Orange City’s post office opened in 1876, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #73 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Orange City was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 211 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Orange City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1882.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Orange City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Orange City is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #73 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Orange City’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 Orange City’s 150 sits above most of its state (95% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 216 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% 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 (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1882 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Orange City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Orange City’s post office has been open since 1876.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Candlelight Mobile Home ParkCountry Village Mobile Home ParkLand O' Lakes Mobile Home ParkOak Hill Mobile Home ParkOrange City Mobile Home ParkOrange Tree Village Mobile Home ParkPine Forest Mobile Home ParkSunset Mobile Home Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Orange City was incorporated as a city in 1882. The city was named for the thousands of acres of orange groves in and around the city. Twelve years later, the Great Freeze wiped out the orange groves for which the town was named.
Orange City received the "highest award that the world can give" for its water at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. John D. Rockefeller Sr. had Orange City Mineral Springs water sent to him wherever he traveled, and even used it for bathing.
Sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Orange City include:
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 Orange City post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1882.
How does Orange City rank for history?
Orange City is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #73 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 Orange City?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Dickinson Memorial Library and Park (listed 1995, the first), and 1 historic district, the Orange City Historic District, with 211 contributing buildings. 216 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Orange City?
2% of Orange City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1991.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
2017
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2009
2004
![Florida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingham County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/2294/dab1d7b2326aac5b4e9b-l.jpg)