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History · Fort Braden

1 of Fort Braden’s places is on the National Register

Its Register listing is the Fort Braden School, Old. Most of Fort Braden was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1943 on.

1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Fort Braden’s 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 Fort Braden are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fort Braden’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Fort Braden came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fort Braden.

Read it all →

On December 3, 1839, Fort Braden was established as a military fort during the Second Seminole War, 1st Lieutenant Seth B. Thornton of Company G, 2nd U.S. Dragoons built the fort and was its first Commanding Officer. It was near the Ochlockonee River on the 126 feet contour just south of the then "Pork Creek" (now known as Polk Creek) eighteen miles southwest of Tallahassee. Fort Braden was named for Virginia Braden, formerly Virginia Ward. She married Dr. Joseph Braden, a prominent citizen of Tallahassee. Joseph Braden's brother, Hector, was director of Tallahassee's Union Bank.

Virginia was the daughter of Leon County plantation owner George T. Ward, of Southwood Plantation and Waverly Plantation.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fort Braden, 1889 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Holland post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1911Post officeThe Holland post office closes
  5. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fort Braden, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Emergency signal for Leon County Fire Station 14 on FL202025Emergency signal for Leon County Fire Station 14 on F…Dollar General on FL202025Dollar General on FL20Fort Braden Park dragonfly2020Fort Braden Park dragonflyFort Braden FL SR 20 west022011Fort Braden FL SR 20 west02Fort Braden FL SR 20 west012011Fort Braden FL SR 20 west01Fort Braden FL SR 20 east012011Fort Braden FL SR 20 east01
On the map

Fort Braden on the map, 1943 to 1972

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

Fort Braden on the 1943 USGS mapFort Braden on the 1972 USGS map1943Lake Talquin sheet · 1:62,500

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Fort Braden

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1994
Fort Braden School, Old
Fort Braden School, Old
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Frame Vernacular1
Fort Braden School, OldFrame Vernacular

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Fort Braden

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

See all →
Shea WhighamAmerican actor · b. 1969
Brad DavisAmerican actor · b. 1949
LoboAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1943
Piper CurdaAmerican actress · b. 1997
Carla HaydenAmerican librarian and 14th Librarian of Congre… · b. 1952
Kay AldridgeModel, actress · b. 1917
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Holland
1cemetery inside Fort Braden
Fort Braden

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

Questions about Fort Braden’s history

What is on the National Register in Fort Braden?

One place: the Fort Braden School, Old (listed 1994).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.