pair of Spoonbills at DeBary, FL - Flickr - Andrea We…Stop - panoramio (2)2009Stop - panoramio (2)Sandhill Crane from DeBary, Florida - Flickr - Andrea Westmoreland2009Sandhill Crane from DeBary, Florida - Flickr - Andrea…Grus canadensis pratensis2009Grus canadensis pratensis
On the map

DeBary on the map, 1964 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of DeBary. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

DeBary on the 1964 USGS mapDeBary on the 1970 USGS mapDeBary on the 1980 USGS map1964Orange 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 DeBary.

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.

Steamer Frederick
Retake this viewSteamer Frederick, 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on DeBary’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in DeBary

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
DeBary Hall
DeBary Hall
Buildings
DeBary HallBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

DeBary, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,000196019802000202022,260

Grew from 2,362 people in 1960 to 22,260 in 2020, 9 times over.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on DeBary’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Orange City5 historic placesB−DeltonaIts storyD−

Questions about DeBary’s history

What year was DeBary founded?

The DeBary post office opened in 1949, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1993.

How does DeBary rank for history?

DeBary is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #319 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 DeBary?

One place: the DeBary Hall (listed 1972).

How old are the homes in DeBary?

0.0% of DeBary’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1993.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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, 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.