Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #212 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Jensen Beach was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listings are the Mount Elizabeth Archeological Site, the Stuart Welcome Arch and the Tuckahoe. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 2000.
Jensen Beach dates its founding to 1926 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 2000.
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jensen Beach is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #212 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Jensen Beach’s 2.4 sits above most of its state (77% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jensen Beach’s history is told.
Jensen Beach’s post office has been open since 1943.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Jensen Beach.
The history of Jensen Beach in the 19th century revolved around pineapple farming. John Laurence Jensen, an immigrant from Denmark, arrived in 1881, and set up his pineapple plantation, which became the town of Jensen.
By 1894, the Florida East Coast Railway reached Jensen Beach, and freight shipments were loaded directly onto the freight cars.
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 archiveShipping Indian River Pineapples to the North, Jensen, Fla., U.S.A
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2010Jensen Beach, Florida 014
2010Jensen Beach, FL 34957, USA - panoramio (2)
2010Jensen Beach, FL 34957, USA - panoramio (1)
2010Jensen Beach FL Riverside Park fntn01
2010Jacaranda mimosifolia, Martin County, Fla -002
2010Jacaranda mimosifolia, Martin County, Fla -001
2010Blue heron, Indian River Lagoon, Jensen Beach, Florid…
2010Blue heron, Indian River Lagoon, Jensen Beach, Florid…
2009Jensen Bech club
2004FLMap-doton-JensenBeachEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jensen Beach. 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 Jensen Beach.
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 Jensen Beach’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Between 11,100 and 12,652 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jensen Beach’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 1926, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Jensen Beach’s post office opened in 1943, and the census of 2000 counted 11,100 people here.
Jensen Beach is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #212 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.
Three places: the Mount Elizabeth Archeological Site (listed 2002), the Stuart Welcome Arch (2004) and the Tuckahoe (2005).
1% of Jensen Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
1906
