1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 17 buildings. Most of Lake Kerr was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1970 on.
The Lake Kerr post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Ker City (1884) and Kerr City (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,843138 years
How historic is Lake Kerr?
C+
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lake Kerr post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Lake Kerr’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Kerr is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Kerr’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 Lake Kerr’s 100 sits above most of its state (94% 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 C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 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 Lake Kerr’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Lake Kerr had its own post office from 1888 to 1942. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Ker City
1884–1886
Kerr City
1886–1888
Lake Kerr
1888–1942
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Kerr CityPoint PleasantSalt Springs Village Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Salt Springs Towertower
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lake Kerr
First BaptistSalt Springs
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Lake Kerr, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lake Kerr yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lake Kerr is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in northeastern Marion County, Florida, United States, surrounding the lake of the same name. It is 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Ocala, the Marion county seat, and 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Palatka. Lake Kerr was first listed as a CDP for the 2020 census, at which time the population was 1,843. It is part of the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Its first post office opened in 1888.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Lake Kerr, 1884 to 1970
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Lake Kerr post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lake Kerr rank for history?
Lake Kerr is more historic than 44% 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 Lake Kerr?
One place: the Kerr City Historic District (listed 1995).
How old are the homes in Lake Kerr?
1% of Lake Kerr’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 1976.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
