Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Ivan Curra · CC BY-SA 3.0More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #144 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of South Miami was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Its Register listings are the Allen, Hervey, Study and the Arden "Doc" Thomas House. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1930.
South Miami dates its founding to 1897 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1930.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, South Miami is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #144 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 South Miami’s 1.6 sits above most of its state (75% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
From Wikipedia’s history of South Miami.
South Florida had been roamed by Native Americans (Tequesta, Calusa, and Jaega), probably for centuries, before white pioneers advanced through Little Hunting Ground (later known as Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood) to Big Hunting Ground (now known as the Cutler neighborhood of Palmetto Bay).
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveHayes Thomas, residence on Sunset Rd., South Miami, Florida. LOC gsc.5a02726
In the archiveConnecticut -New Haven County - -Windham County- -- Delaware -entire state- -- District o…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereEric Hosmer is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1936Hayes Thomas, residence on Sunset Rd., South Miami, F…
1936Hayes Thomas, residence on Sunset Rd., South Miami, F…1940Connecticut -New Haven County - -Windham County- -- D…
1940Connecticut -New Haven County - -Windham County- -- D…
1940Connecticut -New Haven County - -Windham County- -- D…
1940Connecticut -New Haven County - -Windham County- -- D…
1941Tropical America photoscopic mapguide & roadlog - Sou…
1941Tropical America photoscopic mapguide & roadlog - Sou…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of South Miami. 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 South Miami.
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 South Miami’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 1,160 people in 1930 to 12,026 in 2020, more than tenfold.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on South Miami’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
South Miami had its own post office from 1926 to 1943.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1897, according to Wikidata. South Miami’s post office opened in 1926, and the census of 1930 counted 1,160 people here.
South Miami is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #144 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.
Two places: the Allen, Hervey, Study (listed 1974) and the Arden "Doc" Thomas House (2014).
1% of South Miami’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (14), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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