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B−History
History · Havana

Havana’s post office opened in 1890, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Havana was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listings are the Planter's Exchange, Inc. and the Northside High School. Below: maps from 1917 on and the census since 1910.

1890first post office
2on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Havana began

When was Havana founded?

1890

The Havana post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 432 in 19102020 census: 1,753136 years

How historic is Havana?

B−

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Havana post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Havana’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Havana is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Havana’s overall grade.
Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19406.1% of homes (±5.6) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register2 listings, 4 historic buildings, 19.7 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 50%
NewerOlder

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 Havana’s 19.7 sits above most of its state (88% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 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 Havana’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 Havana are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,782 in 1980; 1,753 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Havana’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Havana’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
People over time

Havana, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,782

Peaked at 2,782 in 1980; 1,753 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Havana came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Havana.

Read it all →

The cultivation of shade tobacco began in Gadsden County, Florida around 1829. In 1902, following the completion of the Georgia, Florida and Alabama Railroad, many settlers moved a mile east to the present site of Havana, and platted it as their new community. A local teacher, James Mathewson, proposed the name "Havana". He believed the hand-rolled cigars made in this region of Florida were comparable to those from Havana, Cuba. On December 5, 1906, the Town of Havana was officially incorporated as a municipality. The railway town was important to the export of farming and tobacco.

On March 16, 1916, Havana was destroyed by a fire and 26 business-owned buildings were burned leaving only two remaining stores.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Havana, 1890 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Havana post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1972Born hereLorenzo Smith is born here
  6. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 2,782
By decade

Havana, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Woodland Cemetery2025Woodland CemeteryClose up of white Crepe Myrtle2019Close up of white Crepe MyrtleClose up of red Crepe Myrtle2019Close up of red Crepe Myrtle2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookFLMap-doton-Havana2004FLMap-doton-Havana
On the map

Havana on the map, 1954 to 1988

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

Havana on the 1954 USGS mapHavana on the 1960 USGS mapHavana on the 1978 USGS mapHavana on the 1988 USGS map1954Tallahassee sheet · 1:250,000

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

Every building

Havana, building by building, 1917

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Havana fire insurance map, 1917, sheet 11917Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Havana

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1999
Planter's Exchange, Inc.
Planter's Exchange, Inc.Northside High School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Planter's Exchange, Inc.Vernacular
All 2 listings
Northside High SchoolBuilding · listed 2019

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

Questions about Havana’s history

What year was Havana founded?

The Havana post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Havana rank for history?

Havana is more historic than 50% 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.

What is on the National Register in Havana?

Two places: the Planter's Exchange, Inc. (listed 1999) and the Northside High School (2019).

How old are the homes in Havana?

6% of Havana’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1976.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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 Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.