Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #27 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Tallahassee was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. 53 places in town are on the National Register, among them the San Luis de Apalache, a National Historic Landmark, and nine historic districts with 201 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1840.
Tallahassee dates its founding to 1824 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1840.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tallahassee is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #27 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Tallahassee ranks #179 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 Tallahassee’s 12.4 sits above most of its state (86% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 251 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Tallahassee’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Tallahassee’s post office has been open since 1825. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Tallahassee.
Indigenous peoples occupied this area for thousands of years before European encounter. Around 1200, the large and complex Mississippian culture had built earthwork mounds near Lake Jackson which survive today; they are preserved in the Lake Jackson Archaeological State Park.
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 archiveThe City Hotel
BuiltFirst Presbyterian Church is builtBuiltFlorida State Capitol is built
In the archive"Home of Tallahassee Girl," Tallahassee, Fla
In the archiveGuests of the Tallahassee Boarding House
BuiltWalker, David S., Library is built
BuiltWoman's Club of Tallahassee is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereLobo is born here
Born hereBrad Davis is born here
Born hereShea Whigham is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tallahassee. 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 Tallahassee.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Tallahassee’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,616 people in 1840 to 196,169 in 2020, more than tenfold.
18 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tallahassee’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
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 1824, according to Wikidata. Tallahassee’s post office opened in 1825, and the census of 1840 counted 1,616 people here.
Tallahassee is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #27 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.
53 listings: 36 buildings, 9 historic districts with 201 contributing buildings, 6 sites, and 2 structures. 251 historic buildings in all.
2% of Tallahassee’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (53), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1900
1900
1900
