Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns · #19 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Dated to 1791 (Wikidata), with 5% of its homes built before 1940 and 12 historic districts holding 6,412 contributing buildings. Most of Jacksonville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 20 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, the census since 1850, and every listing on the Register.
Jacksonville dates its founding to 1791 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jacksonville is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #19 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Jacksonville ranks #130 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 Jacksonville’s 65.6 sits above most of its state (92% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 6,412 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% 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. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Jacksonville’s post office has been open since 1824. 47 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Anderson Cemetery · Arlington Park Cemetery · Bowles Cemetery · Chapel Hills Memory Gardens · Chapel Hills Memory Gardens · City Cemetery · Cosmo Cemetery · Daniels Cemetery · Deese Cemetery · Dunn Creek Cemetery · Duval County Paupers Cemetery · Edgewood Cemetery · Evergreen Cemetery · Ferreira Cemetery · Gilmore Cemetery · Greenlawn Cemetery · Greenwood Cemetery · Hillside Cemetery Potters Field · Jacksonville National Cemetery · Julington Cemetery · Lofton Cemetery · Mandarin Cemetery · Manning Cemetery · Mayport Cemetery · Memorial Cemetery · Mount Olive Cemetery · Oaklawn Cemetery · Oaklawn Cemetery · Ogilvie Cemetery · Parrish Cemetery · Parsons Cemetery · Pickett Cemetery · Pinehurst Cemetery · Pinkston Cemetery · Rain Cemetery · Restlawn Memorial Park · Riverside Memorial Park · Saint Joseph Cemetery · Sammis Cemetery · Sellers Cemetery · Talbot Island Cemetery · The Evergreen Cemetery · Tillotson Cemetery · Westview Cemetery · Whitker Cemetery
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Jacksonville.
The area of the modern city of Jacksonville has been inhabited for thousands of years. On Black Hammock Island in the national Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, a University of North Florida team discovered some of the oldest remnants of pottery in the United States, dating to 2500 BCE.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Jacksonville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
An Ordinance Regulating Patrols: Be it ordained by the intendant and councilmen of the town of Jacksonville, That the town marshal furnish the intendant, at such times as he may require, a full and complete list of the names of all white male inhabitants of the town of Jacksonville, between the ages of sixteen and fifty-five years; and it shall be the duty of the intendant to require and make said persons do and perform patrol duty within the limits of said corporation of Jacksonville, at any time and at all such times as he may deem necessary,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Eddy, all of Jacksonville. The Seminole Indian war and the panic of 1837 caused the abandonment of the enterprise.¢ In the 1840’s, a survey was made for a railroad from Jacksonville to Cedar Key, and another from Jacksonville to the Suwanee River. Then matters were allowed to rest and powerful opposition arose with the organization of a company, of which David Levy Yulee was the head, to build a railroad from Fernandina to Cedar Key. Yulee successfully
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In the 40 's, a survey was made for a railroad from Jacksonville to Cedar Keys, and another from Jacksonville to the Snwanee River. With this matters were allowed to rest, and in the mean time powerful opposition developed with the organization of a company, of which David Levy Yulee was the acknowledged head, to build a railroad from Fernandina to Cedar Keys. Yulee success-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
During tlie period between the incorporation of Jacksonville and the outbreak of the Seminole war in December, 1835, plans were laid for the establishment of some important enterprises, chief among which was the organization of a company to build a railroad from Jacksonville to Tallahassee, and later to extend it to some point on the Gulf coast. This was in 1834. The name of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveJacksonville, Fla. Signal tower
In the archiveFort George Hotel
In the archiveSunset, St. John's River
In the archiveUS-FL(1891) p173 JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA SUB-TROPICAL EXPOSITION
In the archiveWindsor Hotel
Born hereJohn Archibald Wheeler is born hereBuiltSt. James Building is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltRiverside Baptist Church is builtBuiltFort Caroline National Memorial is builtBuiltYellow Bluff Fort is built
Born hereFred Durst is born here
Born hereRon DeSantis is born here5 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1887Sunset, St. John's River1891US-FL(1891) p173 JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA SUB-TROPICAL E…
1898Bay Street, Jacksonville, FlaPostcard
1898Forsyth Street, Jacksonville, FlaPostcard
1898Hemming Park and Monroe Street, Jacksonville, FlaPostcard
1898Hemming Park, Jacksonville. FlaPostcard
1898Main Street, Jacksonville, FlaPostcard
1898Oliver W., Famous Trotting Ostrich, Calif
1898Residence on Church Street, Jacksonville, FlaPostcard
1898View in Riverside Park, Jacksonville, FlaPostcardEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jacksonville. 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 Jacksonville.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 8Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Jacksonville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,045 people in 1850 to 949,611 in 2020, more than tenfold.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jacksonville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1791, according to Wikidata. Jacksonville’s post office opened in 1824, and the census of 1850 counted 1,045 people here.
Jacksonville is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #19 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.
106 listings: 84 buildings, 12 historic districts with 6,294 contributing buildings, 7 sites, and 3 structures. 6,412 historic buildings in all.
5% of Jacksonville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 (10), the Library of Congress (10), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (106), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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