Miami Beach dates to 1915, and 13 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #66 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Miami Beach was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. 13 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 1,736 buildings between them. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1920.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Miami Beach’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Miami Beach is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #66 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Miami Beach’s overall grade.
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 Miami Beach’s 213 sits above most of its state (97% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 1,745 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1915.
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 Miami Beach’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1870, father and son Henry and Charles Lum purchased land on Miami Beach for 75 cents an acre. The first structure built on this uninhabited oceanfront was the Biscayne House of Refuge, constructed in 1876 by the United States Life-Saving Service through an executive order issued by President Ulysses S. Grant, at approximately 72nd Street. Its purpose was to provide food, water, and a return to civilization for people who were shipwrecked. The structure, which had fallen into disuse by the time the Life-Saving Service became the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915, was destroyed in the 1926 Miami Hurricane and never rebuilt.
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.
In 1915, according to Wikidata. Miami Beach’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1920 counted 644 people here.
How does Miami Beach rank for history?
Miami Beach is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #66 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 Miami Beach?
13 listings: 7 buildings, 4 historic districts with 1,736 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 structure. 1,745 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Miami Beach?
9% of Miami Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (13), 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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