Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 3% of U.S. towns · #581 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Oldsmar was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1930.
The Oldsmar post office opened in 1917, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1624. Another post office, Tampashores (1925), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 3% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oldsmar is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #581 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 Oldsmar’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (33% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 →
From Wikipedia’s history of Oldsmar.
A number of archeological digs in the Oldsmar area revealed small campsites as well as permanent villages that date from the Archaic period (c. 8000 to 1000 BC).
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 archive12 foot corn - Oldsmar, Florida. 1900 (circa)
In the archiveOldsmar City Band
In the archiveFrolicing (sic) in the surf at
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereNathan Harriel is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oldsmar. 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 Oldsmar.
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 Oldsmar’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 280 people in 1930 to 14,898 in 2020, more than tenfold.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oldsmar’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Oldsmar’s post office has been open since 1917. Another post office, Tampashores, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Oldsmar post office opened in 1917, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1624.
Oldsmar is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #581 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.
0.0% of Oldsmar’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), 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.
c. 1900
1920
1923
