St. Cloud’s post office opened in 1887, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #58 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 177 buildings. Most of St. Cloud was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1920.
The St. Cloud post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1909. Another post office, Ashton (1904), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 2,011 in 19202020 census: 58,964139 years
How historic is St. Cloud?
B−
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first St. Cloud post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1909.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives St. Cloud’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Cloud is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #58 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. Cloud’s overall grade.
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 St. Cloud’s 27.8 sits above most of its state (90% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 181 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1909.
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 St. Cloud’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Ashton, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Saint Cloud
1887–today
Ashton
1904–1913
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AshtonCovington Estates Mobile Home ParkDavis Island Mobile Home ParkGolden Grove Mobile Home ParkMark Mobile Home ParkSaint CloudSaint Cloud Trailer ParkSand Hill Cove Mobile Home ParkSugar Mill Mobile Home ParkTimes Trailer Park
Gone or out of use
Big Sky Airparkairport
1cemetery inside St. Cloud
Mount Peace
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
During the 1870s, Hamilton Disston of Philadelphia took an interest in developing the region while on fishing trips with Henry Shelton Sanford, founder of the city of Sanford. Disston contracted with the Florida Internal Improvement Fund, then in receivership, to pay $1 million to offset its Civil War and Reconstruction debt. In exchange, Disston was awarded half the land he drained from the state's swamps. He dug canals and, in 1886–1887, established St. Cloud sugarcane plantation, named after St. Cloud, Minnesota, although many longtime locals claim the town was named after Saint-Cloud, France.
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.
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.
The St. Cloud post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1909.
How does St. Cloud rank for history?
St. Cloud is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #58 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.
What is on the National Register in St. Cloud?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall (listed 1997, the first), and 1 historic district, the St. Cloud Downtown Historic District, with 177 contributing buildings. 181 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in St. Cloud?
4% of St. Cloud’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 2003.
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 (5), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
2019
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2004
