Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #11 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Fernandina Beach was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. 10 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 296 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1860.
Fernandina Beach dates its founding to 1811 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fernandina Beach is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #11 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Fernandina Beach’s 232 sits above most of its state (97% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 312 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fernandina Beach. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fernandina Beach.
From Wikipedia’s history of Fernandina Beach.
The area was first inhabited by the Timucua people. Known as the "Isle of 8 Flags", Amelia Island has had the flags of the following nations flown over it: France, Spain, Great Britain, Spain (again), the Republic of East Florida (1812), the Republic of the Floridas (1817), Mexico, the Confederate States of America, and the United States.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltAmelia Island Lighthouse is built
In the archiveFort Clinch, Fernandina, Fla
Born hereHenrietta Cuttino Dozier is born here
In the archivePhotographer's Tent at Fernandina, Florida
In the archive2 illustrations- View of Fernandina, Florida....; General McClellan and staff passing alo…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
BuiltNassau County Jail is built
Born hereWilliam B. Allen is born here
Born hereAaron Bean is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1861Fort Clinch, Fernandina, Fla1874Photographer's Tent at Fernandina, Florida
c. 1875Sago palm, Fernandina, Florida.Alternate Title: The W…
c. 1875Sago palm, Fernandina, Florida.Alternate Title: The W…
c. 1875Steamboat landing, Fernandina, Florida
c. 1875Steamboat landing, Fernandina, Florida
c. 1875View of Fernandina Bay, Fla.Alternate Title: American…
c. 1875View of Fernandina Bay, Fla.Alternate Title: American…
1877Mr. Finnigan's Residence, Fernandina, FloridaNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fernandina Beach’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,390 people in 1860 to 13,052 in 2020, 9 times over.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fernandina Beach’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Fernandina Beach’s post office has been open since 1952. Another post office, Fernandina, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1811, according to Wikidata. Fernandina Beach’s post office opened in 1821, and the census of 1860 counted 1,390 people here.
Fernandina Beach is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #11 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.
10 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Fort Clinch (listed 1972, the first), 1 historic district, the Fernandina Beach Historic District, with 296 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 structure. 312 historic buildings in all.
9% of Fernandina Beach’s 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 1986.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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.
1885