Founding year: the first Pine Castle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pine Castle’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pine Castle is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #236 of 638 in Florida. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pine Castle’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 Pine Castle’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (33% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Pine Castle’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Initially settled in 1870, the town's development has been shaped by that of Orlando, approximately 5 miles (8 km) to the north. From just before 1882 the South Florida Railroad mainline, which became part of the Plant System in 1893 and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902, provided regular rapid passenger and freight service. The town officially incorporated in 1925, but later reverted to unincorporated development. The population was 10,805 at the 2010 census. Passenger trains operated by successor Seaboard Coast Line A Line from 1967 then Amtrak after 1971 bypassed the local depot, with nearest stops in Orlando and Kissimmee. Passenger rail service returned with the opening of SunRail's Sand Lake Road station in 2014.
The Pine Castle post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Pine Castle rank for history?
Pine Castle is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #236 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.
How old are the homes in Pine Castle?
2% of Pine Castle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (5), 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.
2025
2025
2009
2009
2009
