Half of Lake Lorraine’s homes were built after 1981
More historic than 6% of U.S. towns · #449 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Lake Lorraine was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1938 on and the census since 1990.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Lorraine is more historic than 6% of U.S. towns, #449 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Lorraine’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 Lorraine’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Lorraine’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The residential neighborhood originally developed along circumferential Country Club Road, surrounding a golf course, in the 1970s. The recession of 1976 left a number of properties in the interior of the golf course U in an unfinished and abandoned state. These parcels were later reconstructed. Further growth took place in the 1990s and 2000s, when the formerly wooded Black's Point area was developed with streets bearing the names of famous golfers. A "backdoor" gate onto Eglin Air Force Base, adjacent to base housing, accessed by Davis Court off of the northeast corner of Country Club Road, was closed amidst tightened base security and concerns about traffic routing through residential neighborhoods in the mid-1970s.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Lorraine. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1938Mary Esther sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lake Lorraine.
People over time
Lake Lorraine, census by census
Between 6,779 and 7,142 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake Lorraine’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Lake Lorraine
Nobody well known was born in Lake Lorraine itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Lake Lorraine is more historic than 6% of U.S. towns, #449 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 Lorraine?
0.0% of Lake Lorraine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
