Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #214 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Merritt Island was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Its Register listings are the Dr. George E. Hill House and the J.R. Field Homestead. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1990.
The Merritt Island post office opened in 1935, the earliest record of the town by name. Eight smaller post offices, Georgiana (1875), Merritt (1884) and Tropic (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Merritt Island is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #214 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Merritt Island’s 1.1 sits above most of its state (73% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Merritt Island’s post office has been open since 1935. Eight other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Merritt Island’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Merritt Island.
Merritt Island owes its name to the King of Spain. The entire island was part of a land grant given by the King to a nobleman named Merritt.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereTaylor Jordan is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Merritt Island. 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 Merritt Island.
The 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 32,886 and 36,090 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Merritt Island’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.
The Merritt Island post office opened in 1935, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Merritt Island is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #214 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 Dr. George E. Hill House (listed 1994) and the J.R. Field Homestead (1997).
0.9% of Merritt Island’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1973.
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.
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