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History · Solana

Solana’s post office opened in 1902, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Solana was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Its Register listings are the Villa Bianca and the Clarence L. Babcock House. Its Register listings are the Villa Bianca and the Clarence L. Babcock House. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1990.

1902first post office
2on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Solana began

When was Solana founded?

1902

The Solana post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,128 in 19902020 census: 671124 years
Founding year: the first Solana post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Solana’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 Solana are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Solana’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Solana, in brief

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

Solana is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. The population was 671 at the 2020 census, down from 742 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Punta Gorda, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, included in the North Port-Bradenton, Florida Combined Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1902. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 742 to 671 (-10%).

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

Timeline

Solana, 1902 to 1957

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902Post officeThe Solana post office opens
  3. 1903Post officeThe Solana post office closes
  4. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Solana on the map, 1957 to 1987

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

Solana on the 1957 USGS mapSolana on the 1972 USGS mapSolana on the 1987 USGS map1957Punta Gorda 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 Solana.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Solana

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Villa Bianca
Villa BiancaClarence L. Babcock House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

20th Century Revival1
Mediterranean Revival1
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Craftsman1
Bungalow1
Villa Bianca20th Century Revival
Clarence L. Babcock HouseLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements

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

People over time

Solana, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20020002020Peak: 1,128

Between 671 and 1,128 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Solana

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

See all →
Jay GarnerUnited States Army general and United States Ma… · b. 1938
Mike ZuninoAmerican baseball catcher · b. 1991
Matt LaPortaAmerican baseball player · b. 1985
N
Niko PriceAmerican mixed martial arts fighter · b. 1989
Arthur Parker WhetsolAmerican jazz trumpeter · b. 1905
C
Curtis KitchenAmerican basketball player · b. 1964
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Solana had its own post office from 1902 to 1903.

Solana
1902–1903
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bay Palms 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.

Punta Gorda8 historic placesB−ClevelandIts storyC−

Questions about Solana’s history

What year was Solana founded?

The Solana post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Solana?

Two places: the Villa Bianca (listed 1990) and the Clarence L. Babcock House (2009).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.