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History · Panacea

Panacea dates to 1895, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Panacea was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Its Register listing is the Panacea Mineral Springs. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1940 on.

1895founded
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Panacea began

When was Panacea founded?

1895

Panacea dates its founding to 1895 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1898.

2020 census: 735131 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1898.The full story ↓

What stands out about Panacea’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Panacea’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Panacea’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 viewHelen Ovida Windham and Miller Walston …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Panacea came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Panacea.

Read it all →

The community was known as Smith Springs until 1893 when some Bostonians purchased the land about the five springs here and renamed the town Panacea, after the goddess of universal remedy, because of the curative properties of the waters. During the Civil War a large plant here supplied salt for much of western Florida. Most of the development in the area was destroyed by a hurricane in 1928.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Panacea, 1895 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1895
    FoundingPanacea is established
  3. 1898Post officeThe Panacea post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1910In the archiveHelen Ovida Windham and Miller Walston posing in swim suits
  6. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Panacea, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Helen Ovida Windham and Miller Walston posing in swim suits1910Helen Ovida Windham and Miller Walston posing in swim…
1920s–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
Today11 recent
Sign for Otter Lake on US98 in2025Sign for Otter Lake on US98 inPanacea sign on US982025Panacea sign on US98Panacea from Bottoms Road2025Panacea from Bottoms RoadOtter Lake Road at Coastal Highway2025Otter Lake Road at Coastal HighwayUntitled photo2025Untitled photoEntering Panacea on WB US982025Entering Panacea on WB US98Curve on Levy Bay Road2025Curve on Levy Bay RoadClarke Drive marker2025Clarke Drive markerChattahoochee and Tower2025Chattahoochee and TowerRock Landing Floating Dock and Boating Facility2024Rock Landing Floating Dock and Boating FacilityCrum's Mini Mall sign2020Crum's Mini Mall sign
On the map

Panacea on the map, 1940 to 1972

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

Panacea on the 1940 USGS mapPanacea on the 1972 USGS map1940Arran sheet · 1:62,500

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

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.

Helen Ovida Windham and Miller Walston posing in swim suits
Retake this viewHelen Ovida Windham and Miller Walston posing in swim suits, 1910

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Panacea

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
2022
Panacea Mineral Springs
Panacea Mineral Springs
Sites
Panacea Mineral SpringsSite

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Panacea

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

See all →
Shea WhighamAmerican actor · b. 1969
Brad DavisAmerican actor · b. 1949
LoboAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1943
Piper CurdaAmerican actress · b. 1997
Carla HaydenAmerican librarian and 14th Librarian of Congre… · b. 1952
Kay AldridgeModel, actress · b. 1917
Places that used to be

Old corners

Panacea’s post office has been open since 1898.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Panacea Park

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

Questions about Panacea’s history

What year was Panacea founded?

In 1895, according to Wikidata. Panacea’s post office opened in 1898.

What is on the National Register in Panacea?

One place: the Panacea Mineral Springs (listed 2022).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.