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History · Horseshoe Beach

Horseshoe Beach was first counted by the census in 1970

Most of Horseshoe Beach was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1970.

1970first census
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Horseshoe Beach’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Horseshoe Beach began

When was Horseshoe Beach founded?

1970

Horseshoe Beach first appears in the census in 1970. Another post office, Shelton (1910), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 124 in 19702020 census: 16556 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about Horseshoe 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.Boom and bustPeaked at 304 in 1980; 165 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Horseshoe Beach’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewAlberto-flooding: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Horseshoe Beach, census by census

0100200300198020002020Peak: 304

Peaked at 304 in 1980; 165 people lived here in 2020.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

The story so far

Horseshoe Beach, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Horseshoe Beach yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Horseshoe Beach is a town in southern Dixie County, Florida, United States. The town is part of Big Bend and the Nature Coast in North Florida, along the Gulf of Mexico. The population was 165 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1970. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 169 to 165 (-2%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Horseshoe Beach, 1910 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1910Post officeThe Shelton post office opens
  3. 1935Post officeThe Shelton post office closes
  4. 1948Post officeThe Horeshoe Beach post office opens
  5. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 304
By decade

Horseshoe Beach, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Alberto-floodingDate?Alberto-flooding
Today14 recent
Horseshoe Beach Turnaround House2020Horseshoe Beach Turnaround HouseHorseshoe Beach Boat Ramp2020Horseshoe Beach Boat RampChristmas Lights Turtle2020Christmas Lights TurtleChristmas Lights Starfish and Anchor2020Christmas Lights Starfish and AnchorChristmas Lights Seashell2020Christmas Lights SeashellChristmas Lights Seahorse2020Christmas Lights SeahorseChristmas Lights Sand dollar2020Christmas Lights Sand dollarChristmas Lights Sailboat2020Christmas Lights SailboatChristmas Lights Porpoise2020Christmas Lights PorpoiseChristmas Lights Lantern2020Christmas Lights LanternChristmas Lights Horseshoe Crab2020Christmas Lights Horseshoe CrabChristmas Lights Angelfish2020Christmas Lights AngelfishHorseshoe Beach Aerial2018Horseshoe Beach AerialFLMap-doton-HorseshoeBeach2004FLMap-doton-HorseshoeBeach
On the map

Horseshoe Beach on the map in 1954

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Horseshoe Beach.

Horseshoe Beach on the 1954 USGS map1954Horseshoe 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 Horseshoe 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.

Alberto-flooding
Retake this viewAlberto-flooding

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Another post office, Shelton, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Shelton
1910–1935
Horeshoe Beach
1948–today
19101970today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Horseshoe Beach’s history

What year was Horseshoe Beach founded?

The Horseshoe Beach post office opened in 1970, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (15), 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.