The Gretna post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Edwards (1886), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 385 in 19502020 census: 1,357128 years
How historic is Gretna?
C
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Gretna post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Gretna’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gretna is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gretna’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 Gretna’s 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 still be C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 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 Gretna’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Gretna settlement was established in 1897 by Humphrey Company, and it was platted as a town in 1905. R. A. Gray served as principal at the Gretna School. Sunny Dell Baptist Church and school served the community until Gretna School was built in 1908. A historical marker commemorates its history. The City of Gretna was officially incorporated as a municipality in 1909.
The Florida Archives have photographs from Gretna including the Sunny Dell school, Presbyterian church, and W.P. Humphrey Company buildings including its turpentine still.
The Gretna post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Gretna rank for history?
Gretna is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. 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 Gretna?
10% of Gretna’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (1), 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.
2004
