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ThonotosassaPostOffice2Photo: Piperpet · CC BY-SA 4.0
C−History
History · Thonotosassa

Thonotosassa’s post office opened in 1886

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #249 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Thonotosassa was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 2000.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Thonotosassa’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Thonotosassa began

When was Thonotosassa founded?

1886

The Thonotosassa post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Antioch (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 6,091 in 20002020 census: 15,238140 years

How historic is Thonotosassa?

C−

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Thonotosassa post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Thonotosassa’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Thonotosassa is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #249 of 638 in Florida. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Thonotosassa’s overall grade.
Founding era1886, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.6% of homes (±1.1) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical FL town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 18%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 61%

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 Thonotosassa’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (33% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Thonotosassa’s past

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

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Thonotosassa, and 75 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Thonotosassa’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Antioch, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Thonotosassa
1886–today
Antioch
1892–1923
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AntiochAntioch AcresArrow Pointe EstatesArrowhead EstatesBadgers LairBarbers LakeviewBarringtonBay Hills VillageBayland OaksBella FarmsBloomfield HillsCaryn PlaceClarkClarkwildCousins CornerDeer Run EstatesDickeyDunwoodie ParkEfird FarmsFarabee AcresFaulkenberry AcresFlint LakeFort KingGallagher Estates
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Thonotosassa
Loving CareSunset Memory Gardens -

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

Help out

Start Thonotosassa’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Thonotosassa’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 viewVisitors at the campground of the park: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Thonotosassa came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Thonotosassa.

Read it all →

The name "Thonotosassa" comes from the Seminole-Creek words ronoto "flint" and sasv "some", meaning the place was a source of valuable flint. Following the establishment of Fort Brooke in 1824 in what is now Tampa, a military road that ran northwest of Lake Thonotosassa was built between Fort Brooke and Fort King in Ocala. This road became known as the Fort King Road, which today is crossed in several locations by U.S. Route 301. Nevertheless, the presence of a Native American (probably Seminole, Creek or Mikasuki) village largely discouraged settlers from moving into the area. Following the hostilities of the Second Seminole War and with the adoption the Armed Occupation Act of 1842 American settlers began moving into the region.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Thonotosassa in 1928

Passages that mention Thonotosassa, cut from the printed page as they were published.

In 1894, seeing the necessity for some means of shipping his fruit, General Hazen donated land for a depot, and with the help of Henry B. Plant.of Tampa, built a railroad from Thonotosassa to Tampa. The depot is still in use and the railroad has just been extended. In 1897 General Hazen built Grand…
History of Hillsborough County, Florida1928 · page 269Read the page →
Read the text

In 1894, seeing the necessity for some means of shipping his fruit, General Hazen donated land for a depot, and with the help of Henry B. Plant.of Tampa, built a railroad from Thonotosassa to Tampa. The depot is still in use and the railroad has just been extended. In 1897 General Hazen built Grand View Hotel, the resort hotel in Hillsborough County, this proved a very popular hostelry, and in 1890 E. E. Hazen arrived from Ohio to assume charge.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Martin M. Miley, born in these times of danger and uncertainty, grew up on the land located by his father, and was an important factor in the development of Thonotosassa, one of the most beautiful spots in Florida. Mr. Miley served as a soldier in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He was l…
History of Hillsborough County, Florida1928 · page 318Read the page →
Read the text

Martin M. Miley, born in these times of danger and uncertainty, grew up on the land located by his father, and was an important factor in the development of Thonotosassa, one of the most beautiful spots in Florida. Mr. Miley served as a soldier in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He was largely responsible for the locating of General Hazen at Thonotosassa, and was closely associated with him in establishing orange growing as a paying industry in this part of Florida.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Thonotosassa, 1886 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Thonotosassa post office opens
  3. 1892Post officeThe Antioch post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1923Post officeThe Antioch post office closes
  6. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1961In the archiveVisitors at the campground of the park
  8. 1970In the archiveView showing area for camping at the Hillsborough River State Park
By decade

Thonotosassa, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1960s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1960s–1970s2 items
Visitors at the campground of the park1961Visitors at the campground of the parkView showing area for camping at the Hillsborough River State Parkc. 1970View showing area for camping at the Hillsborough Riv…
1980s–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
Today10 recent
ThonotosassaPostOffice2019ThonotosassaPostOfficeThonotosassa Branch Library2019Thonotosassa Branch LibraryLorida, FL Thonotosassa type2013Lorida, FL Thonotosassa typeGymnopilus palmicola Murrill 3269802013Gymnopilus palmicola Murrill 326980Gymnopilus palmicola Murrill 326979 crop2013Gymnopilus palmicola Murrill 326979 cropBlack bear at Nature’s Classroom2013Black bear at Nature’s ClassroomAmanita solaniolens 3273752013Amanita solaniolens 327375Lepiota cortinarius J.E. Lange 2743922012Lepiota cortinarius J.E. Lange 274392Lepiota cortinarius J.E. Lange & Josh M.K. (suchen) 2743932012Lepiota cortinarius J.E. Lange & Josh M.K. (suchen) 2…FLMap-doton-Thonotosassa2004FLMap-doton-Thonotosassa
On the map

Thonotosassa on the map, 1943 to 1995

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

Thonotosassa on the 1943 USGS mapThonotosassa on the 1974 USGS mapThonotosassa on the 1987 USGS mapThonotosassa on the 1995 USGS map1943Thonotosassa 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 Thonotosassa.

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.

Visitors at the campground of the park
Retake this viewVisitors at the campground of the park, 1961

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Thonotosassa, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,0002000202015,238

Grew from 6,091 people in 2000 to 15,238 in 2020.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Thonotosassa

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

See all →
S
Sarah PaulsonAmerican actress · b. 1974
Aaron CarterAmerican pop singer, actor and songwriter · b. 1987
Brittany SnowAmerican actress and model · b. 1986
Gilbert ArenasAmerican basketball player · b. 1982
Julian GreenAmerican soccer player · b. 1995
Pam BondiAmerican attorney and politician · b. 1965
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

MangoIts storyC−East Lake-Orient ParkIts storyD

Questions about Thonotosassa’s history

What year was Thonotosassa founded?

The Thonotosassa post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Thonotosassa rank for history?

Thonotosassa is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #249 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.

How old are the homes in Thonotosassa?

2% of Thonotosassa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1989.

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), Wikipedia, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.