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C−History
History · Lake Hamilton

Lake Hamilton’s post office opened in 1914, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #230 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1970 on, and the census since 1930.

1914first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lake Hamilton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lake Hamilton began

When was Lake Hamilton founded?

1914

The Lake Hamilton post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 399 in 19302020 census: 1,537112 years

How historic is Lake Hamilton?

C−

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Lake Hamilton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Hamilton is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #230 of 638 in Florida. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Hamilton’s overall grade.
Founding era1914, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194011.1% of homes (±7.8) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical FL town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 20%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 64%

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 Lake Hamilton’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (33% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.8 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 Lake Hamilton’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lake Hamilton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lake Hamilton’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLake Hamilton ACL Depot: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Lake Hamilton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lake Hamilton.

Read it all →

The original name for the main lake and its community was formerly called "Lake Hambleton", which had unknown origins, and ruled out that it was named from Alexander Hamilton. During the Seminole Wars, specifically the Third Seminole War, Chief Chipco, who was a tribal leader for the Muscogee Creek and Seminole tribes, settled off Lake Hamilton's Bonars Island, along with some of his tribal members, from around 1854 to around 1856.

The community was resettled by non-indigenous people in 1913, when the first home was built along with other platted buildings and other infrastructure. On November 6, 1924, it became incorporated as the Town of Lake Hamilton, however it wasn't officially recognized as a chartered municipality until 1925.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lake Hamilton, 1900 to 1992

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900In the archiveLake Hamilton ACL Depot
  3. 1914Post officeThe Lake Hamilton post office opens
  4. 1940In the archiveFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
  5. 1970Born hereSisaundra is born here
  6. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1992Born hereRodney Gunter is born here
By decade

Lake Hamilton, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Lake Hamilton ACL Depotc. 1900Lake Hamilton ACL Depot
1910s–1930snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1940s2 items
Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]1940Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]1940Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today9 recent
Lake Hamilton Fl womans club032016Lake Hamilton Fl womans club03Lake Hamilton Fl womans club022016Lake Hamilton Fl womans club02Lake Hamilton Fl womans club012016Lake Hamilton Fl womans club01Lake Hamilton Fl post office012016Lake Hamilton Fl post office01Lake Hamilton Fl house022016Lake Hamilton Fl house02Lake Hamilton Fl house012016Lake Hamilton Fl house01Lake Hamilton Fl bank032016Lake Hamilton Fl bank03Lake Hamilton Fl bank022016Lake Hamilton Fl bank02Lake Hamilton Fl bank012016Lake Hamilton Fl bank01
On the map

Lake Hamilton on the map, 1970 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Hamilton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lake Hamilton on the 1970 USGS mapLake Hamilton on the 1980 USGS map1970Winter Haven 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 Lake Hamilton.

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.

Lake Hamilton ACL Depot
Retake this viewLake Hamilton ACL Depot, c. 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Lake Hamilton, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,60019401960198020002020Peak: 1,552

Between 344 and 1,552 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Lake Hamilton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Rodney GunterAmerican football defensive lineman · b. 1992
S
SisaundraAmerican singer · b. 1970
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Haines City5 historic placesB−Dundee1 historic placeC

Questions about Lake Hamilton’s history

What year was Lake Hamilton founded?

The Lake Hamilton post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lake Hamilton rank for history?

Lake Hamilton is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #230 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.

How old are the homes in Lake Hamilton?

11% of Lake Hamilton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (12), 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.