Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Ponce Inlet

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 · Ponce Inlet

Ponce Inlet dates to 1963, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #224 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Ponce Inlet was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1970.

1963founded
4on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Ponce Inlet began

When was Ponce Inlet founded?

1963

Ponce Inlet dates its founding to 1963 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1970.

First census: 328 in 19702020 census: 3,36463 years

How historic is Ponce Inlet?

C−

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1884.
History grade

What drives Ponce Inlet’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ponce Inlet is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #224 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 Ponce Inlet’s overall grade.
Founding era1963, from Wikidata: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.5) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%D−National Register4 listings, 11 historic buildings, 32.0 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 20%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 65%

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 Ponce Inlet’s 32.0 sits above most of its state (90% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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 (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1963.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Ponce Inlet’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.A National Historic Landmark4 places on the National Register, including Ponce De Leon Inlet Lightstation, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ponce Inlet’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ponce Inlet’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 viewPonce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

4 historic places in Ponce Inlet

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmark
1
Ponce De Leon Inlet Lightstation
historic buildings protected
11
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Ponce De Leon Inlet Lightstation
Meyer-Davis House-Hasty CottageGreen MoundPacetti HotelPonce De Leon Inlet Lightstation, built 1835★
BuildingsSites★ landmark
★ Landmark
Ponce De Leon Inlet LightstationBuilt 1835
Meyer-Davis House-Hasty CottageBuilding
All 4 listings
Green MoundSite · listed 2020Pacetti HotelBuilding · listed 2020

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

The story so far

Ponce Inlet, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ponce Inlet yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Ponce Inlet is a town in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the Halifax area. The population was 3,364 at the 2020 census. The town of Ponce Inlet is located on the southern tip of a barrier island, south of Daytona Beach and Daytona Beach Shores. Several marinas are located in Ponce Inlet. The community is known for its strict land use regulations.

Ponce Inlet was established in 1963. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,032 to 3,364 (+11%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Ponce Inlet, 1835 to 1998

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835BuiltPonce De Leon Inlet Lightstation is built
  3. 1884Post officeThe Ponce Park post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1943Post officeThe Ponce Park post office closes
  6. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1963
    FoundingPonce Inlet is established
  8. 1980In the archivePonce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse
  9. 1998LandmarkPonce De Leon Inlet Lightstation named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Ponce Inlet, decade by decade

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

1980s1 item
Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse1980Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse
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
Today10 recent
Sunrise from the boardwalk2009Sunrise from the boardwalkSunrise at2009Sunrise atPelecanus occidentalis - Andrea Westmoreland2009Pelecanus occidentalis - Andrea WestmorelandISS020-E-5392 - View of Florida2009ISS020-E-5392 - View of FloridaPILighthouse22008PILighthouse2Mr. Sophisticate - Flickr - Andrea Westmoreland2008Mr. Sophisticate - Flickr - Andrea WestmorelandLighthousePark2008LighthouseParkBrown Pelican at Ponce Inlet - Flickr - Andrea Westmoreland2008Brown Pelican at Ponce Inlet - Flickr - Andrea Westmo…PILighthouse32007PILighthouse3Aerial view of Ponce Inlet, Florida, 2007-12-122007Aerial view of Ponce Inlet, Florida, 2007-12-12
On the map

Ponce Inlet on the map, 1943 to 1993

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

Ponce Inlet on the 1943 USGS mapPonce Inlet on the 1956 USGS mapPonce Inlet on the 1980 USGS mapPonce Inlet on the 1993 USGS map1943Port Orange 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 Ponce Inlet.

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.

Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse
Retake this viewPonce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, 1980

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ponce Inlet, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5001980200020203,364

Grew from 328 people in 1970 to 3,364 in 2020, more than tenfold.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Ponce Inlet

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

See all →
Jim CourierAmerican tennis player · b. 1970
Bob RossAmerican painter, art instructor, television ho… · b. 1942
Vince CarterAmerican basketball player · b. 1977
NaomiAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1987
W
Walter M. MillerAmerican fiction writer · b. 1923
Jacob deGromAmerican baseball player · b. 1988
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Ponce Park, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Ponce Park
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ponce Inlet
Pacetti FamilyPonce Inlet Grave Site

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

New Smyrna Beach8 historic placesA−Port Orange5 historic placesC+

Questions about Ponce Inlet’s history

What year was Ponce Inlet founded?

In 1963, according to Wikidata. Ponce Inlet’s post office opened in 1884, and the census of 1970 counted 328 people here.

How does Ponce Inlet rank for history?

Ponce Inlet is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #224 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 Ponce Inlet?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Ponce De Leon Inlet Lightstation (a National Historic Landmark since 1998), and 1 site. 11 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Ponce Inlet?

0.0% of Ponce Inlet’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 (10), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.