Laguna Beach’s post office opened in 1946, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #192 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Laguna Beach was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 17 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1990.
Founding year: the first Laguna Beach post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Laguna Beach’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Laguna Beach is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #192 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 Laguna Beach’s overall grade.
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 Laguna Beach’s 44.4 sits above most of its state (90% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 17 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size. 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 Laguna Beach’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Laguna Beach yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Laguna Beach is a census-designated place (CDP) in Bay County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,330 at the 2020 census, up from 3,932 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Panama City–Panama City Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Laguna Beach was named for the many coastal dune lakes unique to this area of Northwest Florida.
Its first post office opened in 1946. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,932 to 4,330 (+10%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Laguna Beach, 1940 to 1996
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Laguna Beach post office opened in 1946, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Laguna Beach rank for history?
Laguna Beach is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #192 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 Laguna Beach?
One place: the Camp Helen Historic District (listed 2012).
How old are the homes in Laguna Beach?
2% of Laguna Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2012
2011
