Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #117 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Port Orange was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 23 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1920.
The Port Orange post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Allandale (1875), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Port Orange is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #117 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Port Orange’s 4.0 sits above most of its state (80% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 26 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% 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.
Port Orange had its own post office from 1867 to 1958. Another post office, Allandale, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Port Orange’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Port Orange yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1867. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 56,048 to 62,596 (+12%).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJay Morley is born here
In the archiveGiant at Port Orange, the largest and oldest tree in Florida
In the archiveFlorida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingh…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2016Port Orange, United States (Unsplash hD5Y98LRtAU)
2016Front of new black Mercedes-Benz (Unsplash)
2014FL421eRoadSign
2011Spruce Creek River
2011Palmer College Of Chiropractic Port Orange HDR
2011Palmer College Of Chiropractic
2011Lake Pano
2011HDR Tree at Spruce Creek Park
2011HDR Palms at Spruce Creek Park
2011City Center Circle Panoramic
2011"The Dream" statue in front of Palmer Chiropractic Co…
2010Ridgewood Ave Bridge Pano
2010Port Orange Boat Docks
2010I95 Late Traffic Streaking Lights
2010Hunk Of Junk
2009Flag ofEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Port Orange. 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 Port Orange.
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 Port Orange’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 380 people in 1920 to 62,596 in 2020, more than tenfold.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Port Orange’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Port Orange post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Port Orange is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #117 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.
5 listings: 2 buildings, 2 historic districts, the Gamble Place Historic District and the Dunlawton Avenue Historic District, with 23 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 26 historic buildings in all.
0.7% of Port Orange’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (17), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
