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CHistory
History · Tavares

Tavares dates to 1880, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #141 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Tavares was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Its Register listings are the Harry C. Duncan House and the Lake County Courthouse. Its Register listings are the Harry C. Duncan House and the Lake County Courthouse. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1900.

1880founded
2on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Tavares’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Tavares began

When was Tavares founded?

1880

Tavares dates its founding to 1880 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 113 in 19002020 census: 19,003146 years

How historic is Tavares?

C

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1882.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Tavares’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tavares is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #141 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tavares’ overall grade.
Founding era1880, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.0% of homes (±0.5) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register2 listings, 3 historic buildings, 1.5 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 34%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 78%

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 Tavares’ 1.5 sits above most of its state (75% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1880.

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 →

What stands out about Tavares’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages10 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1890 to 1920, drew every building in Tavares.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tavares’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMarion Duncan in costume for 4th of Jul…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Tavares’s post office has been open since 1882.

Hamlets and corners on the map
El Red Manor Mobile Home ParkEllsworth JunctionL and M Mobile CourtLake Dora Mobile Home ParkMid Lakes Resort Mobile Home ParkRiverest Mobile Home CommunityThree Palms Trailer ParkTiki Village Mobile Home ParkTranquil Trailer CourtTween Waters Mobile Manor
Gone or out of use
Cromartie Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Tavares
Tavares

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Every building

Tavares, building by building, 1890–1920

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.

Tavares fire insurance map, 1890, sheet 11890Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Tavares came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tavares.

Read it all →

Organized in 1885, and completed in 1888 on land donated by St. Clair-Abrams, the Union Congregational Church was the first church in Tavares.

Tavares was founded in 1880 by Alexander St. Clair-Abrams, a newspaper and railroad man from a Creole family in New Orleans . He gave it the surname of a Portuguese ancestor. In 1883, a post office was established; by the next year, a hotel, three stores, a sawmill, and eight cottages were built. Investing over half a million dollars of his own money. St. Clair-Abrams's dream of Tavares as the state capital was not realized, but in 1887, it was designated the county seat of Lake County. St. Clair-Abrams later chartered a railroad from Tavares to Orlando. In 1919, Tavares incorporated as a town.

ChaptersGroveland Four

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Tavares, 1880 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880
    FoundingTavares is established
  3. 1882Post officeThe Tavares post office opens
  4. 1890In the archiveMarion Duncan in costume for 4th of July play
  5. 20th century
  6. 1915In the archiveFamily using a railroad car of the Tavares and Gulf Railroad as a home
  7. 1925Born hereMallory Horne is born here
  8. 1930In the archiveTavares SAL depot
  9. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1986Born hereJermaine Taylor is born here
By decade

Tavares, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1930s3 items
Marion Duncan in costume for 4th of July play1890Marion Duncan in costume for 4th of July playFamily using a railroad car of the Tavares and Gulf Railroad as a home1915Family using a railroad car of the Tavares and Gulf R…Tavares SAL depot1930Tavares SAL depot
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today9 recent
FL 500A and Old 441 Signs2012FL 500A and Old 441 SignsTavares Marina2010Tavares MarinaPolice Charger2010Police ChargerNight photo of ALS Restaurant on the water in the City of2010Night photo of ALS Restaurant on the water in the Cit…Marine unit2010Marine unitDora Canal2010Dora CanalCity of Tavares Dock2010City of Tavares DockRoad photo from August 17, 2002 1042002Road photo from August 17, 2002 104Road photo from August 17, 2002 1032002Road photo from August 17, 2002 103
On the map

Tavares on the map, 1966 to 1980

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

Tavares on the 1966 USGS mapTavares on the 1980 USGS map1966Eustis 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 Tavares.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Marion Duncan in costume for 4th of July play
Retake this viewMarion Duncan in costume for 4th of July play, 1890

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Tavares’ page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Tavares

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
1997
Harry C. Duncan House
Harry C. Duncan HouseLake County Courthouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals2
Colonial Revival1
Neo-Classical1
Harry C. Duncan HouseLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals
Lake County CourthouseLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals

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

People over time

Tavares, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,000190019201940196019802000202019,003

Grew from 113 people in 1900 to 19,003 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Tavares

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
Jermaine TaylorAmerican basketball player · b. 1986
Mallory HorneAmerican politician · b. 1925
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Eustis10 historic placesB+

Questions about Tavares’ history

What year was Tavares founded?

In 1880, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Tavares’ post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1900 counted 113 people here.

How does Tavares rank for history?

Tavares is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #141 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 Tavares?

Two places: the Harry C. Duncan House (listed 1997) and the Lake County Courthouse (1998).

How old are the homes in Tavares?

1% of Tavares’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1996.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), 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), 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.