Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the newest of U.S. towns · #627 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Winter Springs was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1960.
Winter Springs first appears in the census in 1960. Another post office, Wagner (1911), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Among the newest of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winter Springs is among the newest of U.S. towns, #627 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Winter Springs’ 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.
Founding year: the first census (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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Winter Springs’s history is told.
Another post office, Wagner, 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 Winter Springs.
Around 1865, the city was originally settled as the community of "Tuskawilla", and was officially incorporated as the "City of North Orlando," in 1959. Because it was not adjacent to the City of Orlando, which led to some confusion, it was renamed the "City of Winter Springs", in 1972.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereKawika Mitchell is born here
Born hereSarah Jones is born here
Born hereA. J. Cole is born here
Born hereRyan Mountcastle is born here
2014Winter Springs, FL, USA - panoramio (7)
2014Winter Springs, FL, USA - panoramio (6)
2014Winter Springs, FL, USA - panoramio (5)
2014Winter Springs, FL, USA - panoramio (4)
2014Winter Springs, FL, USA - panoramio (3)
2014Winter Springs, FL, USA - panoramio (2)
2014Winter Springs, FL, USA - panoramio (12)
2014Winter Springs, FL, USA - panoramio (11)
2014Winter Springs, FL, USA - panoramio (10)
2014Winter Springs, FL, USA - panoramio (1)
2014Scottish Highland Games in the sun
2004WalmartEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Winter Springs. 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 Winter Springs.
Grew from 609 people in 1960 to 38,342 in 2020, more than tenfold.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Winter Springs’ Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Winter Springs post office opened in 1960, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Winter Springs is among the newest of U.S. towns, #627 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.
0.0% of Winter Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (12), 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.
