Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 11% of U.S. towns · #336 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Polk City was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2007. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1944 on, and the census since 1930.
The Polk City post office opened in 1923, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1925.
More historic than 11% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Polk City is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #336 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Polk City’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Polk City’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1930 and 1970, then grew more than tenfold.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Polk City’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Polk City.
The community has been settled since the 1800s by farmers, starting off as farmland. Polk City was incorporated as the "Town of Polk City" on April 3, 1925, and changed by ordinance to the City of Polk City in 2005. The city was named after the county itself, which was named after James Knox Polk, the 11th President of the United States.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archivePolk City SAL Depot
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2018FL 33 Polk City SAL Bridge-07
2018FL 33 Polk City SAL Bridge-06
2018FL 33 Polk City SAL Bridge-05
2018FL 33 Polk City SAL Bridge-04
2018FL 33 Polk City SAL Bridge-03
2018FL 33 Polk City SAL Bridge-02
2018FL 33 Polk City SAL Bridge-01
2018FL 33 Bridge from Polk City Trailhead
2018Dan Wilson-Freedom Park; Polk City, FL-8
2018Dan Wilson-Freedom Park; Polk City, FL-7
2018Dan Wilson-Freedom Park; Polk City, FL-6
2018Dan Wilson-Freedom Park; Polk City, FL-5
2018Dan Wilson-Freedom Park; Polk City, FL-4
2018Dan Wilson-Freedom Park; Polk City, FL-3
2018Dan Wilson-Freedom Park; Polk City, FL-2
2018Dan Wilson-Freedom Park; Polk City, FL-1
2004FLMap-doton-PolkCityEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Polk City. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Polk City.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Polk City’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Polk City itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Polk City post office opened in 1923, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1925.
Polk City is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #336 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.
4% of Polk City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 2007.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), 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.
