Ocala dates to 1845, and 12 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns · #22 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Ocala was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. 12 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 381 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1844.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ocala’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ocala is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #22 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ocala’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 Ocala’s 59.3 sits above most of its state (92% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 395 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1845.
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 Ocala’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Ocala’s post office has been open since 1847. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Fort King
1844–1847
Ocala
1847–today
Montague
1886–1915
Central
1899–1907
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Arbors of Ocala Mobile Home ParkBlue Skies Estates Mobile Home ParkCala Springs Mobile Home ParkMaricampMontagueOakwood Mobile Manor Mobile Home ParkOcala Municipal Trailer ParkPenny Park Estates Mobile Home ParkPine Manor East Mobile Home ParkPioneer Mobile Home ParkSpanish Oaks Mobile Home ParkTwin Oaks Mobile Home ParkWagon Wheel Mobile Home ParkWhite Oaks Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Charter Springs HospitalhospitalDowntown Baptist ChurchchurchFirst Baptist Church of OcalachurchFirst Church of Christ ScientistchurchFirst Church of the NazarenechurchFlorida School for GirlsschoolFlorida State Fire Fighting CollegebuildingForest Assembly of God ChurchchurchFort KingmilitaryHoward SchoolschoolMatthews Scippio SchoolschoolPure Vision Church of God in ChristchurchSaint Matthews Lutheran Churchchurch
12cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ocala
AgnewEvergreenForest Hills Memorial ParkFort King Burial GroundsGreenwoodHighland Memorial ParkHillcrest Cemetery SectionLincoln Memorial Gardens of OcalaTempleTucker HillWoodlawnWoodlawn
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Ocala’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ocala’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Ocala is named after Ocale (also Cale, Etocale, and other variants), a Timucua village and chiefdom recorded in the 16th century, the name of which is believed to mean "Big Hammock" in the Timucua language. Another possible meaning of the name is "song or singer of admiration or glorification". Spaniard Hernando de Soto's expedition recorded Ocale in 1539 during his exploration through what is today the Southeastern United States. The site of Ocale has not been found, but historians believe it was located in southwestern Marion County, near the Withlacoochee River. References to Ocale, Olagale, and Etoquale occur in 16th and early 17th century sources, but do not specify a location. A Spanish mission named San Luis de Eloquale was established by 1630. Milanich believes the mission was near the Withlacoochee River. Eloquale is not named in a 1655 list of missions, and Ocale (and its vari…
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ocala. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1895Ocala sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ocala.
Every building
Ocala, building by building, 1884–1924
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Retake this viewLovers Lane, 1905
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ocala’s page.
In 1845, according to Wikidata. Ocala’s post office opened in 1844, and the census of 1850 counted 243 people here.
How does Ocala rank for history?
Ocala is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #22 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 Ocala?
12 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Coca-Cola Bottling Plant (listed 1979, the first), and 4 historic districts with 381 contributing buildings. 395 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Ocala?
4% of Ocala’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (12), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
![Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/2441/05fadbe754511babaaa3-s.jpg)
1940
