More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #248 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Lantana was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1945 on, and the census since 1930.
Founding year: the first Lantana post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lantana’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lantana is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #248 of 638 in Florida. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lantana’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 Lantana’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 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 Lantana’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first settlers came to the area after Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act of 1842, at the end of the Seminole Wars, during the administration of President John Tyler. The M.B. Lyman family is credited with founding the town. Lyman arrived with his family in 1888 and, within a year, started several enterprises, including a general store, an Indian trading post, and a post office. As postmaster, Lyman named the post office – Lantana Point – for the wild lantana plants that grew in abundance in the area. The word Point was later dropped.
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.
The Lantana post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lantana rank for history?
Lantana is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #248 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 Lantana?
2% of Lantana’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (7), 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.
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