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B−History
History · Fellsmere

Fellsmere’s post office opened in 1911, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #57 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 107 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1920.

1911first post office
5on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fellsmere began

When was Fellsmere founded?

1911

The Fellsmere post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 333 in 19202020 census: 4,834115 years

How historic is Fellsmere?

B−

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Fellsmere’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fellsmere is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #57 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fellsmere’s overall grade.
Founding era1911, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194012.4% of homes (±7.3) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register5 listings, 111 historic buildings, 224 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 54%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 91%

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 Fellsmere’s 224 sits above most of its state (97% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 111 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% 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 (±7.3 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 Fellsmere’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Fellsmere Historic District takes in 107 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fellsmere’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fellsmere’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 viewFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota Cou…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

5 listings protect 111 historic buildings

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

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
111
each building in a district counts
first listed
1996
Fell, Marian, Library
Fell, Marian, LibraryFellsmere Public SchoolFirst Methodist Episcopal ChurchFrank and Stella Heiser HouseFellsmere Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular2
Bungalow/Craftsman1
Fell, Marian, LibraryVernacular
Fellsmere Public SchoolVernacular
First Methodist Episcopal ChurchBungalow/Craftsman
Frank and Stella Heiser HouseBuilding
All 5 listings
Fellsmere Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2021

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

The story

How Fellsmere came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fellsmere.

Read it all →

In 1915, Fellsmere became the first municipality in Florida (or anywhere south of the Mason–Dixon line) to grant women the right to vote. It also, at the same time, held the first election in which corporations could vote. Mrs. Zena M. Dreier was the first woman to cast a vote in the city, and E. Nelson Fell cast a vote on behalf of his company Fellsmere Farms. The city had unanimously adopted a charter in February 1915, which granted these rights, and the city charter was ratified by the state legislature without any notice being paid to this provision. This, despite the fact that several statewide suffrage measures had failed in the legislature that year. Women's suffrage was not granted nationally in the United States until five years later, in August 1920, with the passage of the 19th Amendment.

Chapters2023 Fellsmere Floods

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fellsmere, 1911 to 1949

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1911Post officeThe Fellsmere post office opens
  3. 1940In the archiveFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
  4. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fellsmere, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]1940Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
1950s–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
Today17 recent
20210302-PJK-FPAC-0062 TONED202120210302-PJK-FPAC-0062 TONED20210302-PJK-FPAC-0042 TONED202120210302-PJK-FPAC-0042 TONED20210302-PJK-FPAC-0025 TONED202120210302-PJK-FPAC-0025 TONEDFellsmere FL water tower012011Fellsmere FL water tower01Fellsmere FL First Meth Episc042011Fellsmere FL First Meth Episc04Fellsmere FL First Meth Episc032011Fellsmere FL First Meth Episc03Fellsmere FL First Meth Episc022011Fellsmere FL First Meth Episc02Fellsmere FL First Meth Episc012011Fellsmere FL First Meth Episc01Fellsmere FL First Meth Episc plaque012011Fellsmere FL First Meth Episc plaque01Fellsmere FL Fell Library032011Fellsmere FL Fell Library03Fellsmere FL Fell Library022011Fellsmere FL Fell Library02Fellsmere FL Fell Library012011Fellsmere FL Fell Library01Fellsmere FL Fell Library marker012011Fellsmere FL Fell Library marker01Fellsmere FL Estates Corp bldg022011Fellsmere FL Estates Corp bldg02Fellsmere FL Estates Corp bldg012011Fellsmere FL Estates Corp bldg01FEMA - 11346 - Photograph by Michael Rieger taken on 09-27-2004 in Florida2004FEMA - 11346 - Photograph by Michael Rieger taken on …FEMA - 10698 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-11-2004 in Florida2004FEMA - 10698 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 0…
On the map

Fellsmere on the map, 1949 to 1970

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

Fellsmere on the 1949 USGS mapFellsmere on the 1951 USGS mapFellsmere on the 1970 USGS map1949Fellsmere 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 Fellsmere.

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.

Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
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 Fellsmere’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Fellsmere, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 5,197

Between 333 and 5,197 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Fellsmere

Nobody well known was born in Fellsmere itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Larry SandersAmerican basketball player · b. 1988
X
Xavier CarterAmerican sprinter · b. 1985
Muni LongAmerican singer · b. 1988
Ricou BrowningAmerican film actor and director · b. 1930
K
Kristina TeachoutAmerican taekwondo athlete · b. 2005
Khalil MackAmerican football player · b. 1991
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

West Vero CorridorIts storyDVero Lake EstatesIts storyD

Questions about Fellsmere’s history

What year was Fellsmere founded?

The Fellsmere post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Fellsmere rank for history?

Fellsmere is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #57 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 Fellsmere?

5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Fell, Marian, Library (listed 1996, the first), and 1 historic district, the Fellsmere Historic District, with 107 contributing buildings. 111 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Fellsmere?

12% of Fellsmere’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1989.

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, 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.