Hollywood dates to 1921, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 27% of U.S. towns · #189 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Hollywood was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 34 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1930.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1922.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hollywood’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hollywood is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #189 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 Hollywood’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Hollywood ranks #327 on History.
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 Hollywood’s 2.5 sits above most of its state (78% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 39 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Hollywood’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1921.
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 →
What stands out about Hollywood’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A and P Trailer CourtBeverley BeachBroward GardensColony Mobile Home ParkCrystal Lake Club Mobile Home ParkDriftwood AcresDriftwood EstatesEvening Star Trailer ParkFleetwood ManorGrices Trailer ParkHollywood Beach GardensHollywood Mobile EstatesLake Eden Gardens Mobile Home ParkLakes Park Mobile Home ParkNew England Mobile EstatesOak PointOkomo Mobile Home ParkOrange Brook Mobile Home EstatesParkway Mobile Home CourtPine Crest Mobile Home ParkPinecrest Mobile Home ParkPlayland EstatesRoyal Garden Village Trailer ParkSunshine Park
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hollywood
Fred Hunter's Hollywood Memorial Gardens NorthHollywood Memorial Gardens NorthHollywood Memorial Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Famous people
56 famous people were born in Hollywood
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1920, Joseph Young was elected the first mayor in 1925. The town quickly became home to northerners known as "snowbirds", who fled south during the winter and returned north during the summer. By 1960, Hollywood had more than 2,400 hotel units and 12,170 single-family homes.
The Florida guide, published by the Federal Writers' Project, describes the development of Hollywood, an early example of the planned communities that proliferated in Florida during the real-estate boom of the 1920s:
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.
In 1921, according to Wikidata. Hollywood’s post office opened in 1922, and the census of 1930 counted 2,869 people here.
How does Hollywood rank for history?
Hollywood is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #189 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 Hollywood?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Joseph Wesley Young House (listed 1989, the first), and 1 historic district, the Hollywood Boulevard Historic Business District, with 34 contributing buildings. 39 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Hollywood?
1% of Hollywood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1969.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
1926
1926
1940
1941
