Most of Montverde was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Its Register listing is the Harper House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1962 on, and the census since 1930.
Founding year: the first Montverde post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Montverde’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Montverde is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. 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 Montverde’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 Montverde’s 8.9 sits above most of its state (84% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. 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 Montverde’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Montverde was the location of a Native American settlement and burial ground. The earliest record of American settlement is from 1865, and initially named "West Lake Apopka". The community's name derives from the Spanish, "Monte Verde", by a settler from Vermont (which also means "green mountain" and derives from the French, "Vert Mont") who remarked on its rolling green hills while arriving at the site by boat on Lake Apopka. The Town of Montverde was officially incorporated as a municipality on May 18, 1925.
The central feature of the town is Montverde Academy, a private preparatory school for primary and secondary students. The school was opened in 1912.
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.
The Montverde post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Montverde rank for history?
Montverde is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. 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 Montverde?
One place: the Harper House (listed 2004).
How old are the homes in Montverde?
2% of Montverde’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 2000.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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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