Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #100 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Melbourne Beach was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Its Register listings are the Melbourne Beach Pier and the Community Chapel of Melbourne Beach. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1930.
Melbourne Beach dates its founding to 1883 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1930.
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Melbourne Beach is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #100 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Melbourne Beach’s 6.2 sits above most of its state (82% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Melbourne Beach’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Melbourne Beach.
The Ais Indians resided in the area in pre-Columbian times. In 2010, a midden near Aquarina included a burial ground for a chief and two handmaidens.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveGibbs Trail (Melbourne Beach, Florida) April 1913
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveView of boys in the surf at Sebastian Inlet State Park2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2012Styrofoam Boat 004
2012Styrofoam Boat 003
2011Small open motor train
2011Indian River (Melbourne Beach, Florida) 001
2009Melbourn Beaches0911
2009Melbourn Beaches0911 - panoramio - Gberstel
2004FLMap-doton-MelbourneBeach
2004FEMA - 11444 - Photograph by Michael Rieger taken on …
2004FEMA - 11443 - Photograph by Michael Rieger taken on …
2001Pix2Canvas, Melbourne Beach, Florida, May 5, 2001Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Melbourne Beach. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Melbourne Beach.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Melbourne Beach’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 72 and 3,335 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Melbourne Beach’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1883, according to Wikidata. Melbourne Beach’s post office opened in 1891, and the census of 1930 counted 72 people here.
Melbourne Beach is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #100 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.
Two places: the Melbourne Beach Pier (listed 1984) and the Community Chapel of Melbourne Beach (1992).
4% of Melbourne Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1974.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), 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.
