Most of Fanning Springs was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1999. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1968 on, and the census since 1970.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fanning Springs is among the newest of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fanning 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 Fanning Springs’ 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points).
Founding year: the first census (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 Fanning Springs’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town is named after Fort Fanning, a U.S. Army post established in 1838 during the Second Seminole War, named for Lieutenant Colonel Alexander C. W. Fanning (1788-1846). The fort was sited at a historically strategic point on the east bank above a sharp bend of the Suwannee River, across from the west bank site of Seminole war chief Bolek's Old Town. As the population changed from generation to generation after its founding, local residents referred to the settlement as "Fort Fannin", then by 1904 as "Fannin" when the people were focused on the ferry traversing the river, then after March 1922 as "Fannin Springs" (the big spring was about 100 yards above the ferry landing) after the first highway bridge was installed.
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 Fanning Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1968Suwannee River 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 Fanning 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 viewLois Duncan Steinmetz gazing at the Suwannee River, 1949
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fanning Springs’ page.
The Fanning Springs post office opened in 1970, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fanning Springs rank for history?
Fanning Springs is among the newest 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.
How old are the homes in Fanning Springs?
0.0% of Fanning Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1999.
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 (11), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
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