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D−History
History · Highland Beach

Highland Beach dates to 1949

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #598 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Highland Beach was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1950.

1949founded
0on the National Register
0.3%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Highland Beach began

When was Highland Beach founded?

1949

Highland Beach dates its founding to 1949 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1950.

First census: 52 in 19502020 census: 4,29577 years

How historic is Highland Beach?

D−

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Highland Beach’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Highland Beach is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #598 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Highland Beach’s overall grade.
Founding era1949, from Wikipedia: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.3% of homes (±0.5) · 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 2%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 6%

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 Highland Beach’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 range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1949.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Highland Beach’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Highland Beach’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Highland Beach’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota Cou…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Highland Beach came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Highland Beach.

Read it all →

Native Americans were the original settlers dating back to at least 850 A.D., as 170 Tequesta skeletons were discovered in an ancient burial ground during the 1980s, and in 2003, 22 bones of a woman and a two year old were found in the town by a worker who was digging a trench for an underground pipe. It was also a location where pirates and buccaneers would visit.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Highland Beach, 1940 to 1950

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1940In the archiveFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
  3. 1949
    FoundingHighland Beach is established
  4. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Highland Beach, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]1940Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Town of2025Town ofHighland Beach, Florida skyline2024Highland Beach, Florida skylinePanoramic photo of Highland Beach i November 20222022Panoramic photo of Highland Beach i November 2022HLbeach2006HLbeachFLMap-doton-HighlandBeach2004FLMap-doton-HighlandBeach
On the map

Highland Beach on the map, 1950 to 1983

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

Highland Beach on the 1950 USGS mapHighland Beach on the 1962 USGS mapHighland Beach on the 1973 USGS mapHighland Beach on the 1983 USGS map1950Delray 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 Highland 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.

Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
Retake this viewFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)], 1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Highland Beach’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Highland Beach, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,50019601980200020204,295

Grew from 52 people in 1950 to 4,295 in 2020, more than tenfold.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Highland Beach

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

See all →
Ariana GrandeAmerican singer, songwriter, and actress · b. 1993
Eric AndréAmerican comedian and actor · b. 1983
Greg CipesAmerican actor and voice actor · b. 1980
Bhad BhabieAmerican rapper · b. 2003
Mike WaltzU.S. Ambassador to the United Nations since 2025 · b. 1974
Walter DixAmerican sprinter · b. 1986
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Boca Raton10 historic placesCDelray Beach6 historic placesB−

Questions about Highland Beach’s history

What year was Highland Beach founded?

In 1949, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1950 counted 52 people here.

How does Highland Beach rank for history?

Highland Beach is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #598 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 Highland Beach?

0.3% of Highland 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.

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 (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.