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CHistory
History · Lake Placid

Lake Placid dates to 1912, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #167 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Lake Placid was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Its Register listings are the Lake Placid A. C. L. Railroad Depot, Old and the Highway Park Cemetery. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1930.

1912founded
2on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lake Placid’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lake Placid began

When was Lake Placid founded?

1912

Lake Placid dates its founding to 1912 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 582 in 19302020 census: 2,360114 years

How historic is Lake Placid?

C

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1919.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lake Placid’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Placid is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #167 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Placid’s overall grade.
Founding era1912, from Wikidata: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19404.5% of homes (±5.4) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register2 listings, 8.1 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 29%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 74%

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 Placid’s 8.1 sits above most of its state (84% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points). Two sources give 1912.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Placid’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1930 and 1940, then grew 6-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lake Placid’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota Cou…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Lake Placid, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50019401960198020002020582 in 1930Low: 340

Lost a third of its people between 1930 and 1940, then grew 6-fold.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

The story

How Lake Placid came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lake Placid.

Read it all →

The area was first known as "Wicco" when the first recorded settler came in 1869, and later, in 1891, the first recorded homesteader arrived to the current town. But the population didn't grow significantly until 1912, when 75 homesteaders moved to the community, after the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909, when the US Congress opened Florida lands and the Great Plains for homesteading. On February 5, 1919, once the first post office was built, the area was renamed "Lake Stearns", (after Marcellus Stearns, who was the U.S. Government Surveyor General at the time), because it was already the official name of the community's train stop for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Thus, it was initially the "Town of Lake Stearns" when it was officially incorporated as a municipality on December 1, 1925. But at the suggestion of Dr. Melvil Dewey, the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System and the found…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lake Placid, 1912 to 2020

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1912
    FoundingLake Placid is established
  3. 1919Post officeThe Lake Stearns post office opens
  4. 1927Post officeThe Lake Stearns post office closes
  5. 1940In the archiveFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
  6. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1953In the archiveRailroad tracks in Lake Placid, Florida in 1953
  8. 1984In the archiveWhip on the saddle of a horse at Buck Island Ranch
  9. 21st century
  10. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 2,360
By decade

Lake Placid, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s–1980s4 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)]Railroad tracks in Lake Placid, Florida in 19531953Railroad tracks in Lake Placid, Florida in 1953Whip on the saddle of a horse at Buck Island Ranch1984Whip on the saddle of a horse at Buck Island Ranch
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
Today14 recent
US Highway 27 - Florida2012US Highway 27 - FloridaUS Highway 27 - Florida2012US Highway 27 - FloridaRestaurant at2012Restaurant atLake Placid FL SR 66 east012011Lake Placid FL SR 66 east01Lake Placid Aerial2011Lake Placid AerialGreen US27 sign "Twin Arrow"2011Green US27 sign "Twin Arrow"Lake Placid FL Club042010Lake Placid FL Club04Lake Placid FL Club032010Lake Placid FL Club03Lake Placid FL Club022010Lake Placid FL Club02Lake Placid FL Club012010Lake Placid FL Club01Lake Placid FL Club sign012010Lake Placid FL Club sign01FLMap-doton-LakePlacid2004FLMap-doton-LakePlacidRoad photo from August 16, 2003 1382003Road photo from August 16, 2003 138Road photo from August 16, 2003 1172003Road photo from August 16, 2003 117
On the map

Lake Placid on the map, 1952 to 1972

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

Lake Placid on the 1952 USGS mapLake Placid on the 1972 USGS map1952Lake Placid 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 Placid.

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.

Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
Retake this viewFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)], 1940

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Lake Placid

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1993
Lake Placid A. C. L. Railroad Depot, Old
Lake Placid A. C. L. Railroad Depot, OldHighway Park Cemetery
BuildingsSites

Architectural styles listings

Masonry Vernacular1
Lake Placid A. C. L. Railroad Depot, OldMasonry Vernacular
All 2 listings
Highway Park CemeterySite · listed 2020

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Lake Placid

Nobody well known was born in Lake Placid itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Jay GarnerUnited States Army general and United States Ma… · b. 1938
Bernice MosbyAmerican basketball player · b. 1984
Walter Clayton Jr.American basketball player · b. 2003
Evan NealAmerican football offensive tackle · b. 2000
Gerald B. H. SolomonPolitician and United States Marine · b. 1930
Tom GordonAmerican baseball player · b. 1967
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Another post office, Lake Stearns, opened and closed inside today’s town.

1cemetery inside Lake Placid
Oak Hill

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Lake Placid’s history

What year was Lake Placid founded?

In 1912, according to Wikidata. Lake Placid’s post office opened in 1919, and the census of 1930 counted 582 people here.

How does Lake Placid rank for history?

Lake Placid is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #167 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 Placid?

Two places: the Lake Placid A. C. L. Railroad Depot, Old (listed 1993) and the Highway Park Cemetery (2020).

How old are the homes in Lake Placid?

5% of Lake Placid’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1985.

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.