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B−History
History · Interlachen

Interlachen’s post office opened in 1881, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Interlachen was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985.

1881first post office
4on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Interlachen began

When was Interlachen founded?

1881

The Interlachen post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,441145 years

How historic is Interlachen?

B−

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Interlachen’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Interlachen is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Interlachen’s overall grade.
Founding era1881, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19408.0% of homes (±3.7) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register4 listings, 20.8 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 54%
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 Interlachen’s 20.8 sits above most of its state (88% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 4 listings 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 (±3.7 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 Interlachen’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 Interlachen are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Interlachen’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Interlachen’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
On the National Register

4 historic places in Interlachen

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
2000
Interlachen Hall
Interlachen Hall, built 1892Lincoln Lane SchoolInterlachen AcademyFirst Congregational Church of Interlachen
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Frame Vernacular1
Interlachen HallFrame Vernacular · Built 1892
All 4 listings
Lincoln Lane SchoolBuilding · listed 2023Interlachen AcademyBuilding · listed 2024First Congregational Church of InterlachenBuilding · listed 2024

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

The story

How Interlachen came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Interlachen.

Read it all →

When the Florida Southern Railway came through in the 1870s, the area opened up to settlers, and the area was known as "Blue Pond". The town developed economically as a winter vacation spot and citrus growing area. The Town of Interlachen was officially incorporated as a municipality in 1888. The Hastings Seed House was organized in 1889, moving to Atlanta, Georgia ten years later. In 1891, the Interlachen Town Hall burned down. Another was built to replace it the following year and it still stands—now housing a museum—and is also used as a place for presentations for certain festivals. When the Great Freeze hit in 1895, the town's tourism and citrus sharply declined. In 1895, Interlachen Academy was built; it is the oldest wooden school house in continuous use in Florida, which now serves as the location of the Interlachen High School's JROTC program.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Interlachen, 1881 to 1948

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Interlachen post office opens
  3. 1892BuiltInterlachen Hall is built
  4. 20th century
  5. 1948Born hereRobert H. Jenkins, Jr. is born here
By decade

Interlachen, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Post Office2026Post OfficeLincoln Lane School2023Lincoln Lane SchoolCR315nRoadSign-Interlachen2017CR315nRoadSign-InterlachenFLMap-doton-Interlachen2004FLMap-doton-Interlachen
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Interlachen’s post office has been open since 1881.

Gone or out of use
Inglesia ChurchchurchInterlachen Community Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Interlachen
Pineview

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

Questions about Interlachen’s history

What year was Interlachen founded?

The Interlachen post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Interlachen rank for history?

Interlachen is more historic than 54% 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 Interlachen?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Interlachen Hall (listed 2000, the first).

How old are the homes in Interlachen?

8% of Interlachen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1985.

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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.