Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Palm Bay

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C−History
History · Palm Bay

Palm Bay’s post office opened in 1925, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #266 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Palm Bay was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Its Register listing is the St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1960.

1925first post office
1on the National Register
0.4%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Palm Bay’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Palm Bay began

When was Palm Bay founded?

1925

The Palm Bay post office opened in 1925, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1960.

First census: 2,808 in 19602020 census: 119,760101 years

How historic is Palm Bay?

C−

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Palm Bay post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1960.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Palm Bay’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Palm Bay is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #266 of 638 in Florida. 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 Palm Bay’s overall grade.
Founding era1925, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19400.4% of homes (±0.2) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.1 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 16%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 58%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Palm Bay ranks #359 on History.

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 Palm Bay’s 0.1 sits above most of its state (67% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

Newer cities are common at Palm Bay’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1960.

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 Palm Bay’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages8 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Palm Bay’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Palm Bay’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFlag of: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Old corners

Palm Bay’s post office has been open since 1925.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Bay Pines Mobile Home ParkBreezy Palms Mobile Home ParkEvergreen Mobile Home ParkHiawatha Mobile Home ParkHillside Mobile Home ParkOld Fort Trailer ParkPalm Bay Estates Mobile Home ParkSun Manor Mobile Home Park

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Palm Bay came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Palm Bay.

Read it all →

The Ais people, attracted to the mouth of Turkey Creek at the Indian River by freshwater springs, fish, oysters, and wildlife, are thought to have been the first inhabitants in the Palm Bay area.

The earliest place names for this area on early maps of the late 1700s were Turkey Creek, Elbow Creek and Crane Creek. An 1870 map of the Indian River by John Andrew Bostrom shows the area void of any settlements within about 15 miles of Turkey Creek. The first prominent European-American settler was John Tillman in the late 1870s. Tillman's wharf marked the mouth of Turkey Creek at what became known as Palm Bay on the Indian River.

Chapters1900s2000s2010s2020s

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Palm Bay, 1925 to 2005

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1925Post officeThe Palm Bay post office opens
  3. 1930Born hereClifford McNulty is born here
  4. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1981In the archiveFlag of
  6. 1985Born hereXavier Carter is born here
  7. 1988Born hereCameron Long is born here
  8. 21st century
  9. 2005Born hereKristina Teachout is born here
By decade

Palm Bay, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
Flag of1981Flag of
1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today17 recent
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL, FL, USA - panoramio (11)2012Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL, FL, USA - panorami…Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL, FL, USA - panoramio (10)2012Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL, FL, USA - panorami…Palm Bay Fire2010Palm Bay FirePalm Bay (Florida) 0012010Palm Bay (Florida) 001Heritage High School2009Heritage High SchoolCompound Triangle 22008Compound Triangle 2Compound Triangle 12008Compound Triangle 1TheCompound22007TheCompound2TheCompound12007TheCompound1Seal of2007Seal ofPink walmart pb2006Pink walmart pbPink Walmart in Palm Bay Cropped2006Pink Walmart in Palm Bay CroppedPbsignpatriotic cropped2005Pbsignpatriotic croppedTurkeyCreekSanctuary012004TurkeyCreekSanctuary01FLMap-doton-PalmBay2004FLMap-doton-PalmBayFEMA - 10589 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-09-2004 in Florida2004FEMA - 10589 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 10587 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-09-2004 in Florida2004FEMA - 10587 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …
On the map

Palm Bay on the map, 1949 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Palm Bay. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Palm Bay on the 1949 USGS mapPalm Bay on the 1951 USGS mapPalm Bay on the 1970 USGS mapPalm Bay on the 1980 USGS map1949Melbourne East sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Palm Bay.

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.

Flag of
Retake this viewFlag of, 1981

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Palm Bay’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Palm Bay

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
St. Joseph's Catholic Church
St. Joseph's Catholic Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Gothic1
Stick Style1
St. Joseph's Catholic ChurchGothic

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Palm Bay, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,0001960198020002020119,760

Grew from 2,808 people in 1960 to 119,760 in 2020, more than tenfold.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Palm Bay’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Palm Bay

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
X
Xavier CarterAmerican sprinter · b. 1985
K
Kristina TeachoutAmerican taekwondo athlete · b. 2005
C
Cameron LongAmerican basketball player · b. 1988
Clifford McNultyFlorida state representative · b. 1930
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Grant-Valkaria1 historic placeC−MalabarIts storyDMelbourne3 historic placesCWest MelbourneIts storyD−MiccoIts storyC−

Questions about Palm Bay’s history

What year was Palm Bay founded?

The Palm Bay post office opened in 1925, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1960.

How does Palm Bay rank for history?

Palm Bay is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #266 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 Palm Bay?

One place: the St. Joseph's Catholic Church (listed 1987).

How old are the homes in Palm Bay?

0.4% of Palm Bay’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1993.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (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.