Fort Myers Beach’s post office opened in 1955, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #234 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Fort Myers Beach was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listings are the Fort Myers Beach School and the Mound House. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1958 on, and the census since 1960.
From Fort Myers Beach’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Fort Myers Beach began
When was Fort Myers Beach founded?
1955
The Fort Myers Beach post office opened in 1955, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Carlos (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,463 in 19602020 census: 5,58271 years
How historic is Fort Myers Beach?
C−
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Fort Myers Beach post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fort Myers Beach’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fort Myers Beach is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #234 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fort Myers Beach’s 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 Fort Myers Beach’s 3.6 sits above most of its state (80% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 Fort Myers Beach’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Calusa Indians first inhabited Estero Island, the island that Fort Myers Beach occupies, 2,000 years ago. The Calusa Indians resisted Spanish colonization attempts successfully including those by Ponce de León in 1513 and 1521. The Calusa met their demise 150 years later due to disease, hostilities, and political and economic upheaval. In the mid to late 1700s, Cuban fishermen then began to settle a small fishing village known as a Ranchero. This effectively displaced the remaining Calusa. In 1845, Florida became the 27th state.
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.
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 Fort Myers Beach. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Fort Myers Beach 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 Fort Myers Beach.
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 viewKoreshan men standing next to the cottage of Carl Luettich following a hurricane at Ft. Myers Beach on Estero Island 2, 1921
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fort Myers Beach’s page.
The Fort Myers Beach post office opened in 1955, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fort Myers Beach rank for history?
Fort Myers Beach is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #234 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 Fort Myers Beach?
Two places: the Fort Myers Beach School (listed 1999) and the Mound House (2019).
How old are the homes in Fort Myers Beach?
1% of Fort Myers Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (24), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
1921
2014
2014
2014
2014
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2011
2011
2011
2010
2009
2009
2009
2008
2008
2007
2004
