Palatka dates to 1821, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #5 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
11 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 326 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1841.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Palatka’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Palatka is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #5 of 638 in Florida. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Palatka’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 Palatka’s 313 sits above most of its state (98% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 333 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1821.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.2 points).
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 Palatka’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.
Every building
Palatka, building by building, 1885–1924
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.
The area was once the domain of the Timucuan peoples, two tribes of which existed in the Palatka region under chiefs Saturiwa and Utina. They fished bass and mullet, or hunted deer, turkeys, bear and opossum. Others farmed beans, corn, melons, squash, and tobacco. However, infectious disease that came with European contact and war devastated the tribes, and they were extinct as organized peoples by the mid-18th century. Some of their survivors merged with other tribes; other Timucua evacuated with the Spanish to Cuba in 1763, when Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain in an exchange of interests after the latter's defeat of France in the Seven Years' War.
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 1821, according to Wikidata. Palatka’s post office opened in 1841, and the census of 1860 counted 613 people here.
How does Palatka rank for history?
Palatka is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #5 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 Palatka?
11 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Bronson-Mulholland House (listed 1972, the first), and 4 historic districts with 326 contributing buildings. 333 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Palatka?
15% of Palatka’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (11), 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.
c. 1880
c. 1880
1889
