Lake Mary’s post office opened in 1887, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 27% of U.S. towns · #186 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Lake Mary was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Its Register listing is the Lake Mary Chamber of Commerce Building. Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1980.
Founding year: the first Lake Mary post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1973.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lake Mary’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Mary is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #186 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 Mary’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 Mary’s 0.6 sits above most of its state (70% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1973.
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 Mary’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The region surrounding present-day Lake Mary was inhabited by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years before European colonization. Archaeological sites throughout the upper St. Johns River and Wekiva River basins document prehistoric occupation over an extended period.
The Lake Mary post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1973.
How does Lake Mary rank for history?
Lake Mary is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #186 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 Mary?
One place: the Lake Mary Chamber of Commerce Building (listed 2004).
How old are the homes in Lake Mary?
0.3% of Lake Mary’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1997.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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