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C−History
History · Palmetto Bay

Palmetto Bay was first counted by the census in 2000, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #240 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Palmetto Bay was built recently: 0.1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 6 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 2000.

2000first census
1on the National Register
0.1%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Palmetto Bay’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Palmetto Bay began

When was Palmetto Bay founded?

2000

Palmetto Bay first appears in the census in 2000. Two smaller post offices, Cutler (1884) and Perrine (1904), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 24,469 in 20002020 census: 24,43926 years

How historic is Palmetto Bay?

C−

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Palmetto Bay’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Palmetto Bay is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #240 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Palmetto Bay’s overall grade.
Founding era2000, from the first census: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.1% of homes (±0.2) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 6 historic buildings, 2.4 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 19%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 62%

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 Palmetto Bay’s 2.4 sits above most of its state (77% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.

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.

Founding year: the first census (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 Palmetto 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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Palmetto Bay, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Palmetto Bay’s collection

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

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

Lost post offices and old corners

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cutler
1884–1915
Perrine
1904–1957
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CutlerEast PerrineRockdale

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

The story

How Palmetto Bay came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Palmetto Bay.

Read it all →

In August 1992, Palmetto Bay and the surrounding South Miami-Dade area were severely damaged by Hurricane Andrew. Many of the homes and businesses in Palmetto Bay were destroyed. In the subsequent years, the area was slowly rebuilt. Although many areas of Miami were heavily affected by Hurricane Andrew, Palmetto Bay was one of the worst affected and remains a reminder of the hurricane's extensive disaster in the city today.

Palmetto Bay was incorporated on September 10, 2002, taking the territory formerly held by the Cutler, Rockdale and East Perrine census-designated places. The founding council consisted of Mayor Eugene Flinn, Jr., Vice Mayor, Linda Robinson, and council members, John Breder, Edward Feller, and Paul Neidhart.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Palmetto Bay, 1884 to 1992

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Cutler post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900BuiltCharles Deering Estate is built
  5. 1904Post officeThe Perrine post office opens
  6. 1915Post officeThe Cutler post office closes
  7. 1947In the archiveFuture Farmers of America picking tomatoes- Palmetto, Florida
  8. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1957Post officeThe Perrine post office closes
  10. 1992In the archiveCoral Reef Branch Library
By decade

Palmetto Bay, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Future Farmers of America picking tomatoes- Palmetto, Florida1947Future Farmers of America picking tomatoes- Palmetto,…
1950s–1980snothing 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
1990s1 item
Coral Reef Branch Library1992Coral Reef Branch Library
Today16 recent
Flag of2022Flag ofPalmetto Bay Library2021Palmetto Bay LibraryDeering Estate Both Houses2021Deering Estate Both HousesParadise Point2019Paradise PointMonograph-cover2017Monograph-coverThis is America2016This is AmericaPanera Bread2016Panera BreadPalmetto Bay, Florida2016Palmetto Bay, FloridaPalmetto Bay, FL, USA2016Palmetto Bay, FL, USAHonda Service Center2016Honda Service CenterSubmerged Rocks in2013Submerged Rocks inPast2013PastPalmetto Bay from a Microlight2013Palmetto Bay from a MicrolightDeering Estate's tropical Christmas tree2009Deering Estate's tropical Christmas treeEntrance gate, Palmer Trinity School2007Entrance gate, Palmer Trinity SchoolFLMap-doton-Cutler2004FLMap-doton-Cutler
On the map

Palmetto Bay on the map, 1949 to 1994

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

Palmetto Bay on the 1949 USGS mapPalmetto Bay on the 1956 USGS mapPalmetto Bay on the 1969 USGS mapPalmetto Bay on the 1973 USGS mapPalmetto Bay on the 1988 USGS mapPalmetto Bay on the 1994 USGS map1949Perrine 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 Palmetto 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.

Future Farmers of America picking tomatoes- Palmetto, Florida
Retake this viewFuture Farmers of America picking tomatoes- Palmetto, Florida, 1947

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 6 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Charles Deering Estate
Charles Deering Estate, built 1900
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Mediterranean Revival1
Frame Vernacular1
Charles Deering EstateMediterranean Revival · Built 1900

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

People over time

Palmetto Bay, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00020002020Peak: 24,469

Between 23,410 and 24,469 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Palmetto Bay

Nobody well known was born in Palmetto Bay itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
M
Mimi RogersAmerican actress · b. 1956
Thurston MooreAmerican guitarist · b. 1958
B
Bob LazarAmerican businessman and ufologist · b. 1959
Bob GrahamAmerican lawyer, author, and politician · b. 1936
Eric HosmerAmerican baseball player · b. 1989
Katherine KurtzAmerican fantasy writer · b. 1944
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Coral Gables13 historic placesB−Cutler BayIts storyDPalmetto EstatesIts storyDPinecrestIts storyD−

Questions about Palmetto Bay’s history

What year was Palmetto Bay founded?

The Palmetto Bay post office opened in 2000, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Palmetto Bay rank for history?

Palmetto Bay is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #240 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 Palmetto Bay?

One place: the Charles Deering Estate (listed 1986).

How old are the homes in Palmetto Bay?

0.1% of Palmetto Bay’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1976.

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, 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.