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C−History
History · Ferry Pass

Ferry Pass’ post office opened in 1874

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #268 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Ferry Pass was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1944 on and the census since 1980.

1874first post office
0on the National Register
0.9%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Ferry Pass began

When was Ferry Pass founded?

1874

The Ferry Pass post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 16,910 in 19802020 census: 29,921152 years

How historic is Ferry Pass?

C−

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Ferry Pass post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Ferry Pass’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ferry Pass is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #268 of 638 in Florida. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ferry Pass’ overall grade.
Founding era1874, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.9% of homes (±0.9) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical FL town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 16%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 58%

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 Ferry Pass’ 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 range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 Ferry Pass’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Ferry Pass are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ferry Pass’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Ferry Pass, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ferry Pass yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Ferry Pass is a census-designated place (CDP) in Escambia County, Florida. It is considered to be a community within Pensacola. It is a principal community in the Pensacola—Ferry Pass—Brent, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is located north of Pensacola city limits. The population was 29,921 at the 2020 United States census, up from 28,921 at the 2010 United States census. The University of West Florida, located in Ferry Pass, is the only university located in the Pensacola metropolitan area.

Its first post office opened in 1874. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 28,921 to 29,921 (+3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Ferry Pass in 1930

Passages that mention Ferry Pass, cut from the printed page as they were published.

the city; the land at that distance from the coast was productive enough to encourage farming. There grew up Powelton, Roberts, Gonzalez, and not far off was the important timber booms of Ferry Pass, and the main ferry across the River to the East. These neighboring settlements had common social in…
History of Escambia County, Florida, narrative and biographical1930Read the page →
Read the text

the city; the land at that distance from the coast was productive enough to encourage farming. There grew up Powelton, Roberts, Gonzalez, and not far off was the important timber booms of Ferry Pass, and the main ferry across the River to the East. These neighboring settlements had common social interests and a collective individuality which was greatly increased by the work of a real teacher and community leader who came

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Ferry Pass, 1874 to 1944

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Ferry Pass post office opens
  3. 1894Post officeThe Ferry Pass post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Ferry Pass on the map, 1944 to 1994

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

Ferry Pass on the 1944 USGS mapFerry Pass on the 1978 USGS mapFerry Pass on the 1987 USGS mapFerry Pass on the 1994 USGS map1944Floridatown sheet · 1:25,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ferry Pass.

People over time

Ferry Pass, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,000198020002020Peak: 29,921

Between 16,910 and 29,921 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Ferry Pass

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

See all →
Roman ReignsAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1985
Roy Jones Jr.American boxer, rapper and actor · b. 1969
Jacqueline CochranAmerican aviator and businesswoman · b. 1906
Abigail SpencerAmerican actress · b. 1981
Joe DallesandroAmerican actor, model · b. 1948
Kevin Stitt28th governor of Oklahoma · b. 1972
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Ferry Pass had its own post office from 1874 to 1894.

Ferry Pass
1874–1894
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
RiverviewYniestra
Gone or out of use
Naval Air Station Ellyson Fieldmilitary
1cemetery inside Ferry Pass
Whitmire

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Pensacola32 historic placesAEnsleyIts storyDBrentIts storyC−

Questions about Ferry Pass’ history

What year was Ferry Pass founded?

The Ferry Pass post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Ferry Pass rank for history?

Ferry Pass is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #268 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.

How old are the homes in Ferry Pass?

0.9% of Ferry Pass’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1984.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.