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C+History
History · Macclenny

Macclenny’s post office opened in 1885, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #95 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Macclenny was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Its Register listing is the Old Baker County Courthouse. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1917 on, and the census since 1890.

1885first post office
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Macclenny’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Macclenny began

When was Macclenny founded?

1885

The Macclenny post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 334 in 18902020 census: 7,304141 years

How historic is Macclenny?

C+

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Macclenny’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Macclenny is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #95 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 Macclenny’s overall grade.
Founding era1885, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19406.8% of homes (±5.1) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 1.3 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 85%

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 Macclenny’s 1.3 sits above most of its state (74% 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 C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 points). 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 Macclenny’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Macclenny’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGurney Geiger opening the gate for a ca…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Macclenny came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Macclenny.

Read it all →

Macclenny was first called Darbyville because most of the land of this area was owned by the Darby family. Carr Bowers McClenny married into the Darby family, and then bought most of this land in the late 19th century, intending to harvest it for timber.

The town was later renamed McClenny after Carr Bowers McClenny. He established lumber-related businesses, including wood harvesting, sawmills to process it, turpentine, and land. The town name McClenny was changed to the current name of The City of Macclenny because the post office department had a rule against using capital letters in the middle of a name. The first post office in Macclenny was established in 1890.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Macclenny, 1885 to 1995

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Macclenny post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1917On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1984In the archiveGurney Geiger opening the gate for a calf roper at the Macclenny Rodeo
  6. 1987Born hereBear Woods is born here
  7. 1995Born hereMike Boone is born here
By decade

Macclenny, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
Gurney Geiger opening the gate for a calf roper at the Macclenny Rodeo1984Gurney Geiger opening the gate for a calf roper at th…
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
Date unknown1 to date
Fish HouseDate?Fish House
Today10 recent
NB FL 121 @ EB I-10 in Macclenny-22022NB FL 121 @ EB I-10 in Macclenny-2NB FL 121 @ EB I-10 in Macclenny-12022NB FL 121 @ EB I-10 in Macclenny-1Macclenny Pinnacle Tower; Closer View2022Macclenny Pinnacle Tower; Closer ViewMcclenny1900s2014Mcclenny1900sRailroad crossing FL-228 in2013Railroad crossing FL-228 inMacclennywatertower2013MacclennywatertowerMacclennyMontage12013MacclennyMontage1Macclenny FL US 90 east012011Macclenny FL US 90 east012010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookFLMap-doton-Macclenny2004FLMap-doton-Macclenny
On the map

Macclenny on the map, 1917 to 1972

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

Macclenny on the 1917 USGS mapMacclenny on the 1972 USGS map1917Macclenny sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Macclenny.

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.

Gurney Geiger opening the gate for a calf roper at the Macclenny Rodeo
Retake this viewGurney Geiger opening the gate for a calf roper at the Macclenny Rodeo, 1984

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Macclenny

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
1986
Old Baker County Courthouse
Old Baker County Courthouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1
Old Baker County CourthouseColonial Revival

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

People over time

Macclenny, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00019001920194019601980200020207,304

Grew from 334 people in 1890 to 7,304 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Macclenny

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Mike BooneAmerican football running back · b. 1995
Bear WoodsAmerican football linebacker · b. 1987
Places that used to be

Old corners

Macclenny’s post office has been open since 1885.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Claudes Mobile Home Park

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

Questions about Macclenny’s history

What year was Macclenny founded?

The Macclenny post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Macclenny rank for history?

Macclenny is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #95 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 Macclenny?

One place: the Old Baker County Courthouse (listed 1986).

How old are the homes in Macclenny?

7% of Macclenny’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1994.

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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), 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.