Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Marco Island

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
CHistory
History · Marco Island

Marco Island dates to 1886, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 25% of U.S. towns · #201 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Marco Island was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the Capt. John Foley Horr House. Its Register listing is the Capt. John Foley Horr House. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1973 on, and the census since 1980.

1886founded
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Marco Island’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Marco Island began

When was Marco Island founded?

1886

Marco Island dates its founding to 1886 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1980.

First census: 4,694 in 19802020 census: 15,760140 years

How historic is Marco Island?

C

More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1888.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Marco Island’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marco Island is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #201 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 Marco Island’s overall grade.
Founding era1886, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.1) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%D−National Register1 listing, 0.6 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 25%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 69%

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 Marco Island’s 0.6 sits above most of its state (70% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1886.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.1 points) is firm at this size.

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 Marco Island’s past

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

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Marco Island, and 2 old place names are still on the map.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1924–1973.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Marco Island’s post office has been open since 1994. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Malco
1888–1891
Marco
1891–1994
Caxambas
1904–1927
Marco Island
1994–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CaxambasMarco

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

By decade

Marco Island, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
FMIB 37666 Dock of the Marco clam cannery and freight boat ready to leave for Key West with a cargo of canned clam prod…1924FMIB 37666 Dock of the Marco clam cannery and freight…
1930s–1960snothing 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
1970s11 items
FLORIDA--MARCO ISLAND1972FLORIDA--MARCO ISLANDMARCO ISLAND, HOUSING DEVELOPMENT1972MARCO ISLAND, HOUSING DEVELOPMENTRECLAIMING LAND1972RECLAIMING LANDRECLAIMING LAND AT1972RECLAIMING LAND ATRECLAIMING LAND AT1972RECLAIMING LAND ATRECLAIMING LAND AT1972RECLAIMING LAND ATRECLAIMING LAND1972RECLAIMING LANDAERIAL VIEW OF THE MARCO ISLAND LAND DEVELOPMENT, ON THE SOUTHWESTERN COAST OF FLORIDA. SOME OF THE CANALS SEEN HERE...…1973AERIAL VIEW OF THE MARCO ISLAND LAND DEVELOPMENT, ON …AERIAL VIEW OF THE MARCO ISLAND LAND DEVELOPMENT, ON THE SOUTHWESTERN FLORIDA COAST1973AERIAL VIEW OF THE MARCO ISLAND LAND DEVELOPMENT, ON …DEVELOPMENT OF ARTIFICIAL REEFS AT MARCO ISLAND. (FROM THE SITES EXHIBITION. FOR OTHER IMAGES IN THIS ASSIGNMENT, SEE..…1973DEVELOPMENT OF ARTIFICIAL REEFS AT MARCO ISLAND. (FRO…MARCO ISLAND LAND DEVELOPMENT ON THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA COAST. MANY COASTAL DEVELOPERS DIG CHANNELS FOR WATERFRONT... - …1973MARCO ISLAND LAND DEVELOPMENT ON THE SOUTHWEST FLORID…
1980s–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
The story

How Marco Island came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Marco Island.

Read it all →

Marco Island's history can be traced to 500 CE, when the Calusa people inhabited the island as well as the rest of southwest Florida. A number of Calusa artifacts were discovered on Key Marco (an island then adjacent, and since attached, to Marco Island) in 1896 by anthropologist Frank Hamilton Cushing as part of the Pepper-Hearst Expedition. The most notable artifact discovered was the carved wooden "Key Marco Cat", now on display at the Marco Island Historical Museum under a loan from the Smithsonian Institution. The artifact is featured on a 1989 postage stamp.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Marco Island, 1886 to 1994

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886
    FoundingMarco Island is established
  3. 1888Post officeThe Malco post office opens
  4. 1891Post officeThe Malco post office closes
  5. 1891Post officeThe Marco post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1904Post officeThe Caxambas post office opens
  8. 1924In the archiveFMIB 37666 Dock of the Marco clam cannery and freight boat ready to leave for Key West wi…
  9. 1927Post officeThe Caxambas post office closes
  10. 1933Born hereBruce J. Scott is born here
  11. 1969Born hereMark Calvi is born here
  12. 1972In the archiveFLORIDA--MARCO ISLAND
  13. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 1994Post officeThe Marco post office closes
On the map

Marco Island on the map, 1973 to 1995

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

Marco Island on the 1973 USGS mapMarco Island on the 1995 USGS map1973Marco Island 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 Marco Island.

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.

FMIB 37666 Dock of the Marco clam cannery and freight boat ready to leave for Key West with a cargo of canned clam prod…
Retake this viewFMIB 37666 Dock of the Marco clam cannery and freight boat ready to leave for Key West with a cargo of canned clam prod…, 1924

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Marco Island

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
1997
Capt. John Foley Horr House
Capt. John Foley Horr House
Sites

Architectural styles listings

Masonry Vernacular1
Capt. John Foley Horr HouseMasonry Vernacular

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

People over time

Marco Island, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,000198020002020Peak: 16,413

Between 4,694 and 16,413 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Marco Island

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

See all →
Bruce J. ScottAmerican politician · b. 1933
M
Mark CalviCollege baseball coach · b. 1969
Help out

Finish Marco Island’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFMIB 37666 Dock of the Marco clam canne…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

GoodlandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Marco Island’s history

What year was Marco Island founded?

In 1886, according to Wikidata. Marco Island’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1980 counted 4,694 people here.

How does Marco Island rank for history?

Marco Island is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #201 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 Marco Island?

One place: the Capt. John Foley Horr House (listed 1997).

How old are the homes in Marco Island?

0.0% of Marco Island’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1987.

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.