1 of Lake Magdalene’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #152 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Dr. Frank J. Costa House. Most of Lake Magdalene was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Dr. Frank J. Costa House. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1970.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Magdalene is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #152 of 638 in Florida. 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 Magdalene’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 Magdalene’s 0.9 sits above most of its state (72% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±0.4 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 Magdalene’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
All Bright ShoresAngelina PinesArlingtonArlington OaksBanner OaksBay LakeBearss GlenBearss HeightsBella VistaBella VitaBrentwoodBrigadoon on Lake HeatherBurnes Lake EstatesBurnette PlaceByrd Lake WoodsCarrollton LakesCedarwoodCherry CreekCountry Club PlaceCountry LakesCroteauCypress HeadDaneliDaneli North
1cemetery inside Lake Magdalene
Lake Carroll
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Lake Magdalene’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lake Magdalene’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
As a rural community northwest of Tampa, this area of Hillsborough County had welcomed enough residents to receive its first post office in 1888, followed by a scattering of schools and churches—most notably the United Brethren Church
(now Lake Magdalene United Methodist), started in 1895 by Reverend Isaac W. Bearss, whose family line still maintains several acres of citrus groves in the region, butted up against the busy east-west, North Tampa corridor that bears the family name. The rustic qualities of Lake Magdalene remained until the 1990s when residential construction in Tampa pushed northward. By 1990 almost 16,000 people lived in Lake Magdalene, and according to the 2000 census, its population had nearly doubled to 28,755.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Magdalene. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1949Sulphur Springs sheet · 1:25,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lake Magdalene.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Lake Magdalene
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Lake Magdalene is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #152 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 Lake Magdalene?
One place: the Dr. Frank J. Costa House (listed 2021).
How old are the homes in Lake Magdalene?
0.4% of Lake Magdalene’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2022
2004
