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D−History
History · Port St. Lucie

Port St. Lucie’s post office opened in 1960

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #617 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Port St. Lucie was built recently: 0.1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1970.

1960first post office
0on the National Register
0.1%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Zverzver · Public domain
Quick answers

How Port St. Lucie began

When was Port St. Lucie founded?

1960

The Port St. Lucie post office opened in 1960, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1961.

First census: 330 in 19702020 census: 204,85166 years

How historic is Port St. Lucie?

D−

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Port St. Lucie post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1961.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Port St. Lucie’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Port St. Lucie is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #617 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Port St. Lucie’s overall grade.
Founding era1960, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.1% of homes (±0.0) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical FL town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 2%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 3%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Port St. Lucie ranks #392 on History.

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 St. Lucie’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.

Newer cities are common at Port St. Lucie’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1961 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Port St. Lucie’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 Port St. Lucie’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Port St. Lucie’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 viewGeorgia Jessup Road Runner Discovery 19…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Port St. Lucie came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Port St. Lucie.

Read it all →

The name "St. Lucie" is originally derived from the name of a settlement near Jupiter Inlet, which was founded on St. Lucia's Day in 1566. Due to numerous errors, the name later came to be associated with the present-day town of St. Lucie Village, Florida, north of present-day Port St. Lucie. After La Florida and St. Augustine, it is the oldest still-in-use European place name in the United States. In the early 1890s, an early pioneer settlement named Spruce Bluff was located along the St. Lucie River, which consisted of a community of several families with a school, post office, pineapple plantation, and sawmill. Currently, the land the settlement was located on is part of the Spruce Bluff Preserve. Along with an old cemetery near the old settlement, the preserve also contains a hiking area, canoe access, observation areas, and a prehistoric Ais Indian mound located on the southern end…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Port St. Lucie, 1953 to 2001

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1960Post officeThe Port Saint Lucie post office opens
  4. 1973In the archiveGeorgia Jessup Road Runner Discovery 1973A
  5. 1988Born hereAce Hood is born here
  6. 1999Born hereJaida Parker is born here
  7. 1999Born hereNicholas Petit-Frere is born here
  8. 21st century
  9. 2001Born hereZak Zinter is born here
By decade

Port St. Lucie, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s1 item
Georgia Jessup Road Runner Discovery 1973A1973Georgia Jessup Road Runner Discovery 1973A
1980s–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
Today17 recent
IC CE300 - St. Lucie County Schools - 28182025IC CE300 - St. Lucie County Schools - 2818IC CE300 - St. Lucie County Schools - 25302025IC CE300 - St. Lucie County Schools - 2530The Home Depot, St. Lucie West2024The Home Depot, St. Lucie West7RV01386 Veterans Memorial Park20247RV01386 Veterans Memorial Park7RV01330 Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens Copy20247RV01330 Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens Copy2000’s Blue Bird All-American RE (A3RE) school bus20232000’s Blue Bird All-American RE (A3RE) school busPort St. Lucie City Hall2021Port St. Lucie City HallPSL Morningside Library2016PSL Morningside LibraryUS1 South - FL716 West2014US1 South - FL716 WestUS1 North - Easy Street Sign - Port Saint Lucie2014US1 North - Easy Street Sign - Port Saint LucieUS1 North - Ahead of FL716 - Port Saint Lucie FL2014US1 North - Ahead of FL716 - Port Saint Lucie FLFL716 West - Port Saint Lucie2014FL716 West - Port Saint Lucie2010 Census Urbanized Area Reference Map for20102010 Census Urbanized Area Reference Map forBookTresure coast high school2008Tresure coast high schoolPsl golf course2006Psl golf coursePGA Village2005PGA VillageFLMap-doton-PortStLucie2004FLMap-doton-PortStLucie
On the map

Port St. Lucie on the map, 1953 to 1983

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

Port St. Lucie on the 1953 USGS mapPort St. Lucie on the 1972 USGS mapPort St. Lucie on the 1983 USGS map1953Fort Pierce SW sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Georgia Jessup Road Runner Discovery 1973A
Retake this viewGeorgia Jessup Road Runner Discovery 1973A, 1973

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Port St. Lucie, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,000140,000160,000180,000200,000220,000198020002020204,851

Grew from 330 people in 1970 to 204,851 in 2020, more than tenfold.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Port St. Lucie’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Port St. Lucie

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Ace HoodAmerican rapper from Florida · b. 1988
Jaida ParkerAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1999
Nicholas Petit-FrereAmerican football player · b. 1999
Zak ZinterAmerican football player · b. 2001
D
Darius LewisAmerican-born Trinidad and Tabago footballer · b. 1999
O
Omari CobbAmerican football linebacker · b. 1997
Places that used to be

Old corners

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
CarltonPort Saint LucieSpanish Lakes Golf Village Mobile Home Park

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.

River ParkIts storyDWhite City1 historic placeC+Indian River EstatesIts storyDJensen Beach3 historic placesC−Palm CityIts storyD−

Questions about Port St. Lucie’s history

What year was Port St. Lucie founded?

The Port St. Lucie post office opened in 1960, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1961.

How does Port St. Lucie rank for history?

Port St. Lucie is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #617 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 Port St. Lucie?

0.1% of Port St. Lucie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 2002.

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 (18), Wikipedia, 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.