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History · Lee

Lee’s post office opened in 1882, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1920.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Lee began

When was Lee founded?

1882

The Lee post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 199 in 19202020 census: 375144 years
Founding year: the first Lee post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lee’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lee are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lee’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Lee, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lee yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Lee is a town in Madison County, Florida, United States. The Town of Lee is part of the Florida Panhandle region in North Florida. The population was 375 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 352 to 375 (+7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Lee, 1882 to 1998

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Lee post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1998Born hereTrysten Hill is born here
By decade

Lee, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Lee City Park pond2021Lee City Park pondFLMap-doton-Lee2004FLMap-doton-Lee
On the map

Lee on the map in 1958

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lee.

Lee on the 1958 USGS map1958Lee 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 Lee.

People over time

Lee, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 375

Between 185 and 375 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Questions about Lee’s history

What year was Lee founded?

The Lee post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.