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History · Raiford

Raiford’s post office opened in 1897, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1918 on and the census since 1920.

1897first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Raiford began

When was Raiford founded?

1897

The Raiford post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 412 in 19202020 census: 224129 years
Founding year: the first Raiford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Raiford’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Raiford are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19183 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1984. Watch Raiford change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Raiford’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Raiford’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Raiford on the map, 1918 to 1984

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

Raiford on the 1918 USGS mapRaiford on the 1970 USGS mapRaiford on the 1984 USGS map1918Lawtey 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 Raiford.

The story

How Raiford came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Raiford.

Read it all →

Around 1895, the first non-indigenous person to settle the area was a man named Hunter Warren Raiford, who was a US Navy authorized uniform merchant supplier

By about 1900, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was built through the settlement and a post office was built with the community being named after Raiford. Hunter Warren Raiford himself would serve as the first postmaster. In 1939, the Raiford Prison baseball team set a record for consecutive scoreless innings, 52. The municipality was officially incorporated as the Town of Raiford in August 1971.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Raiford, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Raiford RR Station Marker along Raiford Rail Trail2023Raiford RR Station Marker along Raiford Rail TrailRaiford (FL) Town Hall and FD; 2023-11-282023Raiford (FL) Town Hall and FD; 2023-11-28Raiford (FL) Post Office; 2023-11-282023Raiford (FL) Post Office; 2023-11-28NB FL 121 @ Union CR 229 in2022NB FL 121 @ Union CR 229 inFL121sRoad-FL16JctSign2017FL121sRoad-FL16JctSignFL121sRoad-CR229sign2017FL121sRoad-CR229signUnionCIRaifordFL2006UnionCIRaifordFLFLMap-doton-Raiford2004FLMap-doton-Raiford
People over time

Raiford, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 460

Between 187 and 460 people in every census since 1920.

7 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Raiford

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

See all →
Tom PettyAmerican musician · b. 1950
M
Maya RudolphAmerican actress and comedian · b. 1972
N
Noah LylesAmerican sprinter · b. 1997
Dustin MoskovitzAmerican computer/Internet entrepreneur · b. 1984
P
Philip H. DybvigAmerican economist · b. 1955
Robert HoffmanAmerican actor · b. 1985

Questions about Raiford’s history

What year was Raiford founded?

The Raiford post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (8), 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.