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C−History
History · Lutz

Lutz’s post office opened in 1912, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #268 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Lutz was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Its Register listing is the Lutz Elementary School, Old. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1980.

1912first post office
1on the National Register
0.2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lutz began

When was Lutz founded?

1912

The Lutz post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Chapman (1914), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 5,555 in 19802020 census: 23,707114 years

How historic is Lutz?

C−

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Lutz post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lutz’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lutz is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #268 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 Lutz’s overall grade.
Founding era1912, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19400.2% of homes (±0.2) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.4 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 16%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 58%

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 Lutz’s 0.4 sits above most of its state (69% 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 (±0.2 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 Lutz’s past

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

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Lutz, and 165 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lutz are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Lutz’s post office has been open since 1912. Another post office, Chapman, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lutz
1912–today
Chapman
1914–1915
19101970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Apex Lake EstatesAvendaleBallinger EstatesBlessed EstatesBonniebrook EstatesBordeaux EstatesBrant Lake VillageBrant ShoresBruingBurrell EstatesCalm HarbourCamphor CoveCandlelightCarr DriveCasa del LagoChapmanChapman ManorsCoopers BayouCoopers PondCountry OaksCoventryCrenshaw AcresCrenshaw LakesCrilly Acres

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

Help out

Start Lutz’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lutz’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

How Lutz came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lutz.

Read it all →

Lutz began with the construction of a small train depot on the Tampa Northern Railroad. The area surrounding the depot officially became known as "Lutz" when the U.S. Postal Service authorized a post office. The community was named for W. P. Lutz, who was credited with bringing the railroad to town.

As people moved to the rural community from Tampa, the Lutz area continued to grow until it no longer depended on the "Lutz Junction", which was demolished in the late 1960s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lutz, 1912 to 1988

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1912Post officeThe Lutz post office opens
  3. 1914Post officeThe Chapman post office opens
  4. 1915Post officeThe Chapman post office closes
  5. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1988Born hereStephen Garcia is born here
By decade

Lutz, decade by decade

Today12 recent
SB Brooksville Subdivision MM 8312013SB Brooksville Subdivision MM 831NB US 41 & Lakeside Road @ Lutz RR Xing-22013NB US 41 & Lakeside Road @ Lutz RR Xing-2NB US 41 & Lakeside Road @ Lutz RR Xing-12013NB US 41 & Lakeside Road @ Lutz RR Xing-1NB Brooksville Subdivison from US 41 Median in2013NB Brooksville Subdivison from US 41 Median inNB Brooksville Subdivision US 41 ACB;2013NB Brooksville Subdivision US 41 ACB;NB Brooksville Subdivision @ Crystal Lake Road;2013NB Brooksville Subdivision @ Crystal Lake Road;Lakeside Road & NB US 41 RR Xing in2013Lakeside Road & NB US 41 RR Xing inCadillac CTS Donker Coupe2013Cadillac CTS Donker CoupeCitation2009CitationLutz-Train-Depot2008Lutz-Train-DepotTPC Tampa Bay2006TPC Tampa BayFLMap-doton-Lutz2004FLMap-doton-Lutz
On the map

Lutz on the map, 1943 to 1999

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

Lutz on the 1943 USGS mapLutz on the 1974 USGS mapLutz on the 1987 USGS mapLutz on the 1999 USGS map1943Lutz 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 Lutz.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Lutz

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1996
Lutz Elementary School, Old
Lutz Elementary School, Old
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Colonial Revival1
Lutz Elementary School, OldLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals

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

People over time

Lutz, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00019802000202023,707

Grew from 5,555 people in 1980 to 23,707 in 2020, 4 times over.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Tampa79 historic placesA−ChevalIts storyDLake Magdalene1 historic placeCUniversityIts storyDLand O' LakesIts storyD−

Questions about Lutz’s history

What year was Lutz founded?

The Lutz post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lutz rank for history?

Lutz is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #268 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 Lutz?

One place: the Lutz Elementary School, Old (listed 1996).

How old are the homes in Lutz?

0.2% of Lutz’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1990.

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 (12), 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.