Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #20 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Holly Hill was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 596 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1910.
Holly Hill dates its founding to 1800 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Holly Hill is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #20 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Holly Hill’s 456 sits above most of its state (99% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 597 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Holly Hill’s history is told.
Holly Hill had its own post office from 1877 to 1949.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Holly Hill.
Holly Hill was incorporated on July 1, 1901. The original intention for incorporation was to force local owners of razorback hogs to keep their livestock penned up.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Florida (FL) - Volusia County - Holly Hill - ED 6…
In the archiveFlorida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingh…
BuiltHolly Hill Municipal Building is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Holly Hill. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Holly Hill.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Holly Hill’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 207 people in 1910 to 12,958 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Holly Hill’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1800, according to Wikidata. Holly Hill’s post office opened in 1877, and the census of 1910 counted 207 people here.
Holly Hill is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #20 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.
Two places: the Holly Hill Municipal Building (listed 1993) and the Seabreeze Historic District (1998).
4% of Holly Hill’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1978.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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) 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.
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